Memoirs: Bringing a Life Story to Life
Telling your story can be profound, absorbing, and deeply satisfying. While memoir writing is personal, it doesn’t have to be a solitary endeavor. In fact, entrusting the technical details to experienced professionals allows you to concentrate on storytelling—a task that’s uniquely your own.
Services: What can we do for you?
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Creating your manuscript: Write your own story or allow us to write it for you. We provide a full suite of editorial services to make your narrative sparkle.
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Designing your book: Illustrate your life story with photographs and documents. Our designs can showcase your background, heritage, and interests.
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Printing and binding: Choose the materials and quantities of your printed book—and add on a digital version to share with far-flung friends and family.
Case study: More than telling stories
Roberto had always been a natural storyteller, and his daughter, Patricia, wished that he would write a memoir to preserve his experiences. He happily agreed but found that writing was more challenging than anticipated. Patricia could sense his frustration and suggested an alternative.
We set up a weekly schedule of interviews in which he told his life story—sometimes in person, other times via Zoom—a process he began to anticipate with pleasure. The interviews were transcribed, and our ghostwriter turned them into a narrative that was true to his experiences. When the first draft was delivered to Roberto for feedback, he was delighted to see that his reflections had been shaped into an engaging story, one that sounded as if he’d written it himself.
While he worked with our editor to clarify some points and to add material he’d forgotten, Patricia pored over his voluminous photo albums, choosing pictures to illustrate each chapter, a surprisingly emotional experience for both of them. Our art director digitally improved the images and combined all the elements into the book design he’d chosen. As he reviewed the page proofs, Roberto was thrilled to see how his experiences had been turned into a page-turner.
Roberto requested that we print two leather-bound books—one for him and the other for Patricia and her children—as well as an ebook that they shared digitally with cousins abroad. The project inspired the family to host a reunion later that year, just in time for Roberto’s 90th birthday.
Your efforts have given this family a gift beyond measure. —Paul
Family Histories: Connecting Generations
How well do you know your ancestors? Probably not as well as you would like. A family history is a priceless legacy, giving loved ones a sense of belonging that goes far beyond anecdotes and sepia-toned portraits. Tell the story of those who came before you—to honor the past and connect the generations still to come.
Services: What can we do for you?
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Creating your manuscript: Work with our skilled writers, editors, and researchers to commission a page-turning saga. We combine genealogical data, personal insights, and historical context into a fascinating portrait of your family’s journey.
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Designing your book: Choose the vintage documents and photographs that will bring your story to life, and allow us to repair and preserve these precious materials for your archives. Our designers can commission everything from family trees to custom maps to bring out details that might otherwise be lost.
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Printing and binding: A luxurious leather-bound volume would be a spectacular anniversary gift, while a stack of vibrant softcovers makes a thrilling addition to a reunion or holiday table.
Case study: Putting it all together
The Millers’ annual reunion had been a huge success. In addition to the usual chatting and eating, everyone contributed to a handmade family tree using a bin of markers and a giant roll of paper that spanned the length of Josh and Liz’s dining room table.
The project was a surprise hit. The kids’ curiosity brought out way more than names and dates. Grandparents and great-aunts became the center of attention, relating stories and memories that no one had heard before.
By the time the couple approached us with the idea of commissioning a family history, they were overwhelmed. How could they turn all this information into a book?
First, we talked to the Millers about their goals. They wanted to involve as many people as possible, especially the elders whose storytelling was so enthralling. They wanted the kids to understand that they were part of an epic adventure of how their family had made their way to becoming Americans. Most importantly, they wanted the book to be a great read.
We immediately set up interviews with the matriarchs and patriarchs whose recollections would form the book’s foundation. Our ghostwriter sketched an outline of the family’s historic journey to the United States, while our designer analyzed the digitized images, highlighting those that would best tell the story in visual terms. We brought in experts—a genealogist to fill in missing information, a translator to make more of the research accessible, and a family tree coordinator to ensure that all the data would be represented accurately.
When Josh and Liz received the first draft of their family saga, they were amazed that it read like a novel. The dry facts and figures had been transformed into a tale of challenge and struggle—but also resilience and humor.
Dozens of hardcover books were ready for their next reunion. One standout feature was the family tree—now professionally researched and designed. Liz’s favorite moment was when the grandkids went around the table, asking all the elderly family members to sign their copies. It was a book launch unlike any other.
I'm so happy with the book. Everyone who's seen it thinks it's first-class. —LIZ
Business Histories: Beyond Spreadsheets
Any institution—a family business, a foundation, a congregation—is much more than balance sheets and quarterly reports. It’s a shared endeavor, bringing together individual strengths for a larger purpose. It’s the story of people with initiative and vision, and that story can inspire your organization as it plans for the future.
Services: What can we do for you?
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Creating your manuscript: We interview all the key players—from founders to current stakeholders—and research the decisions and events that brought your institution from idea to reality. The result will be an engaging history that showcases what makes it unique.
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Designing your book: We integrate documents, news stories, photos, advertisements, and archival material to tell the story of your organization’s birth and growth. Our designers can create a digital archive of images for future use in marketing and media.
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Printing and binding: Distributing your company’s story to executives and employees can deepen a shared vision. For leaders who do public presentations, an institutional history can be an invaluable tool to highlight your goals and values.
Case study: Finding the way forward
The Chu family were at a point of transition. The business founded by beloved grandparents Henry and Alice was stable and profitable. Their children had done a wonderful job of growing the company, and their grandchildren were full of ideas to take it even further.
Their son, David, however, wanted to ensure that the company’s values didn’t get lost in their desire to modernize. He felt that only by understanding his parents’ lessons could the next generation continue to prosper. But where to start—and how to find the right focus? Everyone had a different idea, and all of them were good.
We arranged interviews with Henry and Alice, separately and together, spending time talking about their influences. How were they raised? What made them tick? What were the significant turning points in their lives? After a few hours, our interviewer noticed powerful themes emerging and asked David if we were on the right track. “Yes!” he said, sounding relieved. “That’s exactly the direction. We just couldn’t pin it down until now.”
The project continued on two tracks: research plus interviews with the next generation and key employees. Using the founders’ words as a jumping-off point, we oriented the project toward transmitting the founders’ lessons, in life and in business.
The book was printed in time for the company’s 50th anniversary party, and stacks of paperbacks were arrayed at a central table like a festive sculpture. Guests—clients, vendors, employees—celebrated with the Chus and went home with their own copies of the book.
The next week, David started getting calls and emails. “People thought they knew my parents, but everyone said that now they really knew them. They were so impressed with everything my parents had accomplished, especially after understanding all the hardships they had overcome.” The grandchildren feature the book prominently in the company’s social media, and a local news outlet soon published a feature story about the multigenerational business.
What had started out as a corporate history had turned into a statement of pride in the family’s shared venture. Henry and Alice—usually too modest to boast about their achievements—found a way to let their values speak for themselves.