- 8parts, start to finish
- 12printables
- 55tricks, step by step
- InstantPDF download
Sound familiar?
Every December, the same five headaches.
- Half a string goes dark. Again. Same string as last year, and you still can't find the one bulb causing it.
- The breaker trips the minute you plug in the last string, and you're out in the cold flipping it back.
- Your house looks cheap next to the neighbors', and you can't put your finger on why.
- The ladder scares you a little more every year. It should, frankly.
- You dread the electric bill that shows up in January.
Every one of those has a reason, and a fix. Roy spent 46 years finding reasons for a living. This book hands you the fix for each one, in plain words, with the why behind it.
What it costs
Hiring a pro vs. Roy's book
Professional installation
$220 to $684
a season for a typical house. The national average is about $444, and multi-story homes can run up to $1,300. That usually covers the crew putting lights up and taking them down. Next year, you pay again.
Roy's Christmas Lights Book
$37, once
You keep it and use it every Christmas: the plan, the hanging, the fixes, the safety checks and 12 printables.
The honest math: one average professional season ($444) costs about 12 times what the book does ($444 ÷ $37 = 12). Over five Christmases, that's about $2,220 in installation against $37 for the book.
To be fair about it: the book doesn't hang anything for you. You'll do the work and use your own lights (most folks already own plenty). And if your roof is steep or two stories high, Roy will tell you straight to hire that part out. The book then helps you plan it, so you know what to ask for.
Source: HomeAdvisor, “How Much Does Professional Christmas Light Installation Cost?” (2025 cost guide): typical range $220–$684, average $444, multi-story homes up to $1,300. Prices vary by area and house.
Look inside
Real pages from the book
Big print, plain words, and a photo for every trick. Swipe to see more.
What's inside
Everything from the curb to the cardboard
- Part One
Plan It From the Curb
The curb walk, measuring your house, how many lights you actually need, one warm white (about 2700K) and why mixing whites looks cheap, two colors at most, three heights, and the front door as the brightest spot.
- Part Two
Buying the Right Lights
LED vs. incandescent in plain words; mini lights, C7 and C9 bulbs, nets, icicles, rope lights and projectors; reading the box; store-grade vs. commercial-grade; and what not to buy.
- Part Three
Power Without Trouble
Watts, amps and volts explained like you're 12. What one 15-amp circuit can safely carry (1,800 watts, and keep a long-running load to about 1,440). Breakers, GFCI outlets, extension cords, drip loops, timers, and what it costs to run, worked out with your own electric rate.
- Part Four
Hang It Like a Pro
Ladder setup and safety, a clip every 12 inches, rooflines and peaks, windows, doors and columns, bushes, tree trunks wrapped tight, walkways, wreaths, spotlights, and the indoor tree (about 100 lights per foot).
- Part Five
Fix It Fast
Testing every string on the kitchen table first, why half a string goes out, finding the bad bulb, the little fuses in the plug, a whole string dead, GFCI trips in the rain, flickering, and when to throw a string away.
- Part Six
Safe and Sound
Fire safety, never stapling through a cord, inflatables in the wind, pets and grandkids, timers at bedtime, when to hire out roof work, ice and snow, and lights near a real tree.
- Part Seven
Taking It Down and Next Year
Winding lights on cardboard so they never tangle, labeling by location, photographing the house first, storage, and what to buy in the after-Christmas sales.
- Part Eight
12 Printables
House measuring sheet, light calculator, circuit load worksheet, cost-to-run calculator, shopping list, string test log, curb-walk checklist, timer schedule, hanging-day and safety checklists, storage labels and an after-Christmas sale list.
Get the book
Roy's Christmas Lights Book
$37 US, one payment
- 140 pages in large, easy-to-read print
- 8 parts and 55 step-by-step tricks
- 12 printables you can print at home
- Plug-in products only. It tells you when to call a licensed electrician.
30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. If the book isn't for you, email roybellbook@gmail.com within 30 days and you get every cent back.
Secure checkout by Stripe. Card details never touch this site.
A note from Roy
I hung my first Christmas lights in 1962, on my folks' house. A few years later I started my union apprenticeship, and I spent the next 46 years as an electrician.
You'd think that would make me good at Christmas lights. In 1968, our first Christmas married, I put up six hundred bulbs in every color, blew the fuse for the whole house, and came inside proud as a rooster. My wife Marjorie asked, “Roy, did you go and look at it from the street?” I hadn't. I've finished every display from the curb ever since.
Last December, on our Christmas drive, I kept a notepad on my knee and wrote down why the cheap-looking houses looked cheap. It's hardly ever the money. It's a handful of small mistakes anybody can fix.
So I put it all in one book: the planning, the hanging, the fixing and the keeping safe. Plug-in stuff only. Where a job needs a licensed electrician, I'll tell you so, plain as day.
Roy Bell
Questions
Before you buy
Is this a printed book?
No. It's an e-book: a PDF file you download the moment you pay. Instant PDF download to your phone, tablet or computer. No physical book is mailed. You can print any page you like at home, and the printables are made for exactly that.
What can I read it on?
Your phone, tablet or computer. Nearly every one of them opens a PDF without installing anything. The print is large, and you can zoom in. After you pay, you get a download page with big buttons and simple steps for opening it.
Do I need to buy new lights?
No. Most of the tricks work with the lights you already own. If you do go shopping, Part Two tells you what's worth buying and what to leave on the shelf.
Do I need to be handy?
No. If you can plug in a string of lights, you can follow this book. Every trick is step by step, in plain words, with the reason it works.
Is this safe for me to do myself?
The book sticks to plug-in products only. It never asks you to open, rewire or change a string, outlet, panel or breaker. Where something needs more than resetting a breaker or a GFCI outlet, it says “call a licensed electrician.” It also tells you honestly when roof work is better hired out.
What if I don't like it?
You get your money back. It has a 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. Email roybellbook@gmail.com and the refund is processed within 2 business days.
This year, walk out to the curb and smile.
Planned, hung, fixed and kept safe, by a man who's done it every Christmas since 1962.
Free printable
Not ready yet? Get my free Light Calculator.
One page that works out how many lights you need for your rooflines, bushes and trees, before you spend a dime. I'll email it to you.