The Storyteller Project: Week 9
Feedback along the Path to Publishing
Feedback along the Path to Publishing
Suggested Reading: Part 6: Make the Stories Public — Chapter 25 (back matter checklist)
Overview for the article:
The manuscript is formatted. The back matter is in place. Chapter 25 gives you the checklist: what the book must have to function as a citable source, what it should have to help someone you’ll never get the chance to explain it to use it, and what to do if it includes images.
This week we cover a path to a destination. A PDF exported from Reedsy can be deposited directly in the Internet Archive and shared with family members now. But before doing that, consider how important it is to get feedback. Your PDF can be shared with anyone you trust to give you honest feedback. When someone else looks at your manuscript in PDF form, they see it from a readers point of view. They will find what’s missing or awkward that you can’t see because you’re too close to it.
Prompt:
Export your book from Reedsy as a PDF. What exactly do you want to know from the individual giving the feedback? Come up with some questions that will help them provide you with the information you want. Or if you choose, you can use this rubric and ask them to score your manuscript using it. I recommend asking them for specific information as to why they scored it the way they did.
Use your feedback to make any final adjustments on Reedsy, then export your PDF again. Next week, is the final week in the Storyteller Project. We finally add our manuscript to the Internet Archive.
If you need help finding someone to give your feedback, DM me and I’ll connect you with someone who is willing to do that.
Get the book:
Stewardship Matters: A Storyteller’s Guide to Preserving Family History.
Get: Ebook PDF (With Paid Subscription to GenStack Coterie).
Get Paperback: Paperback (Buy on Lulu)
Paid subscribers to Genealogy Matters or GenStack Coterie have access to the digital version.
Submit to Genealogy Matters Magazine:
Your family history writing, including articles previously published on Substack or your blog is eligible for submission to Genealogy Matters Magazine. Review the submission guidelines and submit to Genealogy Matters Magazine.
The book arrived last week and I decided that I would start again at the beginning and work through it at my own speed. Perhaps I can develop a collection of stories to make a book and publish it. But I have a couple of other projects to do first. Thank you, Robin,for all the prompting. This is a marvellous resource for family history storytellers.