# The books Tellforth writes

You tell your story once, by voice. From those conversations come several books, one for every reader in the family. The Whole Family package ($449) includes the first five.

## The memoir

*For you, your children, and anyone who knew you.*

Your life in your own words, exactly as you told it. Nothing is invented. Your sayings, your turns of phrase and the way you tell a joke stay as they were. Stories you heard from others are marked as family stories.

- Written only from what you said
- Your own voice, first person
- Hearsay marked as hearsay
- The book most people start with

> From the memoir (example passage written for the site): I used to read the paper to my father at the table, the racing results too, because his eyes had gone. I was six. My mother would say, the professor is in session, and nobody was allowed to talk. I did not know half the words. I read them anyway, and he never once corrected me. I think now that he knew most of it already. He just liked to hear me.

## The historical novel

*For the readers in the family who want a story.*

Your true story written as a novel, with scenes, weather and dialogue. The facts stay true: the people, the places, what happened and when. What had to be imagined to make a scene is listed at the back, so nobody mistakes it for the record.

- Built on the true facts
- Scenes and dialogue
- A list at the back of what was imagined
- Reads like the novels on your shelf

> From the novel (example passage written for the site): The kitchen smelled of coal and wet wool. Eleanor climbed onto the chair with the newspaper spread wider than her arms, and her father turned his good ear toward her. "The two-thirty at Kempton," he said. She found it with her finger. "Silver Lady. Seven to two." He nodded as though she had told him something important. Across the room her mother dried a plate and said, to nobody, "The professor is in session."

## The young adult edition

*For the teenagers in the family.*

The same life, written for readers of thirteen and up. Shorter chapters, a faster pace, and honest about the hard years, because teenagers can tell when they are being protected from something.

- Shorter, faster chapters
- Honest about the hard parts
- Written to be read on a phone or on paper
- About half the length of the memoir

> From the young adult edition (example passage written for the site): Eleanor was six the year her father's eyes started to go, which is how she got the most important job in the house. Every morning: the paper, the whole thing, out loud. Even the racing. Especially the racing.

## The children's picture book

*For the grandchildren, read aloud at bedtime.*

One part of your life, retold as a picture book for small children, with gentle illustrations. Usually the story the grandchildren already ask for. The kind of book that gets read until the spine goes.

- About 32 illustrated pages
- One story from your life, told simply
- Large type for reading aloud
- Illustrated in a soft watercolour style

> From the picture book (example passage written for the site): Every morning, Grandma Eleanor read the newspaper to her papa. She was only six. Some words were big. Some words were VERY big. She read them all anyway.

## The gift edition

*For friends, neighbours and the wider family.*

A short, beautiful book of your best stories, for the people who knew you a little and would love to know you more. Old friends, the neighbours, the people at church, the cousins.

- Your best stories, in your words
- Short enough to read in an afternoon
- Printed in a smaller format
- Easy to give at a birthday or a gathering

## The family history

*For everyone who comes after.*

The story of the family, two generations back and more, told through the people rather than the dates. Family stories that reach further than any record go in, marked as family stories.

- About the people, not the tree
- Several voices if several relatives take part
- Family stories marked as such
- Photographs and documents placed in the pages

## Letters for later

*For one person, on a day you choose.*

Letters sealed for one person and opened on a date you choose: a wedding day, an eighteenth birthday, the birth of a first child, or after you are gone. Spoken by you, kept in your voice, and printed if you like.

- Sealed until the date you choose
- Only the named person can open it
- Your voice recording kept with it
- As many letters as you like

## The company history

*For the people who built it, and the ones who will run it next.*

The story of a business, told by the founder and the people who were there, each interviewed on their own. The disagreements are kept. The week it nearly closed is in it.

- Many voices, interviewed separately
- Scenes, not a list of milestones
- Designed before it is written
- Printed for the team, the family or the customers

## A child's own story

*For a child, starring the child.*

The stories your child makes up, recorded at bedtime and kept in their exact words, made into a picture book with their own drawings as the pictures.

- One question a night, by voice
- Their words kept exactly as said
- Their own drawings, photographed
- A book they wrote, with their name on it