Based on 100 reviews
I received good ideas to write about my experiences. I have written about 75 pages. Experiences have come to my mind that surprised me. I may have, otherwise, entirely forgotten them. Unfortunately, the program does not allow paragraphs to be separated by a space. All text is jammed together in one block of text. Three pages worth become one block of text. Consequently, I turned to another source to print my book. I purchased 20 books for my family and close friends.
No one answers emails EVER!!! Mother charged twice for reprints. Never received the two books. Very disappointing for a 96 year old mother. Can’t seem to find a pathway to communicate and resolve this issue.
Overall it is a good concept to give kids the opportunity to learn more about their family members.
Great idea. Too complicated to use. You will spend hours helping your parents navigate the formatting
My daughter purchased a subscription for me but I found it difficult to get to grips with. I would answer the week’s question only to find the next question I had already covered previously. Towards the end I was formulating my own questions. I would have preferred monthly questions spread over two years or questions covering infant, primary, junior, teen years then 20,30,40, etc years . I just hope my daughter wasn’t too disappointed or if she even ordered the final version
I found quite a few questions very similar, meaning i had already answered and written memories and comments in previous pages. Therefore makingn it more difficult to answer without too much repetition.
It is a lot of work. They need to provide some sort of editing tool or review by an editor to correct punctuation and grammatical errors. While telling stories is a lot of fun, typing them all out for book form is NOT.
I loved it until I asked in October to put a hold on the book as I had a crises in my life. I thought it would be ok I intended to go over what I written and add to it etc. but my book arrived before Xmas. Half finished. Disappointed I sent in this review and they were really kind. They extended the date to edit my book until march. They won’t charge to get it printed Overall a great experience
So far, I am quite disappointed with this app. While trying to purchase a subscription, it kept prompting me to purchase more options that forced a second inadvertently submitted subscription. I immediately canceled after seeing the two charges on my account one for $67.30 the other $97.00. I thought the cancellation would automatically refund the $97.00, it didn't and when I requested it they only offered me $24.00 and $17.30. Far short of what was debited from my account. I am very disappointed in their solicitation process. I've actually don't trust sharing my life's experiences on their app and am considering canceling and demanding a full refund for both subscriptions.
The options for the final product were very disappointing. I would have expected at least the option of making this book look a lot more professional. For example: include a title page - with the author’s name and date of ‘publishing’. Also include a table of contents. For those that are not natural authors, provide AI assistance in writing their answers. Disappointed in the end product - it looks cheap and flimsy. Would NOT recommend this - it is not worth the money.
I loved the concept of this memory book – it sounded like a wonderful way to capture stories and photos from my older parent. They often express the fear that their grandchildren will forget them when they are gone so I thought this was perfect. Unfortunately, the reality was very different. My parent was not tech savvy enough to enjoy the experience and it became a chore very quickly. Logging in created confusion from the start and she was confused about how to skip questions she didn’t want to answer. She answered the questions about her childhood but nothing about her older life or her children. Probably not intentional, more she lost interest, but and the whole process felt overwhelming and negative. It's not obvious when you purchase that there’s a strict time limit and quite a bit of work required on the buyer’s side to compile the final product – almost like creating a photobook yourself. This should be made much clearer upfront. In theory, it’s a lovely idea, but if your loved one isn’t tech-savvy, and you don't have time or patience to work on this side by side with them, then this product will likely cause more stress and guilt than joy.
We bought book subscriptions for our parents so that our daughter can have their stories in a formal way and can read them when she's older. It's the most special and amazing gift. This all comes with the caveat that it is indeed "work" for the gift recipient. Out of the 3 we bought, only 1 grandparent was able to complete the book prompts. So really be realistic with who will fill this out. If you don't complete the book in one year, you will be charged $59 to extend access to the book print (technically more than what we originally paid since MLIAB goes on sale often). So that's a bummer!
My personal experience with My Life in a Book was interesting, I love writing short stories of event in my life, (not stories about my life) to make the stories more meaningful I use Emojis, My Life in a Book don't print Emojis. (extremely disappointed) My apologies, I will find out when I receive the BOOK
I think this is a great idea - in theory. I purchased it for my mom and we worked through it together. The prompts were very similar after awhile, it became redundant. I also thought I purchased the version where her voice / video would be recorded but apparently I did not. I was also overwhelmed with the amount of marketing emails I received after purchasing.
