Free consultation

If you think you want to do a project with us, you may always call us to talk over your ideas. We are happy to help you explore our packages and see which of our services fit your needs. Please contact us to set up your free, no obligation, 45-minute consultaion.

Getting acquainted

The formal start of every project consists of an initial interview. Actually, it is just sitting and talking with you about your family, what you expect of us, what we can offer you, and what you want in your book. Getting to know you and your family allows us to create a book that reflects your family’s qualities and values. In addition, the stories you tell us often contain clues that lead us to information that assists us in our research and adds meaningful detail to your book. When possible, we prefer to meet with you in person. When that is not feasible, we can meet via video chat or phone.

Getting our facts straight

Because we want to give you our full attention during our initial interview with you, and because the stories you tell us often contain clues that become very important to our research, we will probably ask if we can record our meeting together. This allows us to focus our attention on listening to you, rather than taking notes. We may ask to record some subsequent fact-filled conversations, as well. Be assured that we will always clearly ask your permission before recording any conversation, you may ask us to stop recording at any time, and we will always will delete the recording as soon as we finish your project, if not before. You may read more about how we handle your information in our Privacy Policy.

Making a plan

During our initial interview, we will make a research plan with you. (Even if you bring your own information, we still need to plan our historical, location, and image research. Learn more about Research and Research Plans in our Glossary.) This is when we talk together to determine your priorities and what is feasible to accomplish within the parameters of your resources and ours. Then we will discuss the next steps for each of us to take.
After this meeting we will send you a written research plan and formal price quote.

Diagnostic research report

If your project includes a Diagnistic Research component or Research Block, we will meet with you again when we have finished that research to refine your project plan, based upon what we discovered in our research.

Getting to work

Then we get to work on your book. We will keep you informed of any significant developments along the way. You are also free to contact us at any time if you have questions or additional ideas. We find that we can create a more vibrant, personal book for you if we keep in touch and exchange information along the way. If, during this process either you or we decide to make additions or changes to the original project plan we will provide you with an updated price quote for your approval.

As the work progresses

As the book comes together, we will occasionally ask you to look at sections in case you might remember additional details that would enrich your book. We appreciate your help in this process.

Before going to press

Because you bring special insight into your book, we will ask you to do a final proofreading of your book before we send it to press, even though we will have proofread it countless times before then. You notice things that we don’t. You will be the final proofreader and will give final approval for printing.

Printing

Because these are custom-made, hand-built books, printing alone takes a minimum of two weeks. So, if you are working toward a firm deadline, please allow about 4 weeks between the time that we complete creating your book and its final delivery to you.

Enjoy!

These books are created just for you and are built to last, so we hope that you and your family will enjoy your books for many generations to come!