How to Turn a Parent's Life Story Into a Book

To turn a parent’s life story into a book, record short sessions with them, transcribe the recordings, shape the stories into chapters, and let your parent read the draft before anything is printed. All of these steps are my advice, because no official source tells you how to interview someone. This post covers the steps, who owns the words, when to hire help and how to print a few copies.

How do I record my parent’s stories?

Keep each session short, about half an hour, so your parent doesn’t get tired. Use the voice recorder on a phone. Ask about one period or one person at a time, such as childhood, the first job or how they met. Let them wander, because the small details are what make the book theirs. After each session, write down the names, places and dates you heard and want to check.

How do I turn the recordings into chapters?

Transcribe the recordings first. Then read the whole transcript and group the stories by period or by theme. Each chapter can be a handful of stories on one subject. Keep your parent’s own words where they are clear. Fix only what a reader would trip over. When a chapter is drafted, read it to your parent or give them a copy, and ask what is wrong or missing. They will often remember more once they see it on the page.

Who owns the words?

The US Copyright Office says in Circular 1 that “the copyright in a work initially belongs to the author(s) who created that work.” So think about who creates the words: your parent speaking, you writing them up, or a writer you pay.

Paying for a book does not always mean you own it. The Copyright Office’s Circular 30 says a work is made for hire when an employee creates it as part of their regular duties, or when it is specially commissioned for one of nine kinds of work and both sides sign a written agreement. The nine include a contribution to a collective work, a translation and an instructional text. A life story is not one of them as I read the list. So agree on ownership in writing with anyone you pay, and ask a lawyer where it matters. I am not a lawyer, and this follows US law.

Settle the name on the cover before you design it. My advice is to name your parent in the title, as the person the book is about, and put the person who wrote it as the author, or both names together if you wrote it with them.

Should I hire a ghostwriter?

If you don’t have the time to write, hiring help is an option. When I hired cheap ghostwriters on Fiverr, many were not native English speakers and the books needed heavy editing. I wrote about it in stop using Fiverr for ghostwriting. Whoever you hire, your parent’s voice is the point, so ask for a sample chapter from your own recording and agree who owns the result before you pay.

Do I need permission to record?

Rules about recording a conversation differ by place, and I can’t tell you the rule where you live. Tell your parent you are recording, get their agreement on the recording, and check the rules where you both live.

How do I print a few copies for the family?

You don’t have to sell the book. My post on publishing a book just for yourself or your family covers proof copies, author copies and printing a small number. If you plan to sell it, how to publish a parent’s book covers whose account to use and who owns the book, and how to self-publish a memoir has the steps.

What I do about it

If you have recordings, a draft or just an idea for your parent’s book, book a free 25-minute discovery session. We will look at what you have and decide on the right next step.

Free 25-minute self-publishing call with Chris Baird

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