Family history book writing services do one of four kinds of work. Prompt services print a parent's own answers, and memoir firms write a book from interviews with the parent. Genealogy firms find the records and write a report, and a few go on to write a book afterward. Some, Zichronos among them, research the family and write and print the book under one commission.
Family history companies sell different things under similar names. Some print a parent's own answers, some write a memoir from interviews, some find records and send a report, and a few research the family and then write the book. This page sets the family history book writing services side by side, with the firms that offer each, what the family receives, how long it takes and what it costs as each firm publishes it.
Key points
- Family history companies do four kinds of work: printing a parent's answers, writing a memoir from interviews, researching records, or researching and writing the book together.
- A prompt book or a memoir holds what a parent remembers, in the parent's words, and is rarely checked against records.
- A genealogy firm delivers a report with copies of the records, and turning it into a book is a separate piece of work.
- StoryTerrace aims to finish a memoir in four to seven months. Legacy Tree Genealogists completes most research projects in four to six months, and any book is written after that.
- At Zichronos the research, translation, writing and printing are one commission, and most commissions take three to four months.
- Ask every firm the same questions in writing, and be wary of any promise about what the archives will find.
The kinds of service at a glance
| Firm | What the family receives | How long it takes | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| StoryworthPrompt book | A year of weekly questions answered by the parent, printed as a hardcover | A year of questions; a hardcover arrives about ten business days after it is ordered | $59 to $199 for the year; extra copies from $39 |
| RementoPrompt book | A year of the parent's answers, printed as one hardcover | A year; about 21 business days to print and deliver the book | $99 for the first year with one hardcover; extra copies from $69 |
| LoristryPrompt book | A year of the parent's answers, as a book | A year of questions; delivery time not published | $49, $99 or $199 a year; the $49 plan gives a digital book only |
| Fill-in journalsBookstore titles such as Grandmother Remembers | A printed book of questions the parent answers on its pages | As long as the parent takes | About $15 to $25 |
| StoryTerraceMemoir firm | A memoir written from interviews with the parent, with four to twenty copies | Five months on its two main packages; it aims to finish every project within four to seven months | From $3,250 with four copies; from $24,000 with twenty |
| Memoir MakerMemoir firm | A parent's own manuscript edited and printed, or a memoir written from interview sessions | Not published | $4,000, $8,500, and from $11,250 |
| LifeBook MemoirsMemoir firm | A memoir written from a series of interviews, with 10 to 24 hardbacks | Interview sessions over six months or more | $18,000, $27,000 or $42,000, which can be paid over six months |
| Legacy Tree GenealogistsGenealogy firm | Research hours, and a printed report with copies of the records | Most projects are completed in four to six months | $3,200 for 25 hours, up to $48,750 |
| ProGenealogistsGenealogy firm | Research hours, and a report | Not published | $2,300 for 20 hours |
| ProGenealogists booksResearch, then a book | A family history book or a shorter book, written once the research is complete | Not published | Books from $31,000 plus printing; shorter books from $8,750 plus printing; research billed first |
| Independent genealogistsRates as the Association of Professional Genealogists gives them | Research by the hour, with a report | Set by each researcher | From $30 or $40 an hour to well over $200, with expenses on top |
| ZichronosA researched book under one commission | Research in the family's papers and the archives, translation, interviews with relatives, writing, design, five hardcovers and a PDF | Three to four months; a first edition in thirty days when the book is needed by a date | Set out in what a family history book costs |
Prices and timelines as each firm publishes them, checked October 2026. They change, so confirm on the firm's own site before deciding. Where a firm publishes no timeline, the table says so.
Prompt books
A prompt service sends a parent a question each week for a year and gathers the answers into a printed book. Storyworth charges $59 to $199 for the year. Remento charges $99 for the first year with one hardcover. Loristry has plans at $49, $99 and $199 a year, and the lowest gives a digital book only.
What the book holds is what the parent chose to tell. The service does not check names and dates against records, and it cannot reach the generations the parent never knew. For a parent who enjoys the questions it is a good start. Storyworth and Remento compared goes further into the differences between them.
Fill-in journals
A fill-in journal is a printed book of questions with space for the answers, such as Grandmother Remembers or Dad, I Want to Hear Your Story, for about $15 to $25. The parent writes in it at his or her own pace, and the finished journal is usually the only copy. It suits a parent who likes to write, and it keeps the parent's own words beside any later book. Legacy books for parents and grandparents compares journals with the other kinds.
Memoir and biography firms
A memoir firm pairs a parent with an interviewer and a writer, who turns the interviews into a book in the parent's voice. StoryTerrace publishes packages from $3,250, with four copies and 60 to 120 pages, to $24,000 and more with twenty copies. Memoir Maker lists $4,000 for editing and printing a manuscript the parent has already written, $8,500 for a memoir written from interview sessions, and from $11,250 for a longer one. LifeBook Memoirs lists $18,000, $27,000 and $42,000, with 10 to 24 hardbacks.
These firms write the parent's story as the parent tells it. Dates and places are usually not checked against records, and letters or certificates in Polish, German, Russian or Yiddish stay unread unless the family has them translated. Hiring a biographer for a parent covers what to ask before choosing a firm or a writer.