I placed an order with this website for two books focusing on my father in Nov of 2023. I had reviewed the website and was really excited about documenting his life and having a lasting memory for my generation and future. He is getting older and wanted to explore his early life whilst I could and have it documented. The prospect of capturing all his memories printed for a lasting legacy was great. I Ordered two books and followed the instructions with the questions directed at him as the principle in the story. I did get informed of his progress initially, however as it stretched over a year period life got busy and I lost track of his progress with the emails going to junk (thanks email account). My fathers health went through occasional highs but then into lows with his dementia becoming more prevalent. He stopped contributing to the book and I didn't get an email updating the fact. I feel the process is very automated from purchase through to print. No checks in place by this organisation to ensure the book is updated and completed and no correspondence to keep contributors aware of progress. The project fell by the way and not completed in the accounted time. I realised the error and attempted to rectify. I tried to follow up with Life in a book and initially had email issues getting in contact with the support email address. The documented email address (support-at-lifeinabook) rejected my initial contact for information thus originally believed this was all a scam. Technical issues apparently. They finally responded and thankfully worked with me to complete the book. As a token, Life in a Book added another copy for my troubles and appeasement ontop of my tow ordered versions. I reviewed the information my father had written and tried to work with him to add/amend content. Life in a book stated that under the normal conduct there is a month post completing all the questions allowed to review and have the book published. I did what I could and submitted. Printing and posting was quick. I was updated through AusPost as to the status with delivery in a timely manner. I only got one copy after all not the two originally ordered, and the additional as promised. What I have I am grateful. For anyone thinking of getting the product I would recommend monitoring the process diligently. Contact Life in a Book if there are any issues. As for me, I will not be back.
Edited-I was struggling with this site and an inkblot on a page of a book I received. I reached out to customer service and worked with Julia. She took care of me 100% and was so great! I shared my frustrations and concerns along with the misprint and they immediately let me know they are doing site upgrades (growing pains I'm sure, especially in the tech industry, it's so fast!) to help with my issues in the future. They are going to update the layout viewing. They immediately put a new book into production and didn't charge me any extra for it or the shipping. They have been so great!! I bought this a little over a year ago for my dad. While it was easy to answer the questions for the person answering the questions, whoever is editing the book is going to need patience. You cannot edit quickly. There is back-and-forth from the story to the edit page. It can take some time to refresh. You may have to go back more than once. It is not laid out as the book will be laid out, so you must pay attention to which side of the book the page will be on, figure out ways to make items land correctly on the page. As mentioned, they are doing upgrades - yay! The site can be limited in information. I received an email I could track from start to finish of the printing process which I could not figure out. I could not find anywhere on the site to get that information. I would recommend this site and just let others know to be prepared for the process to maybe take some time. The end result is beautiful. We have stories from my father that we can keep and pass on.
I bought 3 books; 1 for each mother and 1 for my 2 yr old daughter for me to make her baby book. For our 78 year old mothers, I found that they struggled to answer the questions and put in photos without my help, but the weekly prompts were a good idea, and I took the time to prep the questions and order them for my mom, which helped get the best stories out of her! She needed me to do all of the final tweaks in terms of sizing photos and the ordering of her answers. I found that editing part really not user friendly! It is really bad that the title of your answer is not the same as the question asked and you only have access to the answers during the review screen, each question has to be edited indiviually. Also being able to see what photos you used only in one question at a time, it is hard to figure out which you haven't used. I had to make a list of all the changes to make on a scrap paper because the editing screens aren't "live" in the book review portion. Making my other kids' baby book digitally in a photo site was MUCH easier for putting in pictures and changing font sizes to make the book visually appealing, that way just didnt give me weekly prompts to stay on track with recording memories! My mother in law didn't do as well answering her questions, probably because I never sat down to do it with her. I wanted her to be able to do the vocal recordings because she has Macaular degeneration, but she thought she couldn't get into the book and never figured out how to do it all year!
This is an excellent idea, but i don't know why they are charging 60$ at the end for allowing to extend your initial purchase. You don't get anything extra for these 60$, it is just a last minute scam otherwise you lose your right to print your book. This was not clear at start, that's really annoying.
Rip..off. I cannot print my moms book that she spent a year answering questions about herself. The rip off comes in where you only have a month to print what you have already bought. I got screwed by this. Will never use them again.
I think the site is really set up for a single-author book. We tried the double author version for my parents and their answers are either getting mixed up or not saved properly. It doesn't display clearly who wrote which answer. It's a really great concept but may be better geared towards a more tech-savy population because it's not very intuitive or used friendly, especially for boomer parents (who I assume would be the target audience, unfortunately!).
Update… it’s been 10 days since it was stated in their response to my review that someone from My Life in a Book had (as in “it already happened”) reached out to me regarding reprinting my damaged books. Not a peep. Not a single outreach. I’ve checked my spam email folder over the last 10 days to ensure i hadn’t missed something. Just a continuation of the lousy experience, which goes to show that it’s not a one-off lapse in service. Word of advice…under promise and over deliver, not the converse.
