Learn how to publish your own book

There is a closet author in most of us. Whether inspiration leans toward a children’s book, compiling a travelogue of a memorable vacation, or creating a family cookbook from grandma’s best recipes, the desire often is relegated to pipedream status. Until now!

Thanks to the Internet and easy-to-use software anyone can self-publish a professional quality book in any quantity. The Hayes Presidential Center will help show you how. Its newest educational class Create a Book Online can help get you over the hurdle of just getting started. The class takes place 9:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 20 in the Hayes Museum. Instructors are Head of Photographic Resources Gilbert Gonzalez and Head Librarian Becky Hill. They explain how to economically make a personalized book using Blurb.com.

Cost of the class is $10/adults and $5/students through high school. The class is sponsored by RootsMagic, Inc. Pre-registration is required. Contact bhill@rbhayes.orgor call 419-332-2081, ext. 231.

Hill was inspired to create her first book online after receiving one as a gift from her daughter. She now creates a personalized storybook for her three grandchildren every Christmas. She also helped her 94-year-old mother produce an autobiography in 2009. Gonzalez, a professional photographer, creates commemorative coffee-table books using photographs he has taken at the Hayes Presidential Center and on the grounds of Spiegel Grove.The pair emphasizes that lessons learned in the class can be applied to creating an actual published book rather than a book that is stored online. They concentrate on Blurb.com because the site permits its software to be downloaded to a personal computer. When complete, a book then is uploaded back to Blurb.com for printing of hard copies. The type of book created is as limitless as the student’s imagination.