Exploring DIY Family History Book Services: Options, Costs, and Pros & Cons
September 25, 2024
Family history is one of the most rewarding projects you can start. For most people, it’s not just about creating a book of family history; it’s also about sharing stories, values, and lessons with future generations.
Several services have been created to help you write and organize a family history book without hiring a professional writer. One of the more popular options, Storyworth, allows you to collect family stories for an affordable fee, and there are several others that offer varying degrees of help.
If you want to document the story of your family or uncover your ancestry, this blog will guide you through a series of services that provide you with a step-by-step process to write a family history book, the costs involved, what the finished product looks like, and whether you should choose a DIY service over a ghostwriter.
3 Pros of Using DIY Family History Services
DIY family history services can help you tell the story of your family if you are not hiring a professional genealogist. They provide a simplified approach to tell your family story. This includes making it accessible to people with little or no writing experience and no prior genealogy experience. Here are some of the advantages to using a DIY family history service.
1. Affordability and Accessibility
Cost might be an important driver in your decision to use a DIY family history service vs. hiring a ghostwriter and/or genealogist.
Providing a family history through a paying service—whether by hiring a professional family history writer or through ghostwriting services—can be very costly.
Both of these alternatives can cost thousands of dollars for a full family history.
In comparison, Storyworth costs $99 per year, and MyHeritage starts at $35 per year.
That price includes weekly prompts, editing services, and a professionally bound book at the end.
These apps are also reasonably priced and accessible. You don’t need a degree to start writing about your family history. In fact, many DIY services are geared toward people with few writing skills and little training.
They offer simple prompts and intuitive interfaces to guide you through the process. Anyone can take the first small step.
2. Flexibility With Timelines
There’s also the advantage of timing. If you decide to work with a nonfiction ghostwriter, they often need you to produce story materials at a particular time or work within a project timeline, if you want to make your established deadline. But with DIY services, you can do things in your own time. You might have an hour a week or just a few hours a month. You’ll be able to finish your family history book in your own time.
This flexibility is a big advantage, especially for those with packed schedules or anyone who’d rather take their time gathering their stories and memories. With DIY, there’s no need to rush hiring someone or feeling pressured to put your family’s life stories on paper. With DIY services, you can take as much time as you need to make sure the stories you gather and share truly reflect your family’s history.
3. Easy-To-Use Platforms Designed for Beginners
DIY family history services are designed for ease of use. Services such as Storyworth and MyHeritage are built to accommodate people with no writing or genealogical research experience. They are easy to use: Prompts are pre-created for you, and there are step-by-step guides to collect and organize the stories.
For example, Storyworth sends you a weekly email prompt, with questions designed to nudge you along as you tell your story.
You simply type your answers to the questions, and as you go along, the answers are compiled into a professionally bound book. T
he site has a minimalist feel, which makes it easy to operate. It’s the perfect site for someone who wants to create a family history book with little effort.
Similarly, MyHeritage provides an easy way to construct a family tree and genealogical research into your family history project. The tools are user-friendly and anyone who hasn’t used them before can navigate their way around, making sense of the information, and recording it.
3 Cons of Using DIY Family History Services
While DIY family history services have many benefits, there are some possible drawbacks to be aware of if you are trying to create a comprehensive or professional family history book, or if you have other needs that could be affected. Here are some of the main drawbacks of DIY services for your family story.
1. Limited Customization Options
Without custom printing, the primary negative of DIY services is that you are constrained to whatever choices are pre-programmed into their system.
Plenty of the DIY services offer structured prompts and questionnaires or templates with only limited options for customization.
While this is a great way for people who don’t know where to start to get their feet wet, if you want to have some level of creativity in crafting your family history book to fit your unique vision, you’ll want to avoid the more rigid platforms.
To take a specific example, although you can add photos and tweak some of the questions with Storyworth, the actual look and feel of the final product is fairly standardized.
However, when you hire a ghostwriter to craft your story, you have full control over how that story looks and reads—from cover design to detailed, personalized narratives.
If you want to produce a really personal, bespoke, and high-quality book that reflects your family’s particular story, the customization of DIY services might feel like too much of a constraint.
2. Potential Lack of Depth or Professional Polish
Another limitation is that the resulting product might be only skin-deep, an uncomplicated overview of your loved one’s memories and adventures, which might or might not do them justice. Using a service such as Storyworth is a great way to collect your grandparents’ anecdotes, but the set questions might collect only surface-level material.
Ghostwriting services, on the other hand, are more bespoke. When you hire a ghostwriter, you’re working with someone who can go further into your family’s story, conduct more thorough interviews, and get all the little details right. A nonfiction ghostwriter can also blend your stories together in a way that works and make your book seem more polished than with DIY platforms.
If members of a family might be looking for a polished, professional, thoroughly researched narrative, then DIY services might not be able to provide what they’re looking for.
3. Quality Concerns Such as Formatting or Design Limitations
“You get what you pay for” is a common worry among users of DIY services. Some family historians express doubts about the quality of the product they get when they work with a service like Storyworth or MyHeritage that makes it easy to create a book but doesn’t offer editorial or design oversight.
For example, Storyworth converts your stories into a hardcover book, but the design options are sorely lacking:
All the line breaks and fonts are set for you by the platform, leaving you with little to no say in the visual layout of your book, which can feel more like a blank template instead of a fully fleshed-out, customized creation.
