The Persy Books Difference

We offer a variety of book options to meet your needs. Every book we produce is a unique work of art—full color, custom designed, and heirloom quality—and created to meet the highest editorial and artistic standards. As a professional journalist, editor, and researcher with more than 25 years of experience, Jessica’s conversation-style interview process is designed to prompt important memories and uncover interesting storylines in a way that puts her clients at ease. (To hear directly from some of our clients about what it’s like to work with Jessica, click here.) All of our expertly crafted hardcover books are created to stand the test of time, so they can be treasured for generations.

Offerings in Detail

 
 
 

Q&A PERSY

$199

Each week, we’ll email you one of our trademark questions designed to trigger important memories and elicit thoughtful responses and stories about your life. At the end of the year, we’ll compile all of your responses with accompanying photographs into a hardcover, full-color 6X9 keepsake book capturing your unique personal history.

What it includes:

  • Full-color, 6X9 hardcover book with photographs

  • Additional copies are available at a discount

    Some upgrades include:

    • Professional copyediting and proofreading 

    • Photo retouching

 

Standard Persy

$1,450

With the Standard Persy, we do all the work for you—on your own time and at your own pace. We uncover the story of your life, or a memorable event, through a series of conversation-style interviews, in person or virtually, designed to prompt important memories and uncover interesting storylines. We’ll send you a list of questions in advance of our first meeting to jog your memory and help you organize your thoughts.

After the interviews are conducted, this material is organized, shaped, and edited into an engaging, cohesive narrative, illustrated with color photographs, historical documents, recipes, or other visual records. The final result is your life story in your own words bound into a beautiful full-color, 8X10 custom-designed hardcover personal history book with photographs and visual records printed on premium paper.

What it includes:

  • Six hours of in-person or virtual interviews, expertly organized, shaped, and edited into an engaging, cohesive narrative

  • Full-color, 8X10 custom-designed hardcover personal history book with photographs and visual records printed on premium paper

  • Transcribing of interviews

  • Professional editing

  • Custom design and layout

  • Photo retouching 

  • Professional copyediting

  • Professional proofreading 

  • Additional copies are available at a discount

    Some upgrades include:

    • Additional interviews

    • Historical research

    • Fact-checking 

    • Custom family tree

DELUXE PERSY

Starting at $4,900

What could be better than the story of your life written by a professional ghostwriter? With the Deluxe Persy, we uncover your life story through a minimum of ten hours of in-person or virtual conversational-style interviews designed to prompt important memories and uncover interesting storylines. We’ll send you a list of questions in advance of our first meeting to jog your memory and help you organize your thoughts. Plus, we conduct background and historical research to provide context and fill in any holes. The end result is a full-length, hardcover personal history book, written by a professional ghostwriter, that is tailor-made to your specifications and illustrated with color photographs, historical documents, recipes, a family tree, or other visual records. In other words, a book that is as unique as you.

What it includes:

  • A minimum of ten hours of in-person or virtual interviews

  • Full-color, 8X10 bespoke hardcover personal history book with photographs and visual records printed on premium paper

  • Transcribing of interviews

  • Background and historical research

  • Professional ghostwritten manuscript of your life story

  • Professional editing

  • Professional copyediting

  • Professional proofreading 

  • Custom design and layout

  • Photo retouching

  • Custom family tree

  • Additional copies are available at a discount

Heirloom & Specialty Books

  • Corporate Histories

  • Immigration Stories

  • Adoption Journeys

  • Bar and Bat Mitzvahs

  • The Story of How We Met

  • Family Recipe Books

  • Military Service

    Starting at $150

GIFT CERTIFICATES ARE AVAILABLE