DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!

As if authors don't have enough to deal with given the changing landscape of the publishing industry, there's a new scam afoot. I went to Amazon last evening to check on something and was startled to learn that I had supposedly published a new book two days earlier. 

Someone has used Amazon Digital Services to publish a 37-page Kindle book with my name and part of the title of my actual "Who Do You Think You Are?" companion book. I don't know how this was permitted to happen since I have a long-established author's page at Amazon, but I'm currently using the copyright infringement process (there is no option to cover exactly this situation!) to lodge a complaint and have it removed. 

I've also posted a review to warn folks in the interim.

I count my lucky stars that I am literally the only person in the world with my name, and pity authors with common names who might have more difficulty proving that such a faux-book is an attempt to profit off of them. 

* sigh * If these scammers would use a fraction of their ingenuity doing something useful instead of ripping off hard-working writers, they might actually accomplish something!


Look What's Next to Melissa McCarthy!

I just received my latest issue of Irish America magazine, and I have to say that I'm pretty darn tickled to see an ad for my latest book (Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing) parked right next to Melissa McCarthy - a woman I happen to adore! Doesn't get much better than that! Time to go read about Judy Collins, the 50th anniversary of JFK's visit to Ireland, and Boston Strong.

Seton Shields Genealogical Grant Awarded to Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective

Congratulations to our most recent Seton Shields Genealogical Grant recipient!

Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, has spent ten years journeying through databases, private collections, and museum holdings to find as many photos from the Revolutionary War Generation as possible. So far, she has located over 200 of these images, and some of them are profiled in The Last Muster: Images of the Revolution (Kent State University Press, 2009) and The Last Muster: Faces of the Revolution (in press, 2013). Maureen is now partnering with award-winning Verissima Productions of Cambridge, MA to bring the photos, and the stories behind them, to film. In order to produce and distribute “Revolutionary Voices” they are raising a total of $225,000.

This month's grant award was made in the form of a pledge for this project on Kickstarter. Please consider making a pledge to help get this wonderful project off the ground!

You can apply for a grant here.

"Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" Available Today!

I'm so excited to announce that today is the official birth day of my new book, Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing! It's a collection of my favorite investigatory romps from the past decade (check out what Ken Burns, Stephen Colbert and Kirkus Reviews had to say) and I invite you to watch my first ever book trailer video to get a taste!

I'd love to hear your reactions and would be especially grateful if you could share your comments with fellow genealogists, history buffs, and mystery lovers, as well as post reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. "Likes," Tweets and retweets, +1s and so forth also much appreciated.

Finally, I'd also love it if you'd consider joining me at one of my upcoming events in NJ, PA, MD, VA, AZ, TX, OH, IN, CA and even online (thanks to Legacy Family Tree) – and please let your genealogical buddies know, too! The book, video and my speaking schedule are all available on my freshly hatched website, MeganSmolenyak.com.

 

Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing

Part forensic scientist, part master sleuth, Megan Smolenyak2 has solved some of America's oldest and most fascinating genealogical mysteries. You've read the headlines, now get the inside story as the "Indiana Jones of genealogy" reveals how she cracked her news-making cases, became the face of this increasingly popular field—and redefined history along the way.

How did Smolenyak2 discover Barack Obama's Irish ancestry and his relation to Brad Pitt? Or the journey of Michelle Obama's family from slavery to the White House? Or the startling links between outspoken politicians Al Sharpton and Strom Thurmond? And why is Smolenyak2's name squared? Test your own skills as she reveals her exciting secrets. Whether she's scouring websites to uncover the surprising connections between famous figures or using cutting-edge DNA tests to locate family members of fallen soldiers dating back to the Civil War, Smolenyak2's historical sleuthing is as provocative, richly layered, and exciting as America itself.

"Watch out Watson and Crick! Megan Smolenyak decodes our
fascinating, complicated past in this tour de force of detective work."
— Ken Burns

"Thank you for taking the time to lay out our family map...
You're practically family. You certainly know more about us than we do."
— Stephen Colbert

"This splendid book makes genealogy come alive in the most vivid and compelling manner."
— from the Foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

"Megan is a genealogist's dream, a forensic investigator who can also tell a great story."
— Sam Roberts, The New York Times

"Megan is a blessing to cold-case detectives and a master genealogist."
— Julie M. Haney, Special Agent, NCIS Cold Case Homicide Unit

"Megan . . . is, hands down, America's greatest genealogist, and this book is proof of it."
— Andrew Carroll, editor of the New York Times bestsellers War Letters and Behind the Lines

"The Indiana Jones of genealogy...Megan Smolenyak is a national treasure."
— Buzzy Jackson, author of Shaking the Family Tree

"Megan Smolenyak is the genealogist's genealogist - the go-to person for building
your family tree and solving stubborn historical mysteries."
— Dr. Spencer Wells, Director of the Genographic Project, National Geographic

"In this breezy narrative, Smolenyak allows us to look over the shoulder of a relentless genealogist as she works the puzzle pieces of her craft. Whether unearthing evidence from Internet databases, newspaper offices, court houses, libraries and cemeteries, consulting translators, historians or her vast network of fellow genealogists, pioneering the use of genealogical DNA testing, solving the mystery or occasionally hitting a brick wall, Smolenyak remains wholly committed, curious and cheery, eager to share her methods and excitement."
— Kirkus Reviews, "Bottom-up history from a top-shelf researcher"