For a higher price, you’ll likely have the option to work with a designer, which is something you’ll often get when you hire a ghostwriter or work with professional family history writers
These companies often have partners who can create beautiful, well-formatted books that read and look the part.
If it’s the aesthetics of the book that you care about, you might not be satisfied with the limitations of a DIY service, compared to a ghostwriting service that can offer that bespoke experience.
When To Consider Hiring a Ghostwriter for Your Family History Book
For many of us, writing a family history book is a labor of love, a deeply personal project that holds a special significance for the family. DIY websites are certainly convenient and affordable, but they may not incorporate the customization or detail you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive, polished, and emotionally impactful book, you may be ready to hire a ghostwriter.
Benefits of Working With a Professional Family History Writer or Ghostwriting Services
One of the biggest benefits of having a ghostwriter is the professional expertise they bring to the project. Family history ghostwriters specialize in turning your stories and memories into a narrative that fits together like a puzzle.
A ghostwriter is a professional researcher and storyteller who is well-equipped to ensure your family history is not only true but also interesting to read.
Furthermore, with ghostwriting you don’t have to do the writing yourself, a relief if you don’t enjoy it or are too busy to do it.
A professional family history writer can conduct the interviews, research the facts of your past, and organize all those memories to make a seamless story—you don’t need to worry about carrying the weight alone.
If you take the ghostwriter path, you’re not just hiring a writer.
You’re hiring a collaborator who will help you preserve a family legacy for the future in a way that will be relatable to your descendants.
Customization, Depth, and a Personal Touch From Ghostwriting Services
Perhaps the most significant advantage of hiring a ghostwriter is the level of customization and depth that can be achieved through their craft. Because DIY platforms have to work within a predetermined framework of chapters and sections, readers of such books are forced to accept certain conventions. With a professional ghostwriter, however, every element of your book will be crafted for your specific needs, and with your input. You’ll have the opportunity to work closely with the writer, ensuring that the tone, style, and structure of the book is a true reflection of your family’s story.
This level of customization gives you more scope for examining your family’s history. Your ghostwriter will be able to write more than just anecdotes—a thicker story that examines your family’s heritage, values, and traditions. They will use interviews and research to unearth the feelings, struggles, and successes of your ancestors, and add layers of meaning that a DIY service might not.
Furthermore, the personal touch that comes with working with a ghostwriter will ensure that it feels like your book, at that personal, family level. The end result is not a random assortment of memories, but a thoughtfully written, well-crafted story that will be treasured for generations.
How To Hire a Ghostwriter and What To Expect
If you’ve concluded that you want to hire a ghostwriter for your family history book, the process is simple: Just find the right person for the job. Here’s how it works.
How To Select the Right Ghostwriter
If the project is nonfiction (which family history inevitably is), look for a writer who specializes in genealogical projects.
If you are going to hire a ghostwriter, you might want to ask your friends or colleagues for recommendations.
You can also look up ghostwriting services through web searches.
Check out the portfolio of their published or unpublished works to get an idea of their writing style.
Initial Consultation
Once you have identified someone who might be a good ghostwriter for you, the process normally begins with a consultation. Here, you will discuss your aspirations for the book, the scope of the project, and your timeline. It’s also a good opportunity to get an idea of how well you and the writer connect, as a good working relationship is critical to a successful ghostwriting project.
Interviews and Research
After the initial consultation, the ghostwriter will begin the research phase, which can include interviewing you and your family members, and conducting historical research to ensure accuracy and depth. This step is essential for a well-rounded narrative that maintains your family legacy.
Writing and Revisions
Once the interviews are done and the research is complete, your ghostwriter will begin writing the story. Expect to review multiple drafts throughout the process to offer feedback on tone, substance, and style. This collaborative process is critical to the end result—the book will reflect your voice, and the story will match your vision. The ghostwriter will revise drafts until the final result is perfect.
Final Product
Once your writer has prepared and edited your text, you will receive the finished family history. Some ghostwriting services offer the option to work with designers or printers to produce a professionally typeset and bound volume that you can distribute among your relatives.
In selecting a ghostwriter to document your family’s stories, you extend a legacy of love that will be passed down through the generations. The book that results will be as beautifully written as it is lasting.
Final Thoughts: Which Option Is Right for You?
DIY family history services or hiring a ghostwriter? The choice depends on your objectives, how much time you have, and your budget. Both options have distinct advantages and disadvantages.
At the end of the day, it really depends on your goals.
If you want a no-fuss, time-saving way to capture family stories and memories, then a DIY service will probably work for you.
If you seek something more robust, a deeper engagement with your family’s past, then a ghostwriter might be the way to go.
It is also important to think about the time you have available.
DIY services allow you to work at your own pace, at times that suit you, while the process of working with a ghostwriter is likely to be more structured, with built-in milestones and deadlines, as well as interviews and revisions.
Also think about the money you have available. DIY services offer a lower upfront investment but represent a more modest level of customization and quality, while ghostwriting services represent a greater investment, but will provide a higher level of customization and quality in exchange.
Ultimately, either approach can help you preserve your family history. Whether the process is DIY or done through professionals, the goal is that your family’s story is documented in a way that is meaningful to you and to future generations.
