How Much Will It Cost?
The cost is totally up to you
I am committed to providing professional family history writing & research services at an affordable rate. I work on a fixed hourly fee, which gives you total control over your investment cost.
Each month that we work together, you may commission me for as little as 5 hours for the month or as great as 100. My current fixed hourly rate is $50/hr.
How long will your project take? That all depends on the project’s scope; writing about one historical period will take far less time than writing a history about your entire family. And of course, the amount of research I do is totally up to you.
Factors to consider:
- Do you have a budget in mind? If so I will work hard to complete the project within that time frame.
- If you want a complete family history, does it require genealogical research? If so, please keep in mind that I cannot promise results. Each family is unique as are the records associated with the family; some families left volumes of history, others nothing.
- How detailed a narrative do you want? For example, if your family were early settlers of a town or region, do you want detailed information about the area included? Or, if your ancestor served in the Revolutionary War, do you want to include as much information about his unit or battles as possible?
- Do you want to include photos? If so, will you scan the photos or will we?
- Do you want to make your own printing arrangements, or do you want me to be involved with creating the camera-ready copy, layout and design before going to the printer?
- Will you provide written information in digital form? If not, I will need to enter it into my software manually.
Additional Expenses
Expenses will vary dependent on project, and may include:
- Travel for research if necessary. I will travel anywhere within the United States. Travel expenses include meals, lodging, and travel.
- Book design, indexing, printing. We work with designers and printers to provide you with the highest quality book possible. Services include image, map, document scanning, indexing, preparing camera-ready copy, and working directly with the printer.
Some clients like to budget a little each month for their family history book project; others like to commit at the onset for the entirety of the project. The choice is yours.