Our Days at Adams Mill Road

Posted on June 24, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Our Days at Adams Mill Road by Roommates at AMR | Make Your Own Book

I put together this book for group of women (one of them is my mom) who had been roommates in the 1950’s in Washington D.C. They are a fun group and have stayed in contact for more than 50 years. Many of them contributed photos, letters and stories from their days at AMR. It is kind of amazing that 10 young women could get along so well in one household. But they did and formed a kind of family.

Do you have friends or roommates from you young adult years that you still keep in contact with? I have a few but not very many. Keeping in contact with people is not one of my strengths. Those I’m still in contact with is because they are good at in not me.

How to Make a Great Slideshow

Posted on June 20, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

I have some experience making slideshow but most of it is from my college days. Back in the dark ages with slide projectors, dissolve units and cassette tape recorders. I loved the two classes I took. I’ve done a couple of quick slideshows in the past year but so far they have just been put in the photos and the music and let the software make all the decisions on timing and transitions. One of the things that I find most powerful about using a slideshow to tell a story is the merging of images and music. It can make a powerful impact if done right.

I found some good advice on squidoo for making great slideshows. You can read the full article here. But the basics are:

Key #1: Story

have a good story
avoid distracting transitions

Key #2: Timing

time transitions to the music
mix it up if you use zoom effects
sync the speed of the movement with the mood of the music

Key #3: Music

picking the right music for the emotions you want to invoke

The article on squidoo has a nice list of suggested music for the following topics:

Happy/nostalgic – any occasion
Sad/relief – funerals
Romantic – weddings & anniversaries
Intense/fast – Party, just for fun

Key #4: Audience

Always keep your audience in mind as you make your choices. It isn’t as important that you like the show as that your audience will relate to the show.

How to Make a Video

Posted on June 19, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

I have almost no experience with video. Other than a little video I want to put together of short clips I took once a week of Zodiac while he was growing up. On Zodiac’s project I’ve only shot the video and I have some music picked out that I want to use. That is as far as I’ve gotten. I want to have it done by his graduation. So having no personal experience I went to Google and found this tutorial on Mediacollege.com.

How to Make a Video

This page outlines the process of making a video. It is intended for people who are completely new to video making, and who may be wondering where to start or how to tackle a particular video project.

There are two things to understand about making videos:

In theory, making a video is as simple as following the three-step process below. If you complete these steps properly you’ll have a good video.

In reality there are many factors that will influence how well the process works. To make it work properly and consistently, you need to spend a lot of time acquiring a lot of skills (links to tutorials are given below).

The 3-Part Video-Making Process:

Pre-Production – planning the video and gathering any resources you might need.

Planning is the most important step! Unfortunately the ability to plan videos is a skill that takes time to develop, and you really need to gain experience in the next two steps before you will become good at this one. Still, you can get started by planning a few basics such as:

The approximate length of the final video, how many shots you will need to achieve this, how much talking you can fit in, etc.

What music or other sounds will be added to the video.

A script or storyboard.

What medium and format the final video will be shown in. Be aware of any special requirements of the medium, and the best way to convert (encode) into the correct format.

Production – Camera work and sound recording

Camera work involves a range of skills from recognizing the potential for a good shot to knowing how to use the technical-looking controls on your camera. The better your skills are in all areas, the better your videos will be.

Vision and sound are equally important in most video, so learn how to capture good sound as well as good pictures.

Unless you have some other artistic purpose, camera work should be steady, in focus, well-exposed and well-framed.

You can learn the basics in our beginner’s camera tutorial.

Post-Production – Editing and/or encoding the finished video.

Beginner-level editing usually includes:

Removing unwanted footage

Arranging desired footage in the correct order

Adding music, titles, transitions and possibly other effects

Converting (encoding) into the correct format(s)

For more information see our video editing tutorials.

So translating this to my DOABLE approach, pre-production would fit into the decide, organize and analyze steps, while production and post production would be part of the build step. I can see that I have lots to learn and that I didn’t do all the pre-production stuff with my Zodiac project. I’m sure it will be a learning experience. I have no idea how it will turn out but I hope that it is good despite my being a beginner.

From all of my vast inexperience this seems like some good sound advice. Do you have experience with making videos? I’d love to hear your views.

