Friday, June 19, 2015

The Jollett Book Is In

When the mailman handed me the plain cardboard box with the tell-tale blue Blurb logo, I could hardly breathe. Why is it that when you most want to rip open a box, it has the strongest packing tape? I was eager to see whether my positive review of BookWright would hold up. Would I be thrilled or disappointed?
 
Without a doubt, I’m thrilled. Even though I did not opt for any upgrades, my book about Fielding Jollett still looks and feels professional.

Book about Fielding Jollett  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com
Cover image is the Jollett Cemetery
in Jollett Hollow, Page County, Virginia
Cover is maroon but reads red in this photo.

Book about Fielding Jollett  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com
Spine is easy to read.

The cover is an image wrap hardcover. Dust jackets are available, but I find them to be a nuisance, so I did not order that style. The cover feels slick. My one risk was using the light grey for the main title and white for the subtitle. What a relief to learn that what I saw on the screen both in editing and in preview is true to how it looks in person. A last minute decision to boldface the title on the spine was a good one. One small regret is that I did not look at covers in the Blurb bookstore to see what others had produced; mine is very simple, so next time I will spend more time designing a GREAT cover.

I went with Standard paper even though I did not know what the standard was. Again, I am satisfied with this choice. The paper has a semi-matte finish and is slightly slick, not as slick as photograph paper though.


Book about Fielding Jollett  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com














Book about Fielding Jollett  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com


In a recent review comparing Blurb’s standard paper with its ProLine Pearl and Premium Lustre upgrades, the writer said there is SOME bleed-through on the Standard. I saw nothing like that in my book. She had made a photo book, so her pages were photo-heavy whereas my book is more text than images. At worst, I can see a slight shadow of the next page, but if I had not read this review, I would not even have noticed. I would stick with Standard paper on another book. 

Book about Fielding Jollett  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com
When pages are flat, you can see a bit of the
print on the other side, but it is barely noticeable.
It does not interfere with reading.
If you hold the paper up to the light,
you can see the other side.
Fielding Jollett book  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com
The census image is clearer
in the book than on my computer.


The quality of the images really impresses me. Some look sharper and cleaner in the book than they do in real life.

End pages are grey by default but can be upgraded to a color for a fee. Maybe because the grey looks good with the cover color, it does not look like I took the cheap way out. Likewise for a fee, the Blurb logo can be removed. The logo does not bother me. 


Book about Fielding Jollett  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com
Left page is white; right is the grey endsheet.
















One thing I’m REALLY glad about is that I followed Blurb’s advice and ordered only one book even though I have plans to buy more. Despite all my efforts to proofread carefully, I still found 2 typos and several inconsistencies in style (such as “Page Co, Virginia” when most of the time I used “VA”). I also remembered someone I forgot to thank on the dedication page.

So now I have made my corrections and additions and uploaded the revised version. With an order of at least 10 copies, there is a discount of 10%. But there are other coupons available (through June 29, the code for 15% is SUNNYJUNE). Blurb did not tell me that – a Google search did. The regular price for my 134-page book is $60, but with "SUNNYJUNE" the book is $51, slightly higher than what I paid for my first copy using the Father's Day coupon which has now expired.

As for the structure of the book, it is divided into 5 parts: 1 – an introduction to Fielding and a family chart, 2 – Fielding and family with his first wife (stories include the William Jollett/William Boyd mystery), 3 – Fielding and family with his second wife (stories include Fielding in Chancery Court and the search for his wife’s parents), 4 – brief stories and family charts about Fielding’s brothers and sisters, and 5 – the Jolletts whose positions in the family tree are not yet confirmed. I included an index of names.

Index of Fielding Jollett book  http://jollettetc.blogspot.com


Blurb came through for me. I will be proud to give copies of Fielding Jollett and Early Jollett Families of Virginia as gifts to my family and to donate to my pet historical and genealogical societies.


© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

37 comments:

  1. Congrats on your book Wendy! It looks great! Oh, and I can totally understand your excitement when your book arrived in the mail.

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    1. I remember how excited you were to get yours. You were much faster than me!

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  2. Great job! The book looks wonderful.

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  3. That looks great! Terrific job!

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  4. Looks good! I'm sure the recipients of your gift will gratefully enjoy it!

    betty

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  5. Awesome!!!
    What an accomplishment and how exciting to receive it in the mail :)

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Sally -- this would be a good project for all your poems and stories.

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  7. Great job! I made one each year for my mother as a Christmas gift but now that she's gone, I haven't made one. I need to get back to it!

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    1. What a good idea. I have plans for more books featuring different generations.

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  8. A beautiful book! Did you have to make your own Table of Contents & Index or is that something Blurb will generate?

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    1. I had to create those myself. Table of Contents is no big deal. Index is tedious, but it's a good time to proofread as you locate names. I used 3 columns which is one of the layout options in Blurb's BookWright.

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  9. I cannot wait to see it and get my copy!

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  10. Congratulations, Wendy. I can understand your excitement on receiving the parcel and being desperate to get it opened. I read your earlier post reviewing blog to book programmes with interest and your decision to go with Blurb has been well justified. It looks so professional and I like the simple style of your cover. I have wondered about going down that line, but I have so few relations , that I have just printed off copies of my family history for them - and had the work spiral bound, which does make all the difference to the finished article - but nothing compared with your now published family history. Thank you for sharing your experience of the process.

    Family History Fun

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    1. Aw thanks, Susan. Actually a spiral bound copy of my complete research is probably what I will do because my family charts are so long. In my book, I included only 2 or 3 generations.

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  11. It looks great! I use Blurb too, and I posted a link on the FB page at the time I think. I’ve done seven Blurb books now and I’m proud of them all because, as you say, they look so polished and professional. After the first couple I did go for the better quality paper and I’m glad I did. Well done!

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    1. I've done a lot of books in Shutterfly -- vacations, weddings, etc. But this is a different kind of book and I didn't think I could achieve the same look in Shutterfly.

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  12. Looks fabulous! I've been working on my own childhood story, all in hand lettering and watercolor so it's good to know about the different paper types, after that I intend to make a heritage book as most of my findings are in a scrapbook format. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. I imagine the hand-lettering and watercolor is beautiful. Is it something that could be scanned and saved as a PDF and then uploaded to a book publishing platform?

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  13. It really turned out great Wendy! What a treasure!

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    1. Thanks. I like it and hope it will be useful to someone down the road.

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  14. I know that feeling well! I have just received a book from Blurb that I have been working on for the past year. I too, only order one book to start with. There are always a few things I find to change before offering the book to others. Congratulations!

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  15. Wendy,

    I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/06/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-june-26-2015.html

    Have a great weekend!

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    1. Thanks, Jana! I do appreciate your support.

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  16. Thanks for this great review of Blurb with all the details, Wendy. Your book looks terrific. You didn't mention the size, though. Is it 8 1/2 x 11" or some other size.

    My brother has asked me several times about putting a book together. I think about it, then put it off. One of these days....

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    1. Shoot! I can't believe I left out the measurements. Yes, it is 8 1/2 x 11 which is one reason I went with Blurb. I wanted my book to LOOK like a book, easy to stand on a shelf with other books. Not all companies create this size.

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  17. Oh! That is a beautiful book! Some family membets are going to get a treat and a treasure!

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    1. Thanks! If they can ignore the family charts and just read the stories, I'll be happy.

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  18. Outstanding!!!! Great job.....loved the book :)

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  19. It looks great! I coauthored my first genealogy book & it came in thanksgiving week. I need to share some photos of it, too. It feels so great to have it 'done', doesn't it? And then the research continues...

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