The process
Due to the very personal nature and individual needs of each family,
process and pricing can change, but these are the basic elements:
Step 1: Free Consultation
I come to your’s or your parent’s home to discuss the book, how the process works, share ideas about size, look and focus. I answer any questions, address any concerns and once we decide to work together, we’ll sign a formal contract, and begin to work!
Step 2: Interviewing
We schedule a time and place that’s comfortable and convenient for your parents, usually in their home. I can also interview spouses, children, grandchildren, other family members and friends.
Recording your parent’s life story can seem daunting. Working with a skilled interviewer turns the process into something exciting and often quite therapeutic. Telling their life story to a trained non-family member who listens well and asks good questions often draws out a fuller, more revealing story than they might remember on their own.
The story will be told by them, in the first person, and my role is to package it in plain, readable, compelling English, making sure the main points are stressed and that what is likely to be significant in a hundred or two hundred years’ time is indeed preserved in the most memorable and authentic way.
This is not like buying a product over the counter. It’s not instant, or clicking a button. IT’S ABOUT CAPTURING YOUR PARENTS’ ESSENCE. What it is that makes them tick, ask those questions – yes, maybe the difficult ones, too – pull out the old photos and talk to them about their lives, the stories and the hopes they have for their children and grandchildren.
And then it’s putting all that into a clear, cohesive and compelling text and designing a book fitting for your family to treasure for generations.
And if that sounds too daunting, time consuming or even painful, it is 😊.
That’s what I’m here for.
Step 3: Transcribing
After the interviewing is completed, the recordings are transcribed word for word. Don’t worry though, once I have shaped these transcriptions into a text, you will approve everything before we go to print.
Step 4: Crafting the Text
Here I take the interview transcripts and work them into a chronological and cohesive text. I usually have questions to ask along the way (confirming facts, names, dates, etc.) and once I have a first draft I will send it to you – or a family contact of your choosing – for review. Now is the best time to point out inaccuracies, to add details, etc.
Step 5: Book Design and Layout
At the same time as we’re working on the text, the designer is working on the layout and presenting your photos and documents in the most complimentary fashion. Some photos may need restoration work, others may need captions. The better quality the photos, the better they will look in the book. Again, we won’t put anything in that you don’t want. Ask. And if you want a particular look or color scheme, let me know.
Step 6: Putting Text and Design Together
After we incorporate your changes, we’ll now send you the next version for your comments and corrections. This stage sometimes involves a few exchanges as pages change, photos are moved, you suddenly remember an important event, you think that sentence might offend Aunt Sadie, etc. For this reason it is important to have a reliable and efficient family contact to coordinate this information, make sure all corrections are made and that the book is exactly what you want your great-great-greats to look at with pride.
Step 7: Cover Design
We will also be working on your book cover and title. Again, you will be full partners in these decisions.
Step 8: Proofreading and Approval
Once you and me have gone through the entire book yet again and checked and approved all text, facts, photos, captions etc., we can go to print! You will sign off on print approval and wait expectantly for the final result, rather like a baby’s birth!
Each family is different but the average time from Step 1 to Step 8 is approximately 9-10 months.
The Final Step: Printing, Binding and Delivery
There are a number of attractive binding options and you can order as many copies as you want. People generally print 50-100 for family and close friends. We will deliver your books to your chosen address. Depending on the production process and your geographical location, this stage can take up to a month.
Your Investment in Your Family’s Future
Once we have discussed the parameters of your specific book, I will be able to give you an accurate cost. We have a flexible payment scheme.
Sometimes it’s easier, faster, more convenient and less emotional for someone else to do the work for you. Especially if that someone has professional experience in creating these kinds of books.
Over 30 so far…
It’s actually quite an energizing, bonding and revelatory experience. I interview them and whoever else we agree on, help record the memories, the stories, the bad times and the good. Your parents and you will decide what goes in and what to leave out. Together we look through photos and documents, trigger memories and discuss the wisdom and values that have made your father or mother into the people they are. And once we have all the material, we put it all together to create a beautiful work of art for each member of your family to treasure – FOREVER.
