Writing Family Histories: What Books Should You Create?

When you have a genealogy story to tell, what’s the best format for that tale? Discover which family history book you should create.

In the following video, I walk you through the types of family histories you could create. Watch to see examples as well as explanations.

Types of Family History Books

The general formats for family history books include:

1. Facts Only Family History Books

2. Story-Based Family Histories

3. Scrapbooks

4. Recipe Books

5. Military Histories

6. Letters

7. Children’s Stories

8. Picture books

9. Chapter books

10. Novels

11. Historical Fiction

Family History Books Featured in this Video

1. 3 Slovak Women by Lisa Alzo

2. Cahill Blood: A Military Family History by Mike Cahill

3. The Bravest Canadian by Sam McBride

4. Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Crab Cakes Later) by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard

5. Careful Old Letters: A Jewish Family’s Story: Lodz-Warsaw-Paris by Alexandra Weinbaum

6. Red Geranium: A Kansas Family History In Letters 1880-1960 by James Allen Young

7. Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls

8. Sarah’s Secret: A Western Tale of Betrayal and Forgiveness by Beverly Scott

↪️ Do you want to write a family history book?

Grab your copy of this FREE Writing Guide:

More Resources for Creating Your Family Histories

1. Create a Family History Cookbook

2. Customized children’s books make family history fun, kid-friendly

3. Family History Writing Tips

4. How to Critically Read a Family History to Write Better Stories

5. Book: A Recipe for Writing Family History

6. Creating a Family Story Book Using Flip-Pal and Shutterfly

7. Scrapbooking Tutorials

8. Heritage Scrapbooking Tips and Examples

9. Book: Family History Scrapbooking Simplified

Watch the full video What Books Should You Publish? | How to Write a Family History Book on YouTube.

Pick Your Family History Book Format Then Find a Publisher

Once you determine which format you want to utilize for your family history project, you need to choose a book publisher.

More Family History Writing Tips

• Publishing Your Genealogy: From Traditional to Self-Publishing Options

• How to Self-Publish Your Genealogy Books

• Create an Awesome Family History Book Cover Using Canva

• What Size Should Your Family History Book Be? 

• Donate Your Family Stories to Archives Before It's Too Late

• Ancestry StoryMaker Studio: Unleash Your Storytelling Potential