The life, written down properly
Whether it is for your grandchildren, your industry or the public record, a life story deserves more than a folder of photographs and a few half-remembered anecdotes.
How is a memoir or biography written from someone's life?
Through recorded interviews — typically 12 to 20 hours with the subject, plus family and colleagues — combined with archival research. Material is then shaped into a narrative rather than a chronology. Arkedia writes memoirs from £5,450, for private family editions or full commercial publication.
- From£5,450
- Interviews12–20 hours
- Timeline8–12 months
- EditionsPrivate or commercial
Memoir is the hardest thing we write, because the material is real and the stakes are personal. It is also the work clients thank us for most.
We conduct recorded interviews — with you, and often with family, colleagues and friends — then organise decades of material into a narrative with a shape. Not a chronology of everything that happened, but a story about what it meant.
Some clients want twenty hardback copies for the family. Others want a commercially published book with a launch behind it. We do both, and the process is identical up to the point of publication.
Fixed price, quoted in GBP before you commit. Milestone payments.
- Free 1,500-word sample first
- Mutual NDA signed before we start
- Two revision rounds included
- Full rights and royalties stay yours
Everything in the Biography & Memoir service
Extended interviews
Typically 12–20 hours of recorded conversation, conducted in sessions that do not exhaust you.
Family and colleague interviews
Other voices fill the gaps memory leaves and add perspective you cannot provide yourself.
Archival research
Photographs, letters, records, newspaper archives and public records, sourced and integrated.
Sensitive material handling
A clear, documented process for deciding what is included, what is softened and what stays out.
Photo sections
Curated, captioned and properly reproduced photo plates in the printed edition.
Private or public editions
A short-run private family edition, a full commercial publication, or both.
How biography & memoir works, step by step
You approve before we proceed. Every time. No stage begins until you have signed off the one before it.
Initial conversation
We talk about the life, the reason for the book and who it is for.
Interview programme
A scheduled series of recorded sessions, with family interviews arranged around them.
Research and structure
Archives gathered, timeline built, narrative structure proposed and approved.
Writing
Chapters drafted and delivered in batches for your review.
Family review
A structured read by the people named in the book, with a clear process for their notes.
Production
Photo plates, typesetting, cover, printing — private run or full publication.
What authors say afterwards
I came with eleven years of workshop notes and no idea how to make a book out of them. The outline stage alone was worth the fee — it was the first time I could see the shape of what I actually knew. The finished book reads like me on a good day.
I had three self-published titles that were not selling. They showed me my covers side by side with the top forty in my category at thumbnail size and I understood the problem in about four seconds. New covers, re-optimised listings, and the back catalogue started moving.
Writing about my mother's illness was not something I could do alone. The interviews were handled with real care, and they were clear from the start about what would be in the book and what would not. My family have all read it. That matters more than sales.
Biography & Memoir — your questions answered
What if my memory has gaps?
Everyone's does, and it is not a problem. Interviews with family and colleagues, plus archival research, reliably surface things you had genuinely forgotten. The book is often more complete than the memory it started from.
How do we handle difficult family material?
Deliberately, and early. Before writing begins we agree in writing what is in scope, what is handled with care and what is excluded. Nothing sensitive appears in a draft you have not already discussed.
Can we do this for an elderly relative?
Yes, and it is common — often with adult children commissioning it. We adapt to shorter, more frequent sessions and can interview at home or in a care setting. When time is a factor, tell us and we will prioritise the interview stage.
Do we have to publish it publicly?
Not at all. Many clients commission a private edition — twenty to a hundred hardbacks for family only, never listed for sale. It is handled with the same care as a commercial title.
Services that pair with this one
Ghostwriting
A dedicated genre-matched writer turns your idea, notes or interviews into a finished manuscript you own outright.
Learn moreBook Editing
Developmental, line and copy editing from editors who work on commercially published books, with a clear report you can act on.
Learn moreBook Publishing
Print, eBook and global distribution set up properly — in your name, with your ISBN, and 100% of royalties paid to you.
Learn moreTell us about your book
A 45-minute call, no charge and no pressure. You will leave with a realistic timeline, a fixed price and an honest view of whether the book is worth writing.