It has been over 6 months and I still have not received a refund. My books were “lost.” Never delivered. Could not be tracked. With personal info compromised. The company keeps giving us the run around. Asking for order numbers, PayPal account numbers, etc. They respond to emails, however continues to just be a runaround. They do NOT stand by their products, security.
I never got my book in over a year! I spent over a year answering the questions and adding pictures. This was a gift. I have tried to contact the company to get my book- no help! Beware! Follow up- I finally got a response and it appears I didn’t do the final step. So after a very long time, my book is in print. I anxiously waiting to receive my copy.
Update: A week after My Life in a Book stated a member of the team would reach out to “make things right” was followed by more radio silence, not that I’m entirely surprised. The absolute cherry on the top of this circus was that my books arrived today, (several weeks after I was I informed the first time my book had shipped (that’s right, I was notified 2 different times it had shipped)) and when they arrived the packaging was so loose the books slid out of it onto the counter. 2 of the 3 books i ordered arrived with corners on the cover that were bent. I hate that the shortcomings of the communication, punctuality, and the damage to the books have me feeling like I’m complaining. I just don’t want anyone else to have to endure the utter nonsense that I have experienced. Twice. Beyond frustrating. And while I paid for this treatment, I didn’t ask for it. There are other similar services out there that I imagine can offer a better customer experience. The bar here is pretty low to exceed.
Bought this service for both my mom and my dad. Both times the shipping times were excessive (several weeks), both times the communication updates on said shipping were basically non existent. The first time was in 2024 and now more recently in 2025. As I type this I’m still waiting for the book that i sent off last month which stated it had shipped on the 4/28/25. Unless they are truly using snails to deliver the mail, there’s really no excuse. Furthermore, any communication from “customer service” has completely dried up over the last week after they stated they were in touch with the printer and courier for an update. Truly unacceptable. Both times i sent the book to be printed several weeks ahead of planned family visits. Both times, I will now be forced to spend even more of my money to ship this item out of state to them because they did not show up in any sort of a timely manner. Once is a mistake, twice is a habit. Save yourself the trouble and use one of the other similar services for preserving your loved ones memories.
After purchasing this product and beginning to answer the questions, it takes some getting used to the way the website works. Make use of the assistant and request help. The team are very patient, helpful and will phone you to take you through the writing and editing process. Be prepared for limited editing options. Fitting the text with the photo and the photo caption is challenging. You can’t put a photo caption underneath a large size photo on the same page. My solution was to put the caption in the previous text box.If you are stressed by the look of the pdf and meeting the deadline request help. If you find glitches and inconsistencies, the support team can help you with them. Be warned, logging in on your mobile phone shows a different pdf to the one that will be printed. The support team inform the technical team about issues people have reported to fix them in the short term and for quality improvement.
Worst website I've ever used. Tried to purchase multiple times with errors on the website every time, next to no help from support, generic suggestions only. Have chosen now not to purchase.
I am not finished so I cannot speak to how wonderful or not the book will be, but to be honest we were not so much given a gift as we were given a project. Getting our stories down on paper is not as easy as sitting around the campfire telling them. At some point it becomes more of a chore than a delight. The gift is really for my children not me. I am sure that if I finish it; the children will love it. I wonder what percentage of the gifted books ever get finished?
Update 4/16: Management (Karim) reached out and I finally got the full refund I originally requested a year ago. Thank you for making it right :) ** I made it crystal clear that this process of emailing questions to my father wasn't working. I expressed my concern that he wasn't receiving them (I checked his spam, trash etc and nothing). They rerouted over to my mom's email, but this defeated the ENTIRE purpose of this purchase. This company REFUSED to credit back my $75. Not one question was answered and NOTHING was printed and sent to me. So, hope y'all feel good about TAKING my $75 without anything in return. #karmaisreal
We bought this for my parents for Christmas in 2023 and love the idea. What I didn't fully understand at the time is that you are playing for a 1 year program and if you need more time, you will need to extend it a year for $59 (per book). That is a lot to me after paying the initial fees and pre-purchasing 2 more books for each of them. It would be nice to have a monthly or quarterly option. I do appreciate that they extended it for 3 months for us, but since my parents are older and have had technical issues, they hadn't gotten very far and needed more time. They had issues getting into the program and when I checked, they had answered questions in each others books. I also had to request that the credits I paid for to be extended. I understand that this is an issue on us, but since this is geared toward older people, I just thought others should be made aware.
This is a great concept but I've found my experience frustrating. I bought for my mum. The default got set up over 2 years instead of the correct 1 years. She was part way through when we realised. We didn't want an uneven distribution/ focus on certain topics so contacted customer service. I have to explain everything from scratch each time which is annoying. Also struggling to get someone to actually help us. What was meant to be a lovely present has turned into a bit of a pain if I'm honest. Not seem the final product yet though so can't comment on that.
