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AFFLILIATIONS:
Association of Personal Historians (USA), Oral History Association (USA), International Biographical Center (UK), The PEN Club (Japan). Legacy Memoirs is an imprint of Breakthrough Seminars, Inc. (Japan)
Updated September 20, 1999
I Decided to Make the Publishing of
Personal History My Life's Work
Apart from writing my father's life story, I also wanted to record my mother's memories. I would someday want to publish my own memoirs, of course, and those of my wife. The bookshelf I envisioned had room for the stories of my sister, my brother, my cousins, and their spouses. Why not all of our in-laws too? It was becoming clear to me that this was not simply a one- or two-year project.
BY THOMAS AINLAY JR., PUBLISHER
It is so easy to procrastinate. The more clear my vision became, the more I realized what a truly "big idea" it was. Everyone deserves the opportunity to record a life story!
The sheer size of this concept kept me from taking my first steps for quite a while. Perhaps this could be my retirement plan, I thought. I'd continue in my day-job as a direct marketing professional and gradually develop the skills and knowledge I needed. I would wait until I became eligible to take an early pension, then I would make it my life's work.
That became "Plan A." My preparations became methodical. I attended a four-day seminar called VisionQuest to help clarify and focus my intentions. Even though I already had many of the skills needed to start a personal history business, I knew that just being a writer was not enough. I needed to learn more about editing, design and production, accounting, taxes and contracts. I began collecting books on starting a business as well as ones on creative nonfiction, memoir-writing and oral history. I attended a course on printing and production. I formed a small company to have the legal basis for creating my publishing venture as a true business. I started writing a business plan. I developed spreadsheets and timelines, proforma profit & loss projections and forms for confidentiality agreements.
In hindsight, it seems a bit odd, but in all that time spent getting ready, I never wrote a single word about my father or talked to my mother about recording her life story. Years slipped away. Years! It's true: tomorrow never comes. I don't know how many many people I talked to about "when" would be the right time to start, even though "now"... this very moment... is the only the time that exists.
Legacy Memoirs
E-mail: legacymemoirs@geocities.com
© 1999, Breakthrough Seminars, Inc.
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