There are a myriad of ways to preserve and share your family memories, from scrapbooks to photo albums to computer files. A method that is not often considered, though, is a hardbound book made bybookbinding your manuscript. Books are wonderful because they convey permanence and importance, and they can tell any story in any fashion you desire. So why isn't this method of preservation often considered?  In the past the deterrents have been expense, the uncertainty of where to get a single or a small number of copies bound, as well as the belief that the material must be a "e;great work"e; to warrant the importance of a hard cover bookbinding. But as we've said, that's all in the past.

Here's how easy it is. You write your book or scan your pictures or child's drawings, print it out and we'll bind it into an affordable, beautiful hardcover book using bookbinding processes certified by the Library Binding Institute. Here's a brief description of the bookbinding process, followed by a few topic ideas for your book.

The Process
The beauty of bookbinding is that whatever you print out on your paper can be bound. What's on the paper is up to you! This is your part in the process... creating your book and printing it out on paper (a link for manuscript preparation rules can be found at the end of this article). It doesn't have to a tome either, as few as 20 pages can be hardbound. Your next big decision is to decide on cover material and color (click hereto see choices). Oh, and very importantly, a title to imprint on the cover.

Your manuscript is first notched on the spine edge for improved glue adhesion, resulting in a strong bond. End papers are placed on each side and the spine glue applied. After drying overnight, the edges are trimmed slightly to create a clean, even finish, followed by "e;rounding and backing"e;, which provides shape to the spine and the hinge effect when the cover boards are applied.

The cover boards and spine are cut to match your manuscript. Your chosen cover material is glued to the boards, then folded and squared to complete the cover unit. That title you selected earlier is then imprinted on the cover.

The manuscript and cover unit come together by gluing, followed by a machine press. The press provides sufficient force and time to allow the glue to set, and create the groove on either side of the spine (i.e., the hinge). After a final inspection, your book is finished. It will look just like a commercially bound book, and since only acid free materials were used in the binding process, it will last for many generations to come.

Topic Ideas
Your book can be whatever topic or subject you desire. It can be your family history, your spouse's poems, a compilation of stories, family or event pictures, and so forth. Nor does it have to be "e;novel-like"e;; a bunch of scanned pictures with captions could be done. With today's word processing software, you can do just about anything you want. Here are some suggestions:

• Family History: In its simplest form, this could be a printout of one of the many reports available ingenealogy software. If you're more ambitious, write a narrative rendition of your family history, complete with scanned in pictures, maps, documents and the like. Of course, something between these two possibilities can be done, or combined with any of the other ideas suggested in this article.
  
• Family stories: Put in writing the past and present stories of your family. Add a few scanned in pictures of the subjects or the "e;story teller"e; to make the stories come alive.
  
• Family recipes: Write down everyone's favorite recipes. Add pictures of the dish or contributor with a short bio.
  
• Your child or grandchild's personalized book: Write a book for and about your child or grandchild with all of the characters and pictures consisting of family and friends.
  
• Decades of family holidays, family times, vacations, or years gone by: Scan pictures and include all the stories that went along with those years.
  
• Pictures: Scan or digitize your pictures and put them to paper. Add some captions and you can create a wonderful treasure.
  
• Poems: Take that book of poems you or your loved one have written and give it permanence.
  
• Special Writings: Have you written a bunch of short stores? Maybe a novel? Or maybe a non-fiction topic? Print it out and get it bound for posterity.

 For permission to reprint this article,visit our "e;Reprint"e; page.