Art, I really enjoyed your story in response to the Walt Warnick situation. Thanks. Information/stories like this have a lot of merit. The research we've all done is very valuable . . . however, that value is directly related to the marketability of the publication involved. I do know a little about publishing, but am no way an expert. For a publisher to publish a book, they look at probable profit from sales. If they buy the publishing rights of the book, they are commiting thousands of dollars to the project. I believe I heard $25,000 initially. They also have guidelines as to the length of a book (fiction 250-300 pgs; I don't know about family histories). Some of the publishers of books I have are still with us and might be able to give some idea of cost. They are usually very busy and difficult to reach. I have several file cabinets, boxes, disks and CDs of valuable family history sitting around here. It's valuable to me . . . and I'm sure it would also be valuable to others who are interested in the same surnames and connections, but I doubt that anyone in my family would do anything with all of this material. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about all of it in the case something should happen to me. I plan to put my information in a publishing format when I have the time, but until then what does one do? It could certainly be all boxed up to give to some interested party, but who would that be? I could always put a note in my will. If one should get to the point where they are ready to be published, someone can easily pick up the project and run with it. If a publisher takes it on, it could mean a significant amount of money. If it's self-published, it could be a different matter altogether. I have prepared manuscripts on disks for writers to send to a publisher. The client has a limited number printed to sell first. In the meantime the publisher is evaluating the book to decide whether they will take the plunge. Many of our kinfolk have self-published their books. If the information is put on disk ready to print, many copy houses have the capacity to print them from one's disk in smaller quantities fairly resonable (hundreds of dollars vs. thousands). I have been involved in three such projects. The cost will vary depending on the software used, the skill of the person in laying out the copy on disk, and the copy (or print) shop doing the actual printing, and financial esources available. Anyway . . . a little information for anyone whose interested in pursuing self-publishing. Lois Hetrick Stewart

I plan to put my information in a publishing format when I have the time, but until then what does one do? It could certainly be all boxed up to give to some interested party, but who would that be? I could always put a note in my will. ------------------------------------ Lois, Reading your comments about all the information you have accrued over your (probably) years of research, I just had to add this comment; All of us are "Gatherers of information". Some material we find helps us, other material (even though we 'gathered' it) relates in no way to our own research. However, these tidbits, (whether relating to our own work or not) have already been harvested. Therefore it is something that we can share with others. Just as Art said, ordering a Civil War record may cost us, what?, $40 today, but what if someone else already paid that $40 and is willing to share? I don't think I need to waste space on this List to say the rest, if we share, we save money and there is no better feeling in the world then to send out some small item and receive an e-mail saying you helped someone else find their roots. Believe me, been there, done that. Ok, I usually don't do the soap box thing and I apologize to all who might not think this is genealogy, but we all know, 'give and you shall receive'. It works! Connie B. has been telling us this for a long time with her tag line: History is preserved through knowledge shared Pat-T