All manuscript for family tree genealogy publication must be typewritten on one side of the sheet only. This may be done by the compiler or under his direction, or the publisher will attend to it as a part of his work and make his charge accordingly. It is better if the work can be done either by the genealogist or by some one working with him, and the ex­pense is probably no greater. If the manuscript is sent away handwritten, to be typed in the publisher's office there is far greater chance for error than if it is done where the author can see the work as it goes on, catching and correcting any errors that may appear. If the typewritten copy is read by the author he will discover changes that can be made to im­prove his diction as well as to check for corrections. Punc­tuation, if improperly placed, may spoil the sense of what the author has written. The misplacing of a comma may change the entire meaning of a sentence. While the author wants it in one place to convey a certain idea, the copyist may mis­take the intended meaning, and place the punctuation mark so that it will convey the meaning she thought was intended by the author.

When publishing a family tree genealogy, it is always an advantage if the author is able to use the typewriter himself. He can prepare his manuscript for the printer better than can any one else. If he cannot do his own typing there is much to be said in favor of the dictating machine which conveys the intonations of the voice and gives the typest a much clearer idea of the meaning to be con­veyed than copying from the author's handwriting.

The final writing of the work will consume considerable time and should be so planned that new material as found may be inserted in its proper place until the very last minute before going to press. There will never be a time in the entire undertaking when new matter does not come in, and it is highly essential that it be inserted, even at the eleventh hour. It is perfectly easy to do this by properly planning the work.

Family Sections

In those families where there were a number of children of the emigrant ancestor it will be found easier if each child is carried forward as a separate unit, and each unit is made a separate section in the published book on your family tree genealogy. If the emigrant an­cestor had seven children who grew to maturity, married and had families, there will be found advantages, both in pre­paring the genealogy, and for the reader in consulting it later, if these seven children each head a section of the book.

The members of the family purchasing the book usually know from which branch they descended, and those of one branch are not especially interested in the other branches. If the book is arranged in family sections any member can consult his own section without working through the entire book. For this reason there is much to be said in favor of publishing each family section as a separate volume. There are many members of the family who would pay five dollars for the volume covering their own section who would not feel they could afford to pay fifteen or twenty dollars for the entire work of several sections.

A family tree genealogy book is unlike any other book published. They are not gotten out with a primary view of financial gain. Their compilation and publication must be a business propo­sition, but they should be neither an object of philanthropy nor a scheme for making money. No reputable family wishes or expects to feel that they are not self-respecting enough to pay their just share of producing the history of their family, or to pay for what they get in purchasing it. Nor do they want to feel that they have been used as a medium by which some member of their kin had attempted to build up a lu­crative business proposition at the expense of his relatives.
In the distribution of a genealogy there are two points to consider:

First, the breadth of distribution of the family tree genealogy book. The work is prepared primarily for the family and as many of the kin as possible should have an opportunity to purchase the book at as mod­erate a price as is consistent with its actual cost.

Second, publication of a family tree genealogy book is dependent on sale. It is necessary to realize financially as much as possible from the sale of the work. Not unlike every other commodity, there is a point of greatest sale price beyond which one cannot go without loss. Small editions are more costly per volume than large edi­tions. Therefore it should be considered how large an edition can be sold that the cost per volume may be reduced to a minimum, and the price fixed accordingly. It is sometimes difficult to determine the demand for a work of this sort. It may be good business policy to have a few hundred volumes, leaving the remainder of the edition unbound and packed away in the flats as the sheets come from the press. They may be bound when and if the sale proves sufficient to need them. Thus the price is reduced to the bare cost of paper used plus the cost of presswork. This does not add unduly to the expense of getting out the edition that is determined as probable sale, and saves tremendously over the plan of printing a second edition if it should be needed.

If a separate volume is printed for each branch of the family the binding cost is the only extra expense, and that cost any printer will assure the genealogist is not large.

It must be borne in mind also that a family tree genealogy, particu­larly one on the shelf of a library for general use, will have rather severe usage. Many hands will take it from the shelf, flip it back and forth to find the reference wanted, and put it back on the shelf again. Genealogies are not like novels which are read page by page from beginning to end. They are purely books of reference. They are hauled down, the index consulted, opened here, again a hundred pages further on, the index pages turned to a dozen times, then put away, all in a half hour, only to have the same operation repeated by some one else in a short time, day after day. Such wear, even when given by book lovers who handle the volume as carefully as they can, is trying to any binding.

Many family tree genealogy books are bound in too large volumes. Before deciding the size of the book, the compiler should examine the published genealogies in any good library. He will note that the smaller volumes, although they are old and have had long usage, are in much better condition than more re­cently published large and heavy volumes. With this exami­nation in mind he should consult his publisher as to the extra cost of binding two volumes in place of one. Then he is ready to determine the form which his book is to take.

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