“ To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.
Thomas Campbell

Give your mom or dad the chance to tell their story, while they still can.

Audiobiography is a complete life review program that helps you tell your life story in your own voice, at your own pace.

We help you remember the stories that shaped your life, then turn them into an Interactive Storybook with every story in its original audio, alongside photos, videos and the full written text.

We promise it will be the most meaningful gift you’ll ever give, and receive.

No subscription Their first printed book is free

You can feel the time getting shorter.

Maybe it’s the stories that come around again. The names that take a little longer. The way Dad brings up the farm, or the service, or the first house, without anyone asking.

Most of us nod and change the subject. We figure there will be time to sit down and really ask. But you can see it now. The visits are numbered, and you want the rest of them to count.

All that looking back has a name: the life review.

In the early 1960s, the psychiatrist Robert Butler noticed something in the older people he studied. As they sensed the end of life getting closer, they began looking back over all of it: old memories, old regrets, the questions they never settled. Doctors at the time called it rambling, or living in the past. Butler said it was something every one of us goes through near the end, and that it matters.

He saw that it can go two ways. When a person has room to work back through their life, and someone to hear it, the review tends toward peace: pride in what they did, acceptance of what they couldn’t fix, and less fear about what comes next. When it’s left alone, the same memories can turn into regret.

Often the person will tell his or her life story to anyone who will listen.
Robert N. Butler, MD, founding director of the National Institute on Aging

Audiobiography is a way to be the one who listens, and to make sure what they say isn’t lost. Nearly 100 questions take them from where they grew up to what they hope you’ll remember. They answer out loud, at their own pace, and say it the way they want it said.

Why their voice?

Most life stories go untold because the usual ways of telling them are hard. Talking isn’t.

Writing

A memoir means facing a blank page again and again. Tired hands and eyes make it harder every year, and on paper, people tend to tidy themselves up.

Video

Video needs someone behind the camera, good light, and a sitting that feels like an interview. Most people stiffen up and start performing.

Their voice

Talking is how they’ve told stories their whole life. They can record from their favorite chair, in their robe, whenever a memory comes back. No one is watching, so they sound like themselves.

A voice keeps what a page can’t: the pause before the hard part, the laugh at their own joke, the way they say your name.

Press play to hear Merwin LaVere Martin tell the story of his childhood dog, Elmer, straight from the pages of his book. Then watch how the whole thing works, start to finish.

There’s science behind it, too. In a 2010 University of Wisconsin–Madison study, stressed kids who heard their mom’s voice on the phone calmed down about as well as kids comforted in person. A follow-up found that text messages from Mom didn’t do the same.

Their great-grandkids will hear them laugh.

Most of us know our great-grandparents as a name and maybe a photo. Your family will know how they sounded, what made them laugh, and what they hoped for all of you.

Them

A guided life review, with someone finally listening. The chance to look back over all of it, say what mattered, and make peace with the rest.
You

Their whole life, collected in one place. Not just the few stories you’ve heard a hundred times, but all of it, in their words and their voice.
Your kids

They get to know their grandparent firsthand, not just through the stories you remember to tell.
Every generation after

Someday a great-great-grandchild opens the book, presses play, and meets them for the first time.

Printed Audiobiography books stacked on a shelf

A copy for every branch of the family.

Every story becomes its own chapter, with every word they said written out, their photos alongside, and a QR code that plays it in their voice. Your first hardback is free. After that, anyone you share it with can order the edition that fits their household, printed to order and shipped free in the US.

Premium hardback The heirloom for the family shelf
Color paperback The same book in full color, lighter to share
Black & white paperback Priced so everyone can have one
Pocket handbook Their stories, sayings, and people, pocket-size
Audiobiography coin A QR keepsake for a frame or family tree

Every edition plays their voice, and listening is free forever.

How it works.

You give it

Choose instant digital access, emailed within seconds, or a printed certificate in the mail to wrap and hand over.
They open it

They tap the link or scan the certificate on any phone, tablet, or computer.
They talk, one question at a time

Nearly 100 questions walk them from childhood on. They tap record and answer, for as long as they like, and can add photos and questions of their own.
Every word is written out

Each recording is transcribed automatically, so the story reads as well as it plays.
You listen along

They can share stories free with family by text or email, and you can be added to their book to follow along. A weekly reminder keeps them going, with no deadline.
Their book arrives

When the stories are in, you or they look through the pages and cover, just as they’ll be printed, and approve them. The hardback ships in about three weeks, and the first copy is free.

Elaine Jones Martin's printed Audiobiography beside a phone showing a story page with its QR code

Two phones showing an Audiobiography's cover photo, table of contents and a recorded story

A story page with its QR code beside the recording screen

The gift certificate screen and the welcome screen a new storyteller sees

Three printed Audiobiography books stacked on a shelf

Audiobiography on a phone, a tablet and a laptop, on Apple, Windows, iOS and Android

A father and his grown son laughing over an old photo album at the kitchen table

Audiobiography

A guided way for a loved one to record their life story in their own voice, for the family to keep. Give it as a mailed certificate or instant digital access.

$100

What’s included

Nearly 100 guided questions, plus any of their own
Unlimited recording, transcribed automatically
Unlimited photos, videos, and files
Free sharing with family, anywhere
Their first hardback book, free
No deadline, so they can start whenever they’re ready

See the questions they’ll be asked

Questions families ask.

My mom isn’t good with technology.

If she can open a text, she can do this. She taps the link, taps record, and talks. There’s no app to download, and if she gets stuck, you can be added to her book to help with photos or anything else.

He’ll say he has nothing interesting to say.

Almost everyone says that at first. The questions start easy, with where they grew up and who their friends were, and build from there. Before long, one memory leads to the next.

Can I sit with them and ask the questions?

Yes. You can be added to their book with the same access they have, so you can sit together, read a question out loud, and tap record. Some of the best stories come out in conversation.

What if there are things they don’t want to share?

They’re in control. They can skip or edit any question, add their own, and keep the book private so only the people they choose can listen.

Will anything be charged later?

No. It’s one payment. There’s no subscription, listening is free forever for everyone they share with, and their first hardback is free. Extra copies are only if you want them.

What if they don’t finish?

There’s no deadline, and their link never expires. Every story is saved as they go, and the whole thing can be downloaded at any time, so nothing is lost.

Can they keep adding stories after the book is printed?

Yes. They can keep adding stories and photos for the rest of their life, and every QR code in a printed book plays the newest version.

They have stories no one else can tell.

Give them the chance to look back on their life with someone listening, and give your family their voice for generations to come.

No subscription Their first printed book is free