I don't know what has happened to this company, but the customer service has really taken a dive. The book I ordered for my mother-in-law back in 2023 I had absolutely no issues. However, I also ordered a book for my mother in 2024 and it has been nothing but problems. First with them deleting the credit I paid for to have a book made and shipped to me and now with actually getting the book. I printed the book on Feb. 17, 2025. At the beginning of March, after not hearing anything from them, I emailed them and they gave me there entire speal about how long it takes to process and ship, blah, blah, blah. By the next day I received an email stating that my book had shipped, but the tracking button is not functioning. I emailed them again today, forwarding the shipping email I received and explained to them that the tracking button doesn't work and that there isn't a tracking information listed on the account. And guess what, I received the same canned response about checking my spam folder, giving it 15 to 20 days, verify that it was sent for printing. I guess all I can do is wait and see if it ever shows up. Hopefully it will get here before my daughter graduates high school in 10 years.
DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY WITH YOUR MEMORIES! Bought this for my mother in law. She spent a year pulling the content together, only for them to send the book with multiple pages missing and the wrong picture on the cover. She’s emailed them multiple times, in December they said they had found the missing content and send a replacement. It’s March and we are still waiting
I completed my book on time, as expected. I finalized everything, and was waiting the arrival of the books. But, the questions just kept coming. I emailed the company to let them know I was finished, and to please stop sending more questions. After doing this a couple of times, the questions finally stopped. However, the biggest problem was that my books were shipped, and NEVER arrived. After contacting the company once again, they said they were tracking the books to see where they were. After weeks of trying to locate the books, they decided to send new books to me. This was fine, but now my information is out there somewhere, with personal details. If you decide to do this, I recommend NOT putting too many personal details in the book. How can a company ship finished product, and then not know where the books went? VERY disappointing. We should get our money back.
The web site is at best average. We substituted many of the questions with our own topics. The resulting book was fine. Didn't realize the books are printed in Europe and would have to pass through customs. Despite this, the site's FAQ states "International orders will arrive in 15-20 business days from the request to print the book(s)." We ordered three books on November 14 as Christmas gifts for our adult children expecting them to arrive 2-3 weeks before Christmas. Instead, they finally arrived in Denver six weeks later and one day after Christmas and then the USPS lost the package. Naturally, the lost shipment isn't the fault of My Life in a Book and they promptly agreed to replace the order and expedite shipment by DHL, but we still didn't receive our books until January 21--nearly 2-1/2 months after we placed our order.
I got this for Christmas last year from my family. I’m n my 70’s. The questions were for a child or a teenager. The questions should be aged appropriate. For example. Did you go to kindergarten and what was it like. How was your elementary experience. A little weird
I received my book. I was very disappointed in the size of the book and the print size as well. Th print was very small and very hard to read. Call you purchase a larger book with increased print size? Please let me know as I would order another. Thank you, Hal
My grievances with this company, in order of importance: 1. I sent my book to print on December 10th with the expectation of receiving it in time for my grandma's birthday on January 6th. As of Jan 6th, I still do not have the book nor can I get any update on where it is other than a generic link to a Netherlands postal service website, whose last update is from over 2 weeks ago (I am based in the US). Super frustrating as they quote 15-20 days for delivery and I still don't have the product a full month later. 2. Their customer service is prompt but not at all thorough or helpful. They give generic answers that don't address your questions. Very frustrating. 3. The user experience of creating the layout for the book is super cumbersome and required a lot of manual work on my part to make it cohesive, add photos, etc. If you think you can just use the de facto process provided by the company, your book is not going to look good or flow well. 4. They did some type of "update" around October of 2024 and at that point my grandma stopped receiving all prompts via email. I had to manually send her the questions and upload the responses on her behalf. Again, far more manual than it should be. I'll update this review if/when I actually receive the product. So far it seems like this was all a scam. Stay away.
UPDATE: Although this situation was unfortunate, with incorrect information being provided and no response to my initial message from the customer support team, I truly appreciated the CEO personally reaching out to apologize and clarify the company’s refund policy for gifts. The refund was issued quickly, which I am grateful for. I typically don’t leave negative reviews, and I’m sorry it had to come to that, but I do appreciate the prompt effort to resolve the issue. Changing my 1 star review to 3 star; I believe this is a good take away for the customer support team to ensure service and information is shared correctly and response is completed in a timely fashion to ensure this type of confusion and stress is alleviated. I am extremely disappointed with the lack of customer service and consideration from this company. I made a purchase at the end of November, for a Christmas gift that was delivered from My Life in a Book by email on December 25. When I contacted customer service regarding a refund, I was informed that there is no refund policy for any purchase outside the 30-day return window, despite having my receipt and explaining the situation. This was a considerable amount of money, and the rigid policy left no room for flexibility or understanding of the circumstances. For a company to show no consideration for holiday purchases is frustrating and disheartening. I will not be purchasing from them again and will be sharing this negative experience widely.
