The Official Guide to RootsWeb.com
Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Tana Pedersen Lord have just released a new book, "The Official Guide to RootsWeb.com." In fact, it is so new that you cannot yet obtain it in print but you can download an electronic version of it today. The print version is expected to be available within two or three weeks.
This book reportedly will teach you how to put your family tree online, locate valuable research resources, create successful message board posts, search effectively, connect with other users, and much more. The guide also features success stories from members of the RootsWeb community, just like you. The book is full of tips and tricks to help you use RootsWeb effectively.
Myra is the former editor of the RootsWeb Review and co-author (with Tana Pedersen Lord) of The Official Guide to Family Tree Maker 2006. I have read her columns for years and admire her writing style. She explains technical subjects in non-techie English. Tana Pedersen Lord is a contributing editor to Ancestry Magazine and co-author author of The Official Guide to Family Tree Maker 2006.
I haven't seen this book but suspect it is a good one.
The e-book version costs $7.95 and can be downloaded right now from
http://www.lulu.com/content/776051. If you prefer, you can pre-order a printed copy of the book for $12.95 at http://tinyurl.com/2wgqqe. The book will ship as soon as it becomes available, promised before the end of April. (Your credit card will not be charged for the print book until it ships.) A portion of the proceeds from print copy sales from the RootsWeb Store will go to RootsWeb.com.
Well, I just tried to purchase this new Rootsweb book, hoping for an immediate download. That "Lulu"-named site for ordering, apparently a self-publishing place, was a mess with receiving monies and kept responding that the country code was in error, then it seemed to go through - but no download available. After I gave all the CC info, naturally. Finally, I connected an online customer service, wanting to know if my funds had gone through or were being duplicated in entries, and where was my download (I am not unfamiliar with this process) and they replied that now I have to wait 'within 2 days' to even know if they secured my money - or could tell me anything re my download. Huh? So much for getting a jump on doubtless a fine product with any immediate download, understandably much less skeptic about attempting any reorder. They issued me an ID number for the online-chat, as a reference, but that sure doesn't help. Here's the last reply -
John H: "There seems to be quite a problem here. I have issued a ticket for this and pass to the Techs. They will get back to you within 2 working days to sort this out for you. "
Great. I am only passing this along, as my own immediate experience with an previously-unknown place that I was led to by clicking above link provided. Perhaps an isolated incident, and I sadly am the one left without said download, or possibly with less funds. Nevertheless, if it happened to another, I'd appreciate them letting me know to be cautious, if nothing else.
Posted by: Barbara | April 12, 2007 at 09:01 AM
Barbara,
I have been using LuLu.com for about 2 years now, both as a publisher and a purchaser of other's products. Including Dick Eastman's download products. I have never had a problem with LuLu. I hope this will give you some sort of comfort level that they will resolve the problem.
Dave
Posted by: Dave | April 12, 2007 at 10:17 AM
I just tried to order the book on line and it would not carry the item over to check out. Tried 4 times. So I called customer service and they can't even find the item to preorder. What a mess.
Posted by: Sylvia | April 12, 2007 at 10:17 AM
The download worked fine for me. And my first look indicates that the electronic version is worth the money it cost. In fact I prefer to have it in electronic version even if it was the same cost. My only suggestion would be to read the instructions and do not assume that the link works exactly like the last site you visited. I followed the instructions and it worked perfect. The download took less than a minute, over the cable.
Posted by: Dalton J. Nix | April 12, 2007 at 10:55 AM
I'm not trying for the ebook. I'm trying to preorder the hard copy. Now the site says its down for maintanence.
Posted by: Sylvia | April 12, 2007 at 11:17 AM
Yes, Lulu is a vanity press. I am sorry to say that having to publish with Lulu instead of a real publisher does not suggest a high quality book :-(
Posted by: jan devries | April 12, 2007 at 12:02 PM
If you go to http://www.lulu.com and log in (right under the logo on the left-hand side) with your email address (ie: russhannig77@hotmail.com) -there is a link to "Live Help" in the "My Account" tab in the orange bar on the left-hand side. If you click on "Live Help" a representative from Lulu can complete the order for you - I just chatted with them regarding my order and they were very helpful and easy to work with.
Posted by: Russ Hannig | April 12, 2007 at 12:06 PM
I doubt that Lulu is a "vanity press". Those are the ones an authors pays to publish his or her book. It may be a small press (I don't know), but that doesn't make it not a "real publisher."
Posted by: Margaret L Smith | April 12, 2007 at 05:41 PM
Lulu is a print-on-demand publisher, not a vanity press in the traditional use of that term. There are some significant differences between print-on-demand books versus books published by a vanity press. In this case, one major difference is that authors do not pay in advance to have a book published.
I use Lulu to publish the Plus Edition articles of this newsletter and have been delighted with the service. (See http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=641694 to see what I have been doing.) Lulu has been problem-free for the past 8 or 9 months or so since I started using the service. I have also purchased 2 or 3 books written by other people from Lulu, again with no problems.
- Dick Eastman
Posted by: Dick Eastman | April 12, 2007 at 06:14 PM
P.S. I just checked the links again and they are both working perfectly: The e-book version costs $7.95 and can be downloaded right now from http://www.lulu.com/content/776051. If you prefer, you can pre-order a printed copy of the book for $12.95 at http://tinyurl.com/2wgqqe .
Posted by: Dick Eastman | April 12, 2007 at 06:17 PM
Lulu is a print-on-demand vanity press. Of course, Luly and its clients are not likely to admit that...
Posted by: Miriam Stockley | April 15, 2007 at 02:56 AM
I also had trouble the first time I tried to check out, stating that there was a problem with my country ID. The second time I just scrolled the U countries until it came back to the US, selected it, and had no problem. I don't use Internet Explorer, so that might also be a consideration. I hope this helps!
Posted by: Rev. Diane Mettam | April 17, 2007 at 07:50 PM
Interestingly they did not protect this PDF at all. I can fully edit and change it. That is a pretty basic thing for a publisher to fail to do
Posted by: Jim L | April 26, 2007 at 02:19 PM
As a follow up there are a number of PDF creation problems with this that any person with a passing knowledge of PDF creation would not have let happen. Lulu needs to take a bsic class in proper PDF creation.
Posted by: Jim L | April 26, 2007 at 02:24 PM