Begin a conversation

Tell us who the book is about and what the family already knows. Take your time; "not sure" is always a fine answer, and the research is ours to do. You'll read a draft before anything is final.

1. Your Family Book

This is the book: a complete family history of your people, researched in the records and written as a story — every fact sourced, every gap named, particular lives rather than a list of dates. You read a draft before anything is final. The finished work comes as a clean PDF to keep and share, and as a printed book in a matching box when you want one.

Special requests — finishing a book you've already started, expanding an existing book, a shorter edition, or anything else — are handled by email: hello@islandpressbooks.com.

2. About you

Your name *

Email *

All project updates come here.

Phone (optional)

Your relationship to the family *

3. Who is the book about?

One person or a couple. Dates like "about 1890" are perfect. Tick "not sure" for anything you don't know.

Person 1

Full name *

Maiden name (if known)

Born — when not sure

Born — where not sure

Died — when not sure

Died — where not sure

Father's name not sure

Mother's name (maiden if known) not sure

The book is about a couple (add spouse)

Spouse

Full name *

Maiden name (if known)

Born — when not sure

Born — where not sure

Died — when not sure

Died — where not sure

Father's name not sure

Mother's name (maiden if known) not sure

Married — when not sure

Married — where not sure

4. What you already know Places they lived (one per line — towns, farms, streets, churches) Children and key relatives not sure What you already have Files you'd like to share now (optional — you can also send them later)

Drafts (PDF/DOCX), GEDCOM or CSV family trees, photo zips, permission letters. Files aren't uploaded from this page — only their names are listed with your answers. You can send the files themselves later.

5. Ancestry.com (optional)

Never send your Ancestry password. We will never ask for it. A tree link, public username, viewer invite, or GEDCOM export is all we need. Privacy

Do you (or a family member) have an Ancestry.com account?

Family trees often include living people. We use living people's details only for your project and never publish them without consent. Online trees are treated as leads, not proof.

6. Anything else that might help (optional) Anything else that might help (stories, places, surnames, tips)

Family stories, nicknames, spelling variants, towns, churches, where records might be, what you'd love the book to include.

We treat stories as leads to check, not as facts — that's how the book stays trustworthy.

7. How would you like your book? PDF — a finished, print-ready digital book PDF + printed book — the PDF plus a printed, bound copy shipped to you

Where should we ship the printed book? (You can update this on your project page before it prints.) Privacy

Ship-to name * Address * Address line 2 (optional)

City *

State / region *

ZIP / postal code *

Country *

Phone for the carrier (optional)

8. A few promises we ask of each other * I understand the book may involve living people. Their details are used only for this project and are not published without their consent. Privacy * For any photos or documents I share, I've told you honestly what I know about where they came from and whether I have the right to share them.

See Our promises — what we promise, and what we don't.

9. Your Family Reading Room login

When your draft is ready you'll read it in your Family Reading Room — a private page on our website — and leave notes right beside the text. Choose a username and password now; you'll use them to see where your book is and to review your draft. Family members can get their own login later (they can leave notes; only you approve).

Username *

3–40 lowercase letters, numbers, dots or dashes.

What should we call you? (optional)

Password *

At least 10 characters. Don't reuse your Ancestry or email password.

Type it again *

Your password is scrambled (one-way) on this page before anything is saved, so the order file below never contains it and we can't read it. Forgot it later? Reply to any email from us and we'll reset it.

Next you'll review your order. Nothing is charged here, and your answers stay on your computer. Work on your book starts only after we confirm your order with you.

Preview — what we'd receive

✓ Looks complete. This is what we'd receive with your order. No payment was taken and nothing was sent.