Unlock the Past authors

Unlock the Past invites interest from prospective authors.

As of April 2012 we:

• have 26 titles in print in our guide book series.
• have at least twelve more books from several new and existing authors in the coming months.
• are just finalising the 2nd annual handbook, History & Genealogy Australia & New Zealand.
• are considering new series - regional research guides and regional history series  - Comments or expressions of interest welcome.

      

Who can become an Unlock the Past author?

• writers who feel they have something to offer in the compact guides.
• speakers who would like to present the substance of their presentations in a more permanent and more substantial form.
• local, family and social historians.
  
  

What subjects are of interest to Unlock the Past?

• for our guide books - anything in the history/genealogy arena that is likely to be of interest to other researchers. See examples of titles from our current list.
• for our annual handbook - a much wider range of topics again including case studies and more specialised topics that may not warrant a separate book. See examples of titles from the contents lists of our first two editions:
  - History and Genealogy 2011: Australia and New Zealand
  - History and Genealogy 2012: Australia and New Zealand

Why publish with Unlock the Past?

• get better recognition for your expertise. Many of our guide book authors have had further speaking invitations from the recognition gained from their book - some at major national events
• get some financial return for your expertise. You may not be able to retire to some tropical paradise from the proceeds but can reasonably expect to earn anything from $100 to $1000 or more a year from each title. In addition you can have your books to sell wherever you speak - another useful revenue stream. Not to mention a welcome convenience for many of your audience
• we offer 20% royalties on all guide book sales made, with quarterly reports and payments
• we offer authors 10 copies of each guide book free and further copies for resale at 60%
• we offer handbook contributors (general interest articles) a quarter page ad free (value $240)
• Unlock the Past publications now have good recognition amongst many - libraries, societies, resellers and individuals. In addition they are prominently featured at ALL events we (and some of our Unlock the Past team members) exhibit at. We would expect to sell perhaps 10 times as many copies of an Unlock the Past guide book as we would the same, or similar, title from any other publisher
  
  

How to publish and prepare your book/article with Unlock the Past

• first of all email alan@unlockthepast.com.au about your proposal, giving some outline and your credentials and details of what you have in mind, including the estimated number of words and illustrations you expect to have
• the length of the article (handbook) or guidebook is fairly flexible to suit the subject
  - most handbook articles are in range 1500-3000 words, but can be outside this
  - most guidebooks range from 20 to 100 pages, with an average of 250-280 words per page when fully laid out with images and opening and closing pages
• please supply text in Word with photos in place to show where they are to go
• photos and other illustrations should be also supplied separately, preferably as TIF or JPG files
• colour illustrations can be used, but this adds to the cost of the book. We prefer to print either the whole book as colour or the whole in black and white. Occasionally we mix the two if there is good reason to include a small number of colour in a book printed black and white
• index - we code this into the text so it can easily be regenerated if we subsequently change the book layout. We can discuss this with you, but there are three main ways to handled this
   - use your Word coded index - if you have one
   - use a Word file highlighed with words to be indexed
   - supply you a PDF or print out for you to mark/annotate with your index requirements
• supply any images you may want considered for the cover, which our graphic designer will set up
• give some thought to the title and image that may be suitable for the cover
• you also need to supply an author biography, photo and a blurb about the book for the back cover. We can email you examples if you have not seen these on our books
• we will do all set up for production, including cover design, assigning an ISBN and handling legal deposit copies. We will supply a finished proof for you to review before we go to print
• your text will be reviewed by one of our Unlock the Past partners, who may get back to you with a few queries or suggestions. We do not usually get involved in editorial changes. We do make it conform to our Unlock the Past house style. If you have never written for publication before we can arrange to have your book reviewed for you.
• all our guide books are printed in relatively short runs as needed, so can be readily updated if necessary