Appeal for Material

 
As my computer is causing me some problems today, I thought I'd post a simple appeal for information and/or material for both the blog and a forthcoming publication of mine.  Oo! how exciting, I hear you say.  Anyway, first of all there's the blog...

BI-Gen Blog:

You know the sort of thing I'm after.  News, essentially, of any important developments in the world of family history in the UK or Ireland.  We all like to know of useful new websites, too, of course - as well as any good (or unusual) online articles which you find on your travels.  Almost all the information I tell you about on the blog has been gathered by myself, usually through 'feeds', mailing lists and general 'trawling' of the major genealogical sites - so do try to help out if you can.  But remember, nothing too parochial: we don't want to bore 99.99% of the readership!

Additionally, there are the many commercial concerns out there who are always after publicity for their important new goods, releases, etc.  Though I don't intend to let my blog become weighed down with this sort of thing, I am certainly not averse to featuring major news in this respect - so long as it's of decent general interest.  Anyway, if you've got a 'commercial' announcement to make, get in touch and I'll see what I can do - and you may want to have a look at the 'New Products' tab above.

New Publication

I plan to publish a 'Collection' of genealogical jottings and oddments at some point in the future, and I'm on the lookout for any material of interest.  I fancy it will come out in the late summer, and will probably be the first of a series of such publications - all to be made available in various formats (hard copy, e-book, etc).  I've already collected a lot of material, but am very, very keen to encourage help from my readers.  So please, please, send me anything which you think may be of use to me - and I'm looking for anything, no matter how brief or long, which is funny, sad, poignant or just plain unusual.  An MI, a PR entry, a strange coincidence - and as long as it's something to do with family history.  Non-UK/Irish stuff accepted, too.  If in doubt, then get in touch at micksouthwick@blueyonder.co.uk .

I also have a seed of an idea for a book on the subject of 'Extraordinary Ancestors', which will be a collection of longer articles about folks' strange, unusual, talented, (un)lucky, eccentric forebears.  Get in touch if you think you may have something for me.

In case you're wondering, there'll be no payment on offer for material submitted and published, though if you're submitting something substantial I will certainly throw a free copy or two of the finished book/booklet your way upon publication.  It's not that I'm mean, but rather that I earn virtually nothing from running BI-Gen and I just can't afford it.  When I'm a millionaire in a couple of years time, things may be different!

So, do drop me a line if you've anything which meets any of the above criteria - whether it be for the blog or one of the forthcoming publications.  I need your help!

All best wishes,
Mick.