I did not receive all the questions. They stopped many weeks ago and now I'm being told the book is finished although I am missing 40+ responses. I did not get a question per week for many weeks and out of sight, out of mind. I am extremely disappointed that this happened and want to finish my book with all the questions up to date. I need someone to resend the missing questions.
My book finishes today for getting new questions. However although it states that no more questions will arrive I have not actually had any since October 2024. Why is this I wonder as I feel that my daughter’s present at Christmas last year will not be all fulfilling and will be incomplete. What has gone wrong here
I was really excited to get this for my mom, as she is the last of her siblings and my dads siblings. I wanted the family history recorded. She finished the questions before Thanksgiving and we submitted it for print on black Friday. According to the information provided, we should have had the books (ordered 2 additional) by now. But alas, they are still being processed through customs. If I had known these were coming internationally and would take this long, I may have looked into a different program. Was hoping to have for Christmas presents and they have yet to be released by customs.
Bought as a present that she started with diligently, but struggled to keep up with when recalling 80 years of life. After completing the year of questions (which are easy to change, add to etc), she spent weeks editing her content and uploading photos (arranging the latter on pages was problematic). Excited to have finished it, she decided to add a second copy to the print order, only to learn that the hardback book already paid for has 'expired' (Why?!). What was a lovely idea, and a celebratory present for her grandchildren, has been soured. BE WARNED of this odd, early and unnecessary time limit.
Questions are mostly uninteresting too mundane
Conflicting information given. Promises made but not kept. See their reply to my previous review... they never answer all issues, just fluff and try to make themselves look good. In fact my books have not been sent and a week after ordering are still in the print stage. You would think they would prioritise consumers where it's been a complete comedy of errors! Update! I just received a call...yes an actual phonecall! Half an hour after leaving this review. They have processed a refund (they say...not received yet of course as they take a few days to process) for one copy. They appear to have fixed my final request in my book and sent a visual confirmation of the fix. Just sent to the printers while on the phone...one week after ordering and with a Christmas delivery deadline, international delivery! I doubt I will receive by Christmas. They have told me as my order is a special request I won't receive a confirmation print email, good to know. I hope I get tracking information. Time will tell! However, too little too late. If contact via phone had been able to happen weeks ago or emails answered in a timely manner and answering all issues we wouldn't be here in this negative position. I genuinely think this company is improving and I hope my sister does not experience the issues I have had ... yes I purchased a subscription for her 70th birthday. I'm hoping I won't regret that 🙏
You guys suck. Can't finish with any of the questions you sent me,. You allowed 68 questions to be answered and then that was it. I extended for another year and paid another $29.00 dollars and you screwed me put of that. Your a bunch have money mongering ass holes. I 'll neveer recommend you to anybody.
So disappointed. I bought this as a gift with the expectations that the questions would be varied and cover this persons life to date, their working life, hobbies etc. It is literally due for completion and I have just been advised that ALL the questions have only covered school years with many that only warranted a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. This was not what was expected. This man has had a super exciting career and has sailed the Atlantic and his ‘book’ hasn’t even got him out of school. Total waste of money
Once you made upgrades couldn't get to my weekly question. Tried 2x before it finally worked.
This platform is not too bad. If your used to using Microsoft Word then you'll find it "clunky" and restrictive. For the price it's pretty good value. The new platform improves use enormously but the "Titles" font is HUGE and if your title is long can take up half a page! My issues were due to using the old platform and changing to the new platform. I ordered my book under the old platform and had several issues (which appear to now have been fixed in the new platform) I had only ordered one copy so I could check and make any changes before ordering more copies for my children. This was back in August. With the issues being from their end ..... I was promised a new free copy once the new platform came into being...this has not happened! The new platform came in mid October. The formatting was completely lost and fonts changed and my book now just needed complete adjusting to make it right. Eventually after weeks and weeks of promises to fix my book themselves, I had to redo setting out my book to get it to fit correctly again. Customer Service appeared to be good but the longer issues were happening emails stopped being answered. Delay tactics were being used so I would just accept the book in the new platform and spend the hrscrequired to reformat my book. With time ticking and the Christmas deadlines approaching I ended up just paying for the copies I required for Christmas hoping they'll arrive on time and hoping they'll be correct with no issues. I had wanted to get my replacement, check it and then be able to do any modifications to my writing, if necessary, before ordering for Christmas but with all the mucking around this was impossible. I had been given my own "manager" so I thought I was in good hands. Well my emails were often ignored I would get an email once a week if I was lucky. Questions unanswered. Since I ordered my three paid copies I've not had an email confirming printing of my free copy. Due to the time difference emailing only made communication very difficult. Sometimes the manager would send an email that I received at 3.30am...obviously I would reply as soon as I saw it but then they wouldn't reply until the next day or sometimes a week. I even stayed awake at one point to reply immediately when the email came in but they then wouldn't respond even though I'd replied during their working hrs and I was responding to their questions/emails. If there had been no issues with the printing then I would've said the book was fantastic. Not being able to speak in person or speak via email in real time was a huge issue in my case. The new platform has fixed many issues and is great value for money. Without the hiccup of the change in platform I believe my experience may have been different. However, my experience has been poor with customer service lacking.