Genealogy research firms
A genealogy firm sells research hours, and what the family receives is a report with copies of the records. Legacy Tree Genealogists publishes packages from $3,200 for 25 hours to $48,750 for its largest. ProGenealogists charges $2,300 for 20 hours. The Association of Professional Genealogists says independent genealogists charge from $30 or $40 an hour to well over $200, with expenses such as photocopies, postage and travel billed on top, and each sets a schedule of their own.
A good report says what was searched and how each identification was made. It is written for the family to read, and turning it into a book is a separate piece of work, usually for someone else. Records in other languages add translation, and archives that answer only by letter add fees and months. What genealogists charge goes through the rates of both firms and the questions to ask before hiring a genealogist. For records in Eastern Europe and Germany, how to write to a European archive shows what those requests involve.
Firms that research and then write
A few firms offer both, in two stages. ProGenealogists prices its family history books from $31,000 plus printing, and shorter books from $8,750 plus printing, each written after the research is complete. The research is billed first and separately, so the total is the research and the book added together, with the printing on top.
Some independent personal historians work the same way on a smaller scale and set their own prices, and custom family history books of this kind can be very good. Ask who reads the original records, and whether the research and the book are quoted together or one after the other. What a personal historian does explains how the role differs from a genealogist's.
Printers and family history book publishers
A printer or publishing service prints a book the family has written and designed, and some also lay out the pages and assign an ISBN. The price is per copy, set by the page count and the binding, and nothing is researched or written for the family. Before choosing one, ask for a printed sample in the size and binding you want. Printing a family history book goes through the choices for a family that has written its own.
A researched book under one commission
Zichronos researches a family in the archives that hold its records, then publishes its history as a finished hardcover book. The research, the letters to archives, the translation, the interviews with relatives, the writing and the printed copies are one commission, and archive, copy and translation fees are included. What the family receives:
- The family's papers and photographs read and transcribed, and interviews with relatives.
- A search of the public record collections, and letters to the archives that may hold more.
- The originals read and translated in full, from Polish, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian or any other language.
- The family tree, with every spelling each name takes in the records, and maps of the places in the family's life.
- The history of the family's towns and communities, so the book reads as a story.
- A plain account of what each record proves and what is still unknown.
- A large-format hardcover, typically 150 to 300 pages in full color: five copies and a PDF, and publication on Amazon at no charge if the family wishes.
Premium packages, priced on request, add heirloom-bound copies, sewn and bound in cloth or leather, in a slipcase, made from the updated edition. What a commission costs, beside every other kind of service, is in what a family history book costs, and commissioning a family history book: questions and answers covers how one works.
How the Tarko family history was researched follows that work step by step, and family history book examples shows what each part of a finished book holds.
How long each kind of service takes
Most of the time in a family history goes to the records, and above all to waiting for archives to answer. A book built only from a parent's memories can be quicker, because nothing has to be requested from an archive.
How long does it take to write a memoir?
A memoir from interviews takes months. StoryTerrace says it aims to finish each project within four to seven months, and allows up to nine for delays. LifeBook Memoirs runs its interview sessions over six months or more before the book is finished and printed. The time goes mostly to the interviews and to the drafts the parent reads and corrects. A prompt book takes a year of questions, because the parent answers one a week.
How long does it take to write a biography?
A biography of a parent who has died usually takes longer than a memoir of one who is living, because the writer cannot ask the subject. The book is built from documents and from what relatives remember, and records held by archives abroad can take months to arrive. Few firms publish a timeline for this kind of book, so ask for one in writing.
How long does it take to research and write a family history book?
Research comes first and takes the longest. Legacy Tree Genealogists says most of its research projects are completed in four to six months, and a firm that writes the book afterward adds the writing and the printing to that. Archives answer on their own schedules, and some never answer at all.
At Zichronos most commissions take three to four months. The letters to archives go out early, and the book is built from the records that can be found without waiting on any one reply. Replies that arrive after delivery are read and added to an updated edition.
Some books are needed by a fixed day: the shloshim, a yahrzeit, an unveiling, a milestone birthday or a family celebration. These can be taken on as priority commissions. Within thirty days the first edition is built from the family's papers and interviews and from the record collections that can be searched directly, and printed copies arrive in time for the date. Requests to the archives go out at once. Archives answer on their own schedules, so whatever arrives later goes into an updated edition. A priority fee applies. How we work sets out the steps, and a memorial book by the shloshim explains what thirty days can hold.
When the book is a sefer zikaron
Many frum families make a sefer zikaron, a memorial book, for the shloshim or the first yahrzeit. It often holds divrei Torah in the person's memory, a short life story, letters from children and grandchildren, and photographs. Families usually put it together themselves in a few weeks, and its worth is in the voices of those who knew the person.
A researched family history adds what memory cannot supply: the records of where the person was born and how the family came to be where it is, and the generations before them in their own towns. The two sit well together. A sefer zikaron can be ready for the shloshim with a researched history planned for the first yahrzeit, or a priority commission can build the first edition of a researched book in time for the shloshim itself. What a memorial book is compares the kinds, from a short booklet to a researched family history.
