# Tellforth vs My Life in a Book

My Life in a Book is a Storyworth-style prompt service: 52 questions over a year (weekly, fortnightly, monthly or all at once), answered by typing or by voice-to-text, with photos, then printed as a full-colour keepsake book with a choice of 40 cover templates. It is one of the cheapest ways to get a printed book of a parent's answers, and it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on the book. It does not ask a second question.

## What My Life in a Book does well

- About $79 for the year and one printed book; extra copies about $40
- Voice-to-text so the teller can talk rather than type
- The giver sees each reply as it comes in
- Questions can be swapped, skipped or written yourself; the cadence is adjustable
- A 30-day money-back guarantee on the book; free shipping to the US, Canada, UK, Australia, NZ and EU

## Where My Life in a Book falls short

- No follow-up questions: each prompt is answered once and the next arrives on schedule
- Voice answers are transcribed, not written up; the book is the answers as given
- Nobody designs a book from the answers; it is printed in the order answered
- It depends on the teller answering 52 questions over a year
- Their pages do not say whether the stories can be exported outside the printed book

## Side by side

| | My Life in a Book | Tellforth |
|---|---|---|
| How stories are gathered | One question at a time by email, 52 over a year; the teller types or uses voice-to-text | Voice visits of 15 to 20 minutes with a live interviewer that asks follow-ups, plus a 30-second daily card; no typing, no login for the teller |
| Follow-up questions | None stated; the next scheduled question follows | One record of every person, place, saying and story; the next question comes from what is still missing |
| What you get | The answers and photos printed as a full-colour keepsake book (their product page says up to 500 pages) with a template cover | A designed, finished book: a memoir in the teller's own words, or a novel built on the true story with what was invented listed at the back |
| Ownership | Export of the stories is not stated on their pages; check their site | You own every recording and word; export everything free, any time; no subscription |
| Price | About $79 for the year-long programme and one book; extra copies about $40 (check their site) | One-time price; no renewal |
| If it isn't finished | A 30-day money-back guarantee on the book | No deadline and no renewal: the record stays open until the book is finished, and we step in early if it stalls |

## Verdict

Choose My Life in a Book if you want the cheapest printed book of a parent's own written or dictated answers and they will keep up with a year of prompts. Choose this if you want someone to listen and ask the next question, and a book shaped from what was said rather than a printout of the answers.

## Switching

- Keep the written answers; they can be imported as told material and the interviewer carries on from what is still missing

## Sources

- My Life in a Book home page: https://www.mylifeinabook.com/
- My Life in a Book: how it works: https://www.mylifeinabook.com/pages/how-it-works
- My Life in a Book product page: https://www.mylifeinabook.com/products/book-preserving-memories

Prices and features of other products are as published on their own sites at the time of writing and may have changed.