Incredibly generic, impersonal tool to try and cobble together a book. The prompts are overly simple (and sometimes plain weird), always in American English, and often don't make sense. Instead of wasting hours like we did editing the prompts, it would be far easier, cheaper, and better quality to just ask ChatGPT and then print the book yourself. Would definitely avoid as a gift.
The website is sooooo glitchy. The questions stopped being emailed halfway through the year so I had to start manually sending them. Very time consuming trying to edit my mums answers. Would not recommend.
The concept is nice, but that's it. The program is very user-unfriendly. It took too much time going back forth and between 'editing' and 'preview' to get the book formatted correctly.In editing the edit font was different and smaller than shown in preview. Punctuation in edit was very difficult to see because of it's size. I placed my order for 4 books October 28,2024 and got confirmation it was all in order and successfully verified. A month later I queried my order as I had not heard anything about it. It was then that I learned my order was cancelled due to a 'technical' problem. In the meanwhile I get emails to say my subscription will soon end, but never notified there was a problem with my order! So their technical problem became my problem. They gave me an extra book credit to compensate BUT my preview has changed for some reason (smaller font) and it will not allow me to edit. The website says it will be printed as displayed. It looks like I'm in for a very inferior product. All they do is apologize and leave it up to me to rectify. I would not recommend "My Life in a Book" for the sheer frustration after all the work I put into it and the non-help from them for their mistake. .
I bought this for my mother so she could share her experiences and stories with us all. It started off ok but there were a lot of questions that repeated themselves and all based on feelings rather than encouraging story writing and memories. It was a shame as she didn't feel comfortable and stopped filling it out.
I liked the format before you changed and it looks like if you don’t answer you question on the day it was sent you don’t get to answer. When I tried to go back and answer the question from the day before it says I already answered
Most recently, I was frustrated because I could not change the size of letters or format them after pasting them. Otherwise, I have been pleased with your approach.
The program was going great until it was time to order copies. The communication is awful and the new website is even worse. They publish overseas and that has been an additional set of issues. What started out great has become very disappointing.
I have been negligent in writing answers to the questions. I don't care for the current weekly e-mail which only gives a link to the question. I preferred seeing the question in the e-mail. It's hard to fully review until the book is finished and printed.
I'm having a hard time getting both pictures and text on the same page. I'll browse my files, select a photograph and then try to add text. At some point, it all disappears. I've tried writing text in a Word document, as soon as I try to add text to a page with a picture on it or picture on a page with text, it also disappears. I've looked at past questions and most of them don't show the images that should be on the page.
Honestly this is not suitable for the UK audience. The questions are very Americanized. I bought two of these. One for each parent. I have received emails on and off about questions being sent to them. Then I was addressed as the one getting the question. Then it all stopped for months and now it has restarted. Neither of my parents completed this despite my dad’s best efforts. It should be kept much more simple and follow up for finishing the book could be a nice touch. As in, send us some photos and text to finish things up. It’s been 2 years nearly since I got these gifts. I like the concept but in reality the communication is chaos and the questions are a little patronising and long winded. Shame really.
New and improved format is not user friendly
Amazing idea and I’m excited to see the finished product but it would be great to select your language because it being an American company a lot of the language used is Americanised and I had to make a lot of changes to the questions to suit my English father.
Very disappointing. While the idea is great, it is unreliable, not user interface friendly and unhelpful. While the recent upgrade promise a lot, the reality is they have not been fully tested and some issues are still unresolved.
I enjoy being able to change the questions that will be asked, though it would be helpful if there were a list of other options to choose from. The platform itself is a bit difficult to navigate.
