What is a Personal Biographer-Personal Historian?

What is a Personal Biographer-Personal Historian?

What is a personal biographer?  This highly specialized work begins with hours of in-person interviews and ends with an full biography which weaves an individual’s life into pertinent local and world events. Once our loved ones have passed on, we have only sketchy memories–unless we have taken time to preserve the family history that only they can tell.

Sheridan Hill briefly discusses personal biography work in a 2015 TV interview.

Who commissions a personal biography?   Often we are hired by a family member to write the personal biography of his or her parents or grandparents. We also have written a number of personal biographies for deceased loved ones to commemorate their lives. We have worked extensively with families who are experiencing the health decline or death of the matriarch or patriarch.

Your life in a beautiful book.
Your life in a beautiful book.

Benefits include:

  1. forgotten memories often return,
  2. the act of telling your stories to an impartial, interested witness is often therapeutic,
  3. a great excitement gathers around the biography process,
  4. a wonderful Heirloom Memoir book is created,
  5. the Heirloom Memoir is designed to last 200-300 years.

Whether your loved one has been heralded in the media or whether their accomplishments were private, the Heirloom Biography is the ultimate gift. The creative team at Real Life Stories is often honored to create personal biography books to honor the lives of the deceased. We also write corporate histories and memoirs.

There are several printing choices for a personal biography:

  • Printed in paperback or hardback
  • Printed in archive-quality binding with a leather-bound gold-embossed cover

We specialize in archive-quality binding. Our books are primarily published for family members and distributed by them.

How does it work? As personal biographers, we realize that nothing can replace interviews when it comes to documenting history, whether it is personal, family, or business. Once we begin our interviews, people find that memories come floating back. Stories that were long forgotten rise to the surface.

Charlotte Arrendell
Your personal story

We fly to you and conduct interviews for several days.

Then, our professional biographers begin drafting your story. When the manuscript is completed, you will receive a draft to review. This process continues until you are satisfied with the manuscript.

Once the manuscript is completed to your satisfaction, we use your photographs to illustrate the book.

Our book designers are expert and affordable. When you are satisfied with the print-ready book, we manage the printing to ensure that you receive the best quality.

Sheridan Hill and the team at Real Life Stories, LLC, are professional biographers who work extensively in New York, California, Florida, Switzerland, England, and points between. We specialize in memoir writing and confidential personal biography published for family only.