What is a Conversation Chronicle book?

We begin the process with a series of casual interviews about your memories, experiences, and reflections. The interview transcripts are then minimally edited to produce a clear, readable text. The result: your direct, authentic voice comes through on every page.

How is a Conversation Chronicle different from a traditional life story book?

Briefly, the Conversation Chronicle is faster, less expensive, and a more direct telling of your stories.

For a traditional life story book, we use raw interviews, family documents, and historical research to craft a polished, chronological, long-form narrative. This type of book demands more interview hours, a great deal of rewriting and revising, longer to produce, and a larger budget.

With a Conversation Chronicle, we do just enough editing to clean up the transcripts without rearranging the content or changing the storyteller's actual words. The final result is more akin to an oral history, with the storyteller's "spoken" voice retained on every page. The typical project can be completed in a few months.

Will my photos be included in the Conversation Chronicle?

Yes. You'll have the opportunity to include several batches of photos and captions. These typically appear "ganged" together in two or three sections of the book.

Do I pay separately for book design and printing?

No. The cost of the package includes everything from the first interview through delivery of the bound books.

What is the cost of a Conversational Chronicle book?

The price is $5,900 for a book based on three hours of interviews with delivery of three copies of the book.

Can I increase the number of interviews and/or the quantity of books?

Yes. We would discuss additional costs ahead of time.