UPDATE 3/12/24: having issues getting in touch with this company as I after my daughter was told that i had no worries completing this as no deadline, they informed me i had to pay another 28 dollars to carry on and complete the book. I think people need to know they need to keep on top of this as there isnt much time after the last question. Ive paid the 28 dollirs and some weird payment for £25.80 has been taken out of my account. I can only assume its that but as i cant contact 'my life in a book' and get an answer directly i dont know. The website says my book has expired! Hopeless trying to get a straight ansa via email. Told to check out my co.puter settings etc. Should i have to do that to pay? Im very frustrated at a time when stress is heightened. Im thinking great idea. Just give a phone number and the numerous emails that dont help, could be replaced by a 2 minutes call to sort everything. END OF UPDATE I think it's a great idea, but i wanted to change some of the questions. I emailed and they answered very promptly giving me instructions how to work things just how I wanted. Very good service and I have enjoyed my visit down memory lane writing up the book. I look forward to seeing the printed version.
I am not a fan of this company. I purchased this for my grandfather for Christmas in 2022. I purchased a 2nd book as well. It will not let me complete the review for the book. I can not approve the cover to move forward. Its disappointing because i was under the assumption that the book would be sent once he completed it and here it is almost 1 year after he finished and i still do not have the book in hand. I'm sure there has to be a better option.
I don't like doing these surveys I thought this was about my life
My daughter brought this as a birthday present and I have found it a disappointment. The questions seem very similar with other parent, sibling or relatives substituting and even repetitive. At one point I even stopped receiving emails of questions and when I contacted them was told their system rejected my email as spam which they corrected.
I do not like the fact that after answering the question, the Subject Title is changed. For example the question is "What do you wish today's children would spend more time doing? I answered, "read more books, spend more time in physical activities rather than playing video games." The title that was assigned to my answer is: "Today's kids should know about this." Or, "Was there an experience in your childhood that made you sad?" I wrote about a sad experience. The title that was assigned to my answer is, "Challenges of Childhood." It doesn't match the quesrion
Purchased it for my husband for Father’s Day. Since then he’s received one question via e-mail. The next question he should be e-mailed is the same as the previous one, even when I spend most of a Saturday evening editing the standard questions. There’s little to no communication and to be honest, I feel pretty much ripped off. Would not recommend. Side note: they try and sell you additional add ons as well. By setting your account up for an almost 3 year span. So look into the questions and dates, before they charge you additionally. Very annoying.
It prompted me to think about my childhood. It was a fair prompt but with my short memory I could use additional devices to help me remember.
I'm getting frustrated with the order my stories are appearing in. You say they will appear in the order they are written but mine sometimes go in partway through, and a couple have been right at the start where they certainly don't belong.
I think it’s a great idea for the family
Not the easiest to use and I would like a list of the questions a head of time
Good questions for teens and kids but also include some questions for later adult life. Also include the perspective of all walk of people.
Too soon to be asking for a revoew
One week I could not respond because it kept giving me a response from someone else. It was the week about family dinners. I didn't think the questions were the best that could have been asked.
I think it's a great thing to leave for grandchildren to look back on when their grandparents are no longer here, however, some of the questions seem to be too much alike and there were so many pertaining to a father. Also, it's hard to remember specific things that happened in your childhood or school that were, in my case 70 years ago. Otherwise, it's a very good tool.
The prompts are a bit basic and I would prefer to see highlights or something from all the entries I've done.
A nice concept . Sometimes the questions are repetitive and so would be nice to have more variety
I thought that some of the questions were not easy to answer…I guess they don’t connect with my experiences.
I'm doing it at the request of my daughter. Personally, I don't like calling attention to myself. Plus, I don't seem able to make it interesting. Just not my "cup of tea" I guess.
My subscription was a very thoughtful and touching gift, but I have found it a bit overwhelming to respond on a weekly basis and also realised I was over-answering some questions when later ones arrived in my inbox -- so thought I would look ahead at future questions and what I had previously submitted so I could plan my responses to be more meaningful and do some cutting and pasting to resolve how inept I had been. This is certainly possible, but inconvenient in that I was unable to easily print (in full) my past and future questions and consequently have stumbled a little around the site and ended up resorting to using numerous screen shots. . . somewhat frustrating. It's a great idea -- but some sort of overview/review to/of questions that doesn't require flicking from screen to screen would be useful. Thankyou
I’m excited about the final product - The questions lack some depth
Will I be able to add photos later or change something I have already submitted before it is printed. Think I may be repeating myself at times
It’s a great idea, but 52 questions become repetitive. I find myself writing the similar responses in a lot of questions. I’m becoming less interested as time goes by. Maybe just the choice of question.