Your Guide To Self-Publishing

Posted on June 18, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

I’ve been on the look out for information on self-publishing lately so we I saw a link to Your Guide To Self-Publishing I clicked on it right away. Christian Cawley has complied a lot of good information and food for thought in this free guide. The guide is well-organized and easy to understand. If you have an upcoming story project that involves publishing take some time and at least skim through it, then stop and read those areas that you need more information in. It will be great to refer back to when questions arise later.

More than Words

Posted on June 11, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

I’ve always love commercials with no words or only a few but I never thought of a book with no words, only sound effects. Do you have a family story that you could tell without words? It is food for thought for me. What do you think?

You can see more of the pages of “Leaf” here on Amazon. Click on the “Look in side.” Enchanting.

The Reading Mum

This is the book that inspired me to start this blog.

Leaf by Stephen Michael King has no words, only “sound effects”, and is sort of a child’s comic book. We stumbled upon it during one of our weekly library visits, but I think this one warrants purchasing.

Iris is at a very chatty, curious age. From the moment she wakes up she’s yammering away, like the lovely crow/rooster that wakes us the instant the sun pops its head over the horizon, but much cuter and less grating (mostly). This behaviour is very apparent when I read to her. She has, at the age of two and a half, mastered the Who, What, Where, Why and How.

When you’ve got a book with words to get through, this can be a tad disruptive and the plot can go wandering off in a huff in the midst of her barrage of questions. She also has a tendency…

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Carol Joy Jenson

Posted on June 10, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/872281/47f26d11181207655b51946c659e9792?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget

This is a book about my aunt who died when she was 13 years old. There was a limited number of photos and information about her short life so I used every picture I had and almost everything written about her. Because it was so focused it came together very quickly.

I had a lot of fun putting this together, so much fun, that it inspired several more books in similar format and size about her parents and another aunt with more to come. These books that are not so much focused on the chronology of someones life but more about telling the story of who they where and what was important to them.

A smaller focused project like this is very doable and very satisfying to too. Keep the possibilities in mind as you think about upcoming story projects.

Understand Book Publishing Paths

Posted on June 6, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Understand the Key Book Publishing Paths by Jane Friedman

Today I’ve been doing some research on publishing “My Grandma Mary” book. I still have so much to learn. This story project has a broader potential audience than my other projects. So I need to learn new things and try new things to share this book with those who might have an interest in it. I’ve loved Blurb for my other projects but I’m coming to realize that they aren’t the best option for “My Grandma Mary”. Just when I think I’m almost done I realize I’m not done. Silly me. If I just look at my DOABLE approach I would know that I still have a couple of steps to go; link (sharing the project) and evaluating. Now I’m getting sidetracked from the purpose of this post. In my research I came across this well-organized infographic on book publishing paths by Jane Friedman. You can find Jane’s full article here. I’ll be keeping this handy for referring to now and in the future. This is information to keep in mind from the beginning of a story project to the wrapping up stages.

The Many Faces of E-books and Self-Publishing

Posted on June 5, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Yesterday I talked about printed books. Today lets jump into e-books. There are so many e-book formats and it is rather overwhelming. But I came across this article, “3 General types of eBooks”, that brings some order to the confusion. If you divide e-books into groups by function you have:

basic: this is an e-book in its simplest form, basically just an electronic version of a print book
embedded: this type of e-book can have sound, video and animation as part of the content
interactive: this is the ultimate type of e-book, more of an app than a book in many ways.

So how does all this effect your decisions in creating your own story project? I would think that many book story projects could easily been converted into basic e-books. There are many cost and sharing advantages to this. In its simplest form exporting your finished book to a pdf document takes just a few seconds in most software that you have created your book in. This works great for view the book on a computer but not so great for tablets or e-readers. This is where things get more complicated. You will need to pick an e-book format depending on what platform your book will be read on.

Doing an embedded e-book means developing more content than a printed book. You will want to add sound and or video etc. While an interactive e-book takes a whole new set of skills to complete. Not suitable for a first story project or even a second unless you already have the knowledge or the resources to tackle that project.

For “My Grandma Mary” book, I plan to publish it as a basic pdf e-book shortly after the print version is available. Then I want to figure out how to format it for the iPad, Kindle and Nook. I know that Blurb has an option to publish your book to iPad for a fee. I’ll have to look into that too. Part of that project may be adding some interactive elements such as sound and links on the hidden images. I’m excited to learn about how to do this and I’ll be sure to share it here.