When the family's records are all in English
Many family histories need no archives abroad. For a family whose records are in the United States, Britain or Ireland, much of the record is in English and indexed: the United States census every ten years from 1790, with the 1950 census open since April 2022; passenger lists and naturalization files at the US National Archives; civil registration in England and Wales from July 1837, held by the General Register Office; and Irish civil registration of births from 1864, on the Irish government's civil records site. Much of it can be searched free through FamilySearch, and a genealogist by the hour can fill the gaps.
Which kind of service fits depends on what the family wants at the end. A parent's own story is well served by a prompt book or a memoir firm, and a family tree with sources is the work of a genealogist. A finished book that sets the family in its towns and times, with the records behind each fact, needs research and writing together.
Warning signs when hiring
Most firms in this field do careful work. These are the signs that a quote or a promise needs a second look, whichever kind of service it comes from:
- A promise of what the archives will find. No one can promise that, since archives answer on their own schedules and some never answer.
- An identification made from an index alone. In the example on this site an index read Nuta Marko as Nuta Tarko, and only the original register settled it.
- A quote that is vague about archive charges, copies and translation, or says they will be billed later with no estimate.
- No written scope: which branches, how far back, what is delivered and when.
- Finished work with no sources, or a book that never says what is still unknown.
- No word on how the family's original papers are kept and returned.
How to choose
A few steps narrow the choice quickly, whichever kind of service the family ends up with:
- Decide what the family wants at the end: a parent's own stories, a family tree with its records, or a finished book that reaches back before living memory.
- Find out where the records are. Gather the papers at home and note every language they are written in.
- Pick the kind of service from the table below, then two or three firms of that kind.
- Send each firm the same description of the family and what it wants, and ask the same questions in writing.
- Ask to see finished work, and read it for its sources and for what it says is still unknown.
| What the family wants | The kind of service that fits |
|---|---|
| A parent's own stories, in the parent's words, as a gift | A prompt book or a fill-in journal |
| A polished memoir of a living parent's life | A memoir firm or an independent biographer |
| A family tree with the records behind it | A genealogist or a genealogy firm |
| The family before living memory, from records in other languages | A genealogist who reads those languages and a writer afterward, or a researched book under one commission |
| A finished book with the records, their translations and the history around them, by a fixed date | A researched book under one commission, taken on as a priority commission |
Many families use more than one. A year of prompt-book answers, or long talks with a parent, is good material for a researched book later, since the names, towns and dates a parent mentions are what the archives need. Doing it yourself or commissioning it helps decide whether to do the research yourselves. Each kind of service has its own guides in hiring help, and what it costs.
Sources: the published pricing and help pages of Storyworth, Remento, Loristry, StoryTerrace (with its questions page), LifeBook Memoirs, Legacy Tree Genealogists and ProGenealogists; the Association of Professional Genealogists, on hiring a professional genealogist; the US National Archives, on the census; the General Register Office for England and Wales. Checked October 2026.
Questions families ask
Who writes family history books?
Four kinds of writer do. Memoir firms and biographers write a parent's story from interviews. Genealogy firms find the records, and a few go on to write a book once the research is complete. A small number of firms, Zichronos among them, research the family and write and print the book under one commission. Many families also write their own and take it to a printer.
What companies write family histories?
Among the firms that publish their prices, StoryTerrace, Memoir Maker and LifeBook Memoirs write memoirs from interviews with a parent. ProGenealogists writes family history books once its research is complete, and Legacy Tree Genealogists researches and reports. Zichronos researches the family and writes and prints the book under one commission. The table above gives what each delivers and how long it takes.
What are the best publishers for family history books?
It depends on what the family has. A family that has written its own book needs a printer or publishing service, priced per copy. A family that wants the book written needs a memoir firm for a parent's story, or a firm that researches and writes for the family's history. Ask any of them for a printed copy of a finished book before deciding.
How do I find a reputable personal historian for my family story?
Ask to see finished work, and read it for sources: every fact should be tied to a record, and the book should say what is still unknown. Ask who reads the original records and in which languages, and what the quote leaves out. Many historians and genealogists are listed by professional bodies such as the Association of Professional Genealogists, though membership and certification are separate things.
Can I hire someone to write my family history?
Yes. A memoir writer can write it from your memories and your parents', and a genealogist can find the records behind it. To have both, either hire them in two stages or commission a firm that researches the family and writes the book together. Costs run from a few thousand dollars for a memoir to tens of thousands for the largest research and book packages.
What does a life story company do?
A life story company turns a parent's memories into a printed book. Some send a question a week and print the answers, and others pair the parent with an interviewer and a writer. The result is the parent's story in the parent's words. It is not usually checked against records, so families who want the history behind the story add research, at the same time or later.
How do family heritage publishers help in preserving family stories?
They turn what a family holds into a book that outlasts the people who remember. A good one reads the family's papers and photographs, writes down what relatives say, finds the records behind the stories, and prints the result so every branch of the family has a copy. The best keep memory apart from what the records show, so later readers know which is which.
More in hiring help, and what it costs