A story bookstarring them

A personalized story book from your photos, for children or grown-ups: you choose the theme and the heroes, we write it, draw it and print it as a hardback.

From $49 delivery includedOpens soon

See it free Email me when it opens

Ordering opens soon. Make it now and see your characters, the cover and two pages free: no card needed, just an email to save it.

Any theme: adventure, retirement, a new baby
Printed in the USA, delivery included

A grandfather and his grandson in a window seat reading a comic-style picture book about the two of them

Ordering opens soon

Make the book now and see it free. Leave your email and we write once, on the day ordering opens for Your Own Story.

How it works

Choose the story

Pick a theme or tell us your idea in a few lines, then add up to five heroes and two pets with one to three photos each.
See it free

We draw the heroes, the cover and two pages while you wait. Change anything that isn’t right.
Order, check, read

Pay when you love it. We draw the rest and email you the finished book: change any page, or say yes.

You pay nothing until you have seen them. See your characters, the cover and two pages free before you pay. Then you check every page: if we haven’t heard from you within 12 hours of our email, we print it as shown so it arrives on time.

What’s inside the 32 pages

The coverThe heroes on the front, and the title you choose.
A title pageThe title of your book, on a page of its own.
Your dedicationYour own words, printed on their own page.
Meet the crewA portrait of everyone in the book, pets included, with their names.
The story13 scenes, each a page of text facing a full-page picture, built from your idea: everyday life and a call to adventure, setting off, a wonderful new place, a challenge, each hero saving the day in their own way, a triumph and coming home changed.
A closing letterA letter to the heroes, to end the book.
A keepsake pageA printed frame to stick in a photograph of your own.
The last pageWho the book was made for, by whom and when.

Hardback, 32 pages on thick silk paper, with a printed, matte-laminated cover in the color of the occasion. You check every page before we print.

Three pages from three stories

Every book is a story of its own. These sample pages are drawn in the Clear line style.

Clear-line comic illustration of a grandfather and grandson sailing past a lighthouse — An adventure at sea.

Clear-line comic illustration of a family and their cat in a rocket looking at the Earth — A space mission for the whole family.

Clear-line comic illustration of a big sister holding her new baby brother on the sofa — A new baby, from the big sister’s side.

A child’s hands flipping the pages of a comic-style picture book about a family in a rocket

Your idea, drawn

A rocket over the house, a voyage to the island Grandpa grew up on, a send-off for thirty years at work. If you can say it in a few lines, we can make it a book.

A space-mission story, open on the rug.

See it free

For anyone, about anything

Grandparents make adventures for their grandchildren, with themselves as the crew. Families make a book about a new baby, a new house or a move abroad. Colleagues make one for a retirement.

Choose a theme (adventure at sea, a space mission, a fairy tale, a mystery, sporting glory, time travel) or tell us your own idea, and add the things that must be in it: the blue boat, the lucky cap, the dog.

See it free

A woman laughing at her office leaving party as colleagues look at her picture book over her shoulder — Thirty years at work, told as an adventure.

A father and his two children reading a comic-style picture book about their family at bedtime

Written for whoever reads it

Choose the reader and the tone: short rhyming lines for little ones, a proper adventure for children, warm and witty prose for grown-ups; heartfelt, funny, epic or a gentle bedtime story.

You see the heroes, the cover and two pages before you pay, and you check every page before we print.

Bedtime, and tonight the pirates are them.

See it free

Twelve ways to draw it

Our picks for adventures: Clear line, Anime, 3D animation and Storybook. Every style works for every story.

See every style side by side

Classic square: 20 × 20 cm · 8 × 8 in · easy for little hands; $49
Wide landscape: 28 × 21 cm · 11 × 8.3 in · big scenes across both pages; $55
Large square: 28 × 28 cm · 11 × 11 in · the coffee-table keepsake; $62
Every extra copy: any size, from the mini book at $17; sent to another address for $5 more; from $17

Ordering opens soon

You can make the book today and see your characters, the cover and two pages free. Ordering for Your Own Story isn’t open yet: leave your email and we’ll write the day it opens.

See it before you pay. Your characters, the cover and two pages are free, and we redraw what isn’t right (three redraws per person before you order).
You check every page. We email you the finished book: change any page, or say yes. If we haven’t heard from you within 12 hours, we print it as shown so it arrives on time.
Cancel before we print. Not happy with the finished pages? Cancel before we print and get a full refund.
Free reprint. If it arrives damaged or with a mistake we made, we print it again, free.
Printed close to home. In the USA, with no customs fees, mailed with tracked delivery.

Questions, answered

When can I order?

Ordering for Your Own Story opens soon. You can make the book now and see your characters, the cover and two pages free; leave your email and we will write the day it opens.

What kind of story can I ask for?

Almost anything kind: an adventure, a fairy tale, a retirement, a new baby, a move, a family legend. We don’t make stories that would upset or embarrass someone.

How much do I need to write?

A few lines. Tell us the idea and anything that must be in it, and we write the pages; you can change any line before printing.

Who can be in it?

Up to five people and two pets. The first person you add leads the story.

Is it for children or adults?

Either. You choose the reader, from little ones to grown-ups, and the tone.

Do I need photos?

No. One to three photos of each person give the best likeness, or build them in the character maker.

What if someone doesn’t look right?

You see the heroes, the cover and two pages free before you order. Tell us what to change and we redraw it. You check every page before we print, with 12 hours to ask for changes.

What happens to the photos?

They are used only to draw your book and never to train AI. We delete them 30 days after your book is delivered, and drafts that are never ordered after 60 days.

What if it arrives damaged?

Send us a photo and we reprint it free.

Where do you deliver?

To addresses in the United Kingdom and the United States, printed in the country it goes to. We can’t deliver anywhere else yet.

Can I cancel?

Yes, until we print. If you are not happy with the finished pages, cancel before we print and we refund you in full. Once it is printed, a book made for your family can’t be returned, but anything damaged or wrong on our side is reprinted free.

More in the full questions page, or write to [email protected].