I absolutely love the concept and bought 4 subscription of two books each for both sets of grandparents. I have two boys and thought what a great way to learn more about how both sets grow up. Unfortunately, I do not find customer service very helpful. I have had to navigate the website on my own and trying to teach two in there upper 70’s and early 80,s. I would suggest to but together a little cheat sheet on how to input question in the right sequence.
**I may change my review later on, if the company actually does what it says it will** PLEASE BE WARNED THAT THE COVER DESIGNS THEY ADVERTISE ARE NOT ACTUALLY THE ONES THE BOOKS COME WITH. The cover options they advertise are simple, classic, and tasteful, and the ones that are available are tacky and childish, in wacky colours, with ridiculous prints and patterns that looked as if they were ripped off of a bad PowerPoint template for a middle school project — not something you want to accompany your family’s most cherished memories. You can only see the real cover options AFTER paying for the subscription (I pre-paid for 3 copies, which was not cheap) and when I emailed the help centre to ask about this, they said that better cover options will be made available soon. (I am guessing I am not the first person to complain about this…) The person I spoke to was very nice (this is why I am giving 2 stars vs 1) but the answer was disappointingly non-committal. Also, it is difficult to trust a company’s definition of “better” when you see what they originally thought was fine. Trust me, if you’re an aesthetic person… you will be deeply insulted. Not something you’d want to display in your home, that’s for sure. I have asked for a firm confirmation that the cover options will be updated, and when this will happen, and I may go back and ask to see what they have in mind. If they cannot provide these things, I said I would like a full refund for the subscription, and I will go with Storyworth instead as I have seen the finished products in the flesh and they are SIGNIFICANTLY more attractive. I feel like I should add that I am not a complainer, and I have never left a negative review on a product in my life, actually. But the discrepancy between what is advertised and what we paid for is profound. If you are looking for a sophisticated, classic, and simple finished product that can serve as an heirloom or family keepsake, or something that can sit on an adult’s coffee table, go with a different company. (For now)
I like answering most if these questions. To me there were too many questions about my youth and not as I got older. Some of the questions were repetitive . Need a more variety of questions
Many of the questions are. unablel to be answered as I dont remember back 75 years ago.
A lot of the questions are irrelevant or meaningless. Waste of time trying to answer Questions related to family are fun to answer and to elaborate on. Personal experience questions are good. Lately questions only require a one word answer.
The book writing process was pretty straightforward. I was frustrated at times because some of my "saved stories" would disappear end up getting put put back in "Questions". And the picture attached was gone. I thought there should be more selection for cover options. I liked the different styles but the color schemes were almost all the same! Coral and pink. They did not fit with the picture we wanted to use. We ended up using a very simple, boring, gray background. Definitely not very interesting!
Often the question asked is not answered. There seems to be a stock reply used for any question…. most annoying. The individual who answers the question seems to think that the person asking the questions has not tried to troubleshoot prior for asking for help
It is a great disadvantage to only be allowed one photo per story! I recently read my brother's story done by a different company, and enjoyed multiple photos per story that I hadn't seen in decades !!
I have reviewed already and you are asking for another. I had said it is disappointing your questions are not tailored or editable to suit different countries and cultures. It's entirely American which is great if you live there but largely irrelevant if you don't.
I like the concept of “my story” and I am having fun trying to remember events and putting them down in a readable way. However I am nearly 80 and not computer savvy. I am using an iPad and maybe that’s the problem. I would like to be able to position pictures beside each page when the program creates multiple pages from a single topic. I also find it difficult to reposition topics easily. It can be done but it’s frustrating. It seems to be more difficult on an iPad than on a computer. I also find it’s hard to get rid of blank pages when I shorten up what I’ve written. I’ve had to enlist family help many times.
I have not finished the book and wanted to return to it but I guess I can't....to me it is incomplete...and I have no way to change that...
I would have liked to post more than one photo with some stories and to have more control over formatting of my stories.
Being 75 years old it was hard for me to answer the questions from when i was little
I have not finished answering all the questions. I do not know your process and what happens next.
My family and I are currently in the process of having my dad complete what we are calling his "legacy book". Pros: *low cost compared to competing services. *weekly email reminders of prompts/questions. *ability to edit/add our own questions and add pictures. Cons: *pretty bare bones GUI (I hope the published book is much more polished!) *website to enter info isn't very intuitive for older customers (aka: my dad in his 80s). Thankfully, I am able to enter everything for him. *not very imaginative/provocative questions (but at least we can add our own). Again, my dad hasn't finished his book yet, so I'll return and add to this review when it is published. Overall, this service is a great idea to preserve family memories - it is just not the most creative/engaging implementation. I can only hope the final product is higher quality than this initial impression. 🙏🏽 If the final book turns out polished, it would become a cherished family heirloom and I would happily give them 5 stars. Crossing fingers! 😉