What are your feelings on the shift from print to e-books? Do you have an e-book story project in mind?

Printing Options for Publishing Your Story Project Book

Posted on June 4, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

So you have decided that your story project will be a book and you’re really excited about it and ready to take the next step. Pause for just a moment and think about how you are going to publish your finished book. There are more options for publishing a book than ever before. Here are the main ones that I can think of:

traditional – usually one place for printing another for binding
print on demand – on-line
local copy center
self printing from your computer with your printer

Each option has advantages and disadvantages and each one has requirements that you will want to keep in mind as you begin your story project. One of the most important reasons to decide which route you are taking is so that you will know what size and file format requirements your choice will have so you don’t end up with some unexpected glitch near the end of your story project. I won’t go into great detail here on each one but just give some of the pros and cons of each option.

Traditional Printing:

I don’t have direct personal experience with using a traditional printer but I’ve some indirect knowledge and what I learned in college. If you are wanting to print a large number of books upfront it is an option that should be considered. My books so far have a very limited audience so this hasn’t been a consideration. It might be an option for “My Grandma Mary” in the near future.

Pros:

low-cost per book
fully customizable

Cons:

print a large number of books to be cost-effective
slow turn around

Print On Demand

This is a great option for most story project books. There are lots of print on demand companies. My favorite is Blurb, but I haven’t tried all of them. The quality varies and the options vary from company to company so check around and find one that fits your needs and understand the size and format requirements. Print on demand sites are not flexible on how your files are uploaded to their servers.

Pros:

small number of books
quick turn around

Cons:

higher cost per book
limited number of options

Local Copy Center

Depending on your story project the local copy center might be a good alternative if you are doing a project in a standard letter-size format and are happy with the binding options they have. Don’t assume that this will be you.

Pros:

quick turn around
local business

Cons:

lower quality binding options
variability in knowledge, quality and cost

Self-Printing:

This is how I did the first few books I published for my family. It was a good way for me to get started but between the cost of the ink and the number of hours I spent baby sitting my printer I wouldn’t do it again unless it is for a project which is small in the number of pages and the number of books. A neighbor has told me about retrofitting his printer with a continuous ink supply system that I’m anxious to hear more about. It cuts the cost of printing from home dramatically. I’ll let you know when I learn more about it.

Pros:

total control

Cons:

binding options
not usually cost-effective
time intensive

There is no single printing option that is right for all story project books. So look at each project and pick the option that makes the best sense for that story project. Just make sure that you look at the options at the earliest stages of the story project.

What printing options have you used in the past? Do you have any words of advice for others?

Adjectives for Focus

Posted on May 30, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Making a list of adjectives that describe what you want your finished story project to be can help you stay focused on the desired outcome. Think of the words not only as guides but also as inspiration as you move forward with your project. It would be a great to post your list of adjectives where you can see them and remember why you are doing your story project. You could add sketches or pictures or anything that helps to communicate the feelings you want your project to generate in those you will share it with.

Using “My Grandma Mary” again as an example, here are a list of adjectives for what I hoped to do:

appealing (I wanted it to draw the child into the story)
accurate (I wanted it be true to the known facts)
ageless (I hoped to appeal to many age groups for many years to come)
appropriate (I wanted the information shared to take into account the age of the target audience)
courageous (I wanted the courage of Mary and the other pioneer to be felt)
determined (I wanted the reader to understand that it took determination to reach Utah)
grandmotherly (I wanted the reader to relate to Mary Taylor as if she were their own grandma)
happy (I wanted the happy times of Mary’s life and journey to be present too)
hopeful (I wanted the kids to know that they can have hope even when things are at their worst)
hungry (I wanted them to understand how very hungry she was)
inspirational (I wanted Mary’s story to inspire them)
short (I wanted to keep the story short and easily read in a few minutes)
spiritual (I wanted the reader to feel Mary’s testimony)
thankful (I wanted the reader to feel Mary’s gratitude despite the trials of her life)

Another thing to keep in mind as you start on a new story project is who the intended audience is. With “My Grandma Mary” I kept in mind that I wanted it to most appealing for kids between 5 and 10 years old. Remembering this helped with many important decisions along the way.

Try making an adjective list about a new story project or one that you are already working on and see if the process is helpful for you.