Creating a Family Book: Experience and Recommendations

One of my major projects over the past six months is finally nearing completion—a family book I have been compiling on behalf of a client.

The process of creating the book was both exciting and challenging. In this post, I share my experiences, suggestions, and a few potential pitfalls.

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1. Memories Bring Facts to Life

Genealogical data on its own is often too dry. What readers find most engaging are the living stories—memories of ancestors, their adventures, and everyday events. Therefore, interview your oldest relatives while you still can!

Even if you’re not planning a book, these recordings will be invaluable treasures in the future. They may contain useful details for research, and more importantly, stories that bring departed ancestors to life. Personally, I feel I know some of the ancestors I researched, as if I had met them. For that, I can thank the memory stories and photographs.

2. Historical Context Enlivens the Family Narrative

To help younger members of the family better understand events, I included historical background—what was happening in the specific parish or country at the time.

For example, when reading about the unrest in 19th-century Veselava Parish, Irecognized a direct ancestor among the listed “rebels.” Discoveries like this make the story far more captivating than a simple enumeration of ancestors and descendants.

3. Professional Layout Design Is Not a Luxury

The visual presentation of a book is very important. A poorly formatted or badly printed book can cast doubt on its content. For this project, I collaborated with Daiga Dunse, whom I met while working on the book Latvijas klusie varoņi (“Latvia’s Silent Heroes”). Daiga is an experienced designer of autobiographical and family books and understands historical material well. I appreciate her careful, thoughtful, and meticulous approach.

Of course, a simple Word document bound at a copy center is also a valid option—I have created such simpler family books myself. However, a professionally designed and well-printed book offers a wholly different sense of satisfaction—and it's not as expensive as one might think.

4. Finalize the Text Before Layout

An important lesson: the text must be completely finalized before sending it for layout. Making corrections after layout can disrupt the visual structure and create unnecessary work for the designer. I learned this lesson during the project, but I’ll be wiser next time!

Reread everything several times, involve an outside reader, correct grammatical errors, and only then pass the material on.

5. Images Are Part of the Story

Images are essential in making the book appealing and illustrative. They also help clarify the text—for example, by showing the described homesteads or their locations on a map. If family photographs are scarce, I recommend:

• photographing ancestral homes, churches, landscapes, schools, etc.;

• including images of documents (e.g., baptismal records—even if illegible, they are historical artifacts);

• using historical maps (for example, from vesture.dodies.lv);

• using plans from land registry files, if available in archives;

• searching for images in museums or on sites like zudusilatvija.lv.

You’ll need more images than initially expected. During layout, additional images may be required to fill blank spaces.

Images should be saved in high resolution and stored in a separate folder. Unfortunately, images of church records from the Raduraksti website are often of poor quality—perhaps they could be replaced by photographing the originals at the archive. I don’t know if the archive would allow access to originals, and it would be a significant task. In this case, it was not done.

 6. Family Trees: How to Fit Them on a Book Page?

Traditional pedigree charts are often too large for book pages. We chose fan-style charts from MyHeritage, which are visually compact and aesthetically pleasing. They do not include full information (such as birth or death places) but help readers navigate the genealogy. If needed, readers can consult a detailed family tree on the MyHeritage website.

Example of fan-style chart

Another option is to print a large-format poster separately, but this risks getting lost unless it is glued into the book.

7. Typography and Printing Details

When exploring options for printing the family tree, the print shop recommended an open spine, which allows the book to lie flat. This enables printing the tree across a full spread without losing information in the fold.

We opted for digital printing, which allows for small print runs—120 copies of this book will be printed solely for family members.

After printing, the book will also be available at the National Library of Latvia and the Cēsis Museum.

In Conclusion: Done Is Better Than Perfect

When writing a family book, there’s always the feeling that more research, revisions, or additions could be made. That’s natural—and indeed, new information may emerge over time. However, it’s important not to get lost in endless refinements.

Done is better than perfect. A family book is a gift for future generations—a living and personal story, not an academic work.