“The summer I worked at the bakery”Grace’s sample call · 0:51
1,000+ families have made a book with the team behind Elmtale
A book of their life. All they do is answer the phone.
A patient interviewer talks with them about their life, whenever suits them. Each call becomes a chapter. At the end: a hardcover book with their voice inside.
$99, one payment. If they say no on the first call, you get everything back.
- Just a phone: no app, no login, no internet
- On their schedule, or they call in any time, day or night
- A printed book and free US shipping included
- Grace says she’s an AI, every time
Three steps to their book.
A few minutes for you. Just a phone for them.
- 1
Choose their interviewer
Pick Grace or James, and tell us a little about them: their name, where they grew up, and the stories you’d love to hear.
- 2
They talk on their own schedule
Their interviewer calls at the times that suit them, or they ring any time, day or night. Just a phone, nothing to install.
- 3
Their book arrives
A printed hardcover delivered to your door, and a digital copy to keep and share. Each chapter has a code that plays their voice.
Four lives, four books.
Hear the call, read the chapter, see the book it became.
Swipe to see them all
Walter Moretti
The bakery years, and everything after
Hear Grace call Walter0:51Mister Russo started at four in the morning, and I was fifteen. He took my hands and said, ‘Walter, the dough knows when you’re in a hurry.’ I’ve thought about that my whole life.
From chapter one, “The summer at the bakery”
Margaret Ellis
Number, please
Hear James call Margaret0:54One young man rang every night at ten, just to ask the time. Every night, for two months. Then one night he asked my name instead. We were married forty-one years.
From chapter one, “Nights at the telephone exchange”
Rosa Delgado
Historias de una vida
Told in Spanish. Every chapter has an English translation, and a code that plays her voice.
Traíamos una maleta y una olla de frijoles. Mi mamá no soltó la olla en todo el viaje.We brought one suitcase and a pot of beans. My mother didn’t let go of that pot the whole trip.
From chapter one, “El día que llegamos”
Eleanor Park
The girl from Daegu
Eight weekly calls, from Daegu in the fifties to four grandchildren in Chicago.
I had never seen snow. I thought someone had covered the whole city in rice flour.
From chapter three, “My first winter in Chicago”
Sample books, calls and chapters, made to show the format. These families are not customers.
What the first families say
I thought I knew all of Mom’s stories, but after the third call I was reading about a summer job she had never once mentioned. Hearing her laugh in the voice clip made me cry at my desk.
Lauradaughter★★★★★ Grandpa was skeptical about talking to an AI, but by week two he was asking when Grace would call again. Now the whole family has his story of how he met Grandma, in his own words.
Marcograndson★★★★★ We got the first conversation to see if my aunt would enjoy it, and she talked for the full thirty minutes. The written summary was lovely; I just wish we had started with more calls.
Helenniece★★★★★
One price. Everything in it.
Life story book
$99- 60 minutes of conversation, whenever suits them
- A chapter from every call, with clips of their voice
- A printed hardcover book
- Free shipping in the US
Want more time with them? Add 30 minutes for $39, or more, before you pay.
If they don’t say yes on the first call, you get your money back.
Questions
What do they need?
Just a phone. Any phone, even a landline. No app, no internet, nothing to log into.
Are Grace and James real people?
No. Grace and James are AI interviewers, and they say so at the start of every conversation. They ask permission before recording.
What if they don’t want to?
At the start of the first call, your interviewer explains who is calling and asks if they’d like to go on. They can say no then, or stop at any time. If they say no on that first call, we refund your order in full.
How does the book reach us?
When the calls are done, you can reorder chapters, fix names and add a dedication. Then our print partner prints it and ships it to the address you give, in the US and many other countries, and we email you the tracking link.
More questions
Can a man call instead?
Yes. When you tell us about them, choose James instead of Grace. He asks the same gentle questions, and he says he’s an AI at the start of every conversation too.
Can they speak Spanish?
Yes. Conversations can be in English or Spanish. In Spanish the interviewers are Sofía and Tomás, and every chapter comes with an English translation.
Can we add more time?
Yes. Before you pay you can add 30 minutes ($39), an hour ($59) or two ($99), and later more from their page whenever you like.
What if they miss a call?
We email you, and none of their time is used up: book another time from their page. You can also move or cancel a single conversation there.
Who hears the recordings?
You see the stories and short highlights. Recordings are kept privately, never sold, never published and never used to train AI, and we delete them whenever you ask.
Is it a subscription?
No. You pay once: $99 for the book and its calls, plus any time you add.
Can we order more copies?
Yes, at any time: hardcovers from $39 a copy, paperbacks, linen editions and larger sizes, for everyone in the family.
Who decides when they talk?
They do. Book one call at a time or a weekly time in their time zone, and change it whenever you like. They can also ring their own number at any hour, and their interviewer picks up where they left off. When we call them, it is only between 9 am and 8 pm, their time.
Every family means to do this. Almost nobody does.
Start their book today, for $99.
Give the gift of their story