I. To get started together:
1. First, we can schedule a free, 30-minute, exploratory conversation together if you have an idea, or two in mind. We can start to see if there’s a project that might work for us.
2. If we proceed, we will schedule a longer 1-hour consultation ($60) together.
If we proceed, we will schedule a longer 1-hour consultation ($60) together to determine the potential scope of your book. At the end of this conversation, I will use the details of my notes to work up and forward you a formal quote, indicating the cost to complete your personalized Family Heritage book.
$60.00
3. If the quote is acceptable, a basic contract will be emailed for you to review and sign. And your payment of half of the production costs will initiate my work on your Family Heritage Book.
4. Time to celebrate! When I finish your book, your payment of the second half of the production costs will allow you order as many copies of your personalized Family Heritage book as you want!
II. The market for family heritage books?
The Market? To give you a sense of the market, there are two common models to create these unique family heritage books. The first is a “StoryWorth” model, where the actual work is outsourced to you. If you are capable of it, that is a phenomenal model, but it is also a lot of work, especially from scratch. And there is the “boutique” model where costs often start at $15,000 to $25,000. Our goal is to provide you with access to high-quality family heritage books -fitting with the boutique model- but much more affordable. Click here to read more through my, “How Do We capture the Most Meaningful Things We Know?” post.
III. A common price-range if you hire us?
To give you a sense, a common $ range associated with a 25-30 page family heritage book of your own might be:
- A 25-30 page book is usually about a full week of work.
- So, 40 hours, at $75 per hour.
- About $3,000*.
*Please note: Your actual book’s cost can only be determined after our 1-hour consultation. All printing costs are separate. And, additional services like interviews with additional family members can be added, at any time, upon request, at $60/hour. So can focused research (at the same rate -$60/hr.).
- FYI: I have done 200+-page family heritage books, but I generally recommend that the scope of your book fits within a 25 to 30 page range. Costs vary, depending on a book’s design, particularly the text-to-visual patterns. If big display images/photographs are a consistent part of the design pattern, longer books are possible (40+ pages) for a similar cost estimate.
- Once we finish a book/project together, I’ll have it on file and you’ll have access to the digital version. So future edits can be made yourself if you want to include more, or new information. Or, you can hire me at a reduced rate $60/hr. to make future edits, or additions.
IV. This work includes (not an exhaustive list):
- Multiple interviews and follow up conversations with you via phone, or video-chat, and/or email (depending on your preferred method of communication).
- Here is the key step … The process of collecting digital versions of your family’s relevant archival information (photographs, letters, etc.) via email. Digital versions are preferred for safety reasons (not losing originals in the mail). This process is usually done by a set deadline (two to four weeks?) that is predetermined by us together. The added advantage of this process is that you’ve also secured these files for your family through the process of digitizing them!
- I can crop and zoom in on digital files. But, this process also often involves re-formatting and regularizing the relevant digital files for use. Depending on the project, there may be about 100 digital archive files (or more). These are not just photographs of your family, but also digital representations of artifacts, or documents like census records, etc. If I have access to an Ancestry site, I can digitize those files. But, all personal, family files must be located, secured (from other family members), and digitized by you. Are you, or who in your family would be good to recruit to complete this process efficiently?
- Gaining access to and then studying relevant sources of information, like ancestry site, etc.
- Working with you to label, date, name the family members and describe the relevant contexts for all of the family photographs included in the book.
- Creating a map, or maps (up to 3) of the relevant places that your family may have lived.
- Building unique representations of your family tree, that represent and emphasize the book’s final focus.
- An extensive review and then analysis of key themes in your available content -including your own stories about the nature of your family knowledge/information, your ongoing questions, your existing family tree information, and any family archive information, or stories, etc.
- Establishing and then drafting a compelling narrative arc, or a series of organized vignettes for your book.
- Formatting and designing the content of your book based on emerging patterns in the combinations of story-narration to digital file (photographs) ratios.
- Revising the stories/themes based on the formatting and design parameters.
- Once the story, or themes are set out, working to additionally condense the relevant information (text and photographs) into fewer pages, while maintaining a consistent design aesthetic.
- A client feedback and review process -pre-print- which is a chance for you to study a full draft to offer feedback, edits, and additions.
- A final edit and review session. Revisions, as necessary.
Ordering, printing, and shipping!
A lifetime of appreciation and enjoyment for your whole family!
