The Product

Producing a Memoir

We help people write books about their lives. We call each of these books a “Memoir.” Creating your own Memoir offers you the opportunity to let your family come to know you as you know yourself, and to know you as you would have them remember you.

Some of our clients come to us in order to pass along their own memories, and the story of their own life, to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In those cases, we produce a Memoir for the client, reflecting the story of that client’s life.

Other clients, in order to preserve and ennoble the life-story of a family member, commission us to do a Memoir of their father, mother or grandparent. They are giving that person the gift of their love, appreciation and respect. In such cases, several family members may choose to share the cost of such a project.

Each Memoir is written in first person; that is to say, in your Memoir you talk about the experiences of your life in terms of “I” and “me.”

It is your choice as to whether your Memoir is an “as told to” book, or you are shown as the sole author of the book on its cover and title page; either is quite appropriate, because everything in the book, though edited for publication, is based upon your own spoken words.

Our role in preparing a Memoir is to assist — by skillful interviewing —in bringing forth the story of your life, and then organizing and editing the information into a manuscript that is coherent, meaningful and entertaining. Our finished product is your Memoir in a manuscript form that is ready to be produced as a book.

In writing and editing your Memoir, our goal is twofold:

• First, we seek to preserve the accuracy of the facts, and of your feelings, as expressed in your interviews; and
• Second, we are dedicated to producing a written Memoir of such style and grace that you will be proud to have others read the story of your lifetime.

Making the Memoir into a Book

Although clients usually prefer to have their Memoirs printed and bound as a book, Raintree Memoirs is not in the business of selling books. Our role is to produce a manuscript from which a book can be produced. Raintree Memoirs does not design, print or bind books, but we are available to assist you in making arrangements with skilled professionals who do offer such services. When it comes to choices regarding the design, printing and binding of the book, it is entirely up to you as to how much to spend on the book, how elegant or simple a volume it should be.

We are also available, at your option, to work with the professionals producing the book in order to oversee the transformation of the manuscript into a book.

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Last Modified: May 18, 2005

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