Our Process

Consultation | Information Gathering | Interviewing | Writing & Editing | Design & Printing Consultation | Show & Tell

Consultation

We begin by assessing your needs and goals for the project. Are you interested in a recording of your mother’s voice as she recalls her childhood? Do you want to commemorate an important event in your own life? Would you like a biography written about your father? Or a family chronicle that tells the story of several people? Taking into consideration your budget and how much of your own time you would like to invest, we will choose a package that suits your needs and formulate a time line for completion of the project.

Information Gathering

Following your initial consultation, you will be asked to fill in a simple pre-interview questionnaire and provide biographical information such as a family tree, significant dates, and other personal history for yourself or the narrator (the individual who will be the focus of the story). This stage is designed to streamline the interview process and gather background information that will help us tailor the interviews to you. You will also be prompted to consider what personal keepsakes or family heirlooms would contribute to your story. Do your photographs, journals, letters, scrapbooks or collections tell a story about you?

Interviewing

Most Story Foundry projects begin with personal interviews which are recorded with professional quality audio equipment, capturing the best sound possible from your chosen interview location. Usually the interviews will take place in the narrator’s home or private office where they are most likely to be comfortable and relaxed. Coordinated with your schedule, and within the time line set for your project, the interview sessions are usually scheduled for 1-2 hours each. Sessions may be conducted on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis until all interviews are completed, depending on session availability and your personal preference. The resulting recordings may be edited together as part of a Story Foundry Sound Portrait package or used as material for a Story foundry Edition package, which include a bound manuscript along with an archival copy of your recorded interviews, edited minimally for clarity and cohesiveness.

Writing & Editing

Once the Information Gathering and Interview steps have been completed, your interviews and biographical materials are entrusted to a Story Foundry author who creates a draft of your manuscript. This draft is submitted to you for review and revision requests. Revisions will be completed in a timely manner and a refined proof will be furnished for your approval. No Story Foundry work is considered final until you are completely satisfied. You are given sole sign-off on the proof and extra revisions will be accommodated at your request (grammatical or typographical errors will be corrected at no charge; content revisions not requested after the initial review may incur extra charges or may extend the project beyond the original time line). The time line for this stage depends largely on the desired length of the final work and your needs. We will work with you to ensure timely authoring of your work and establish an appropriate scope for your project if you have imposed a strict time constraint, such as may be the case with a work commissioned for a specific holiday or event such as a wedding, birthday, or family reunion.

Design & Printing Consultation

Following your final sign-off on the manuscript, you will have the opportunity for a design and printing consultation where you will be guided through decisions that determine the look and feel of your Story Foundry Edition. You are offered a choice of digital or letterpress printing options, binding styles and materials, cover and paper color, base layouts, and typeface choices. Our menu of options makes it easy for you to have a truly unique bound book, with minimum effort.

Photo Editing

This stage includes assistance with selection, ordering, layout, and cropping of photos and illustrations to be included in your edition. Our expertise can help you determine which photos will best augment your story. Photos and manuscript are then sent to our printer and binder for the final step of the Story Foundry process.

Show & Tell

Last but not least is the opportunity to share your Story Foundry Sound Portrait or Edition with your friends and family. Our work is meant to be seen, heard, and admired, whether you wish to have a private keepsake to treasure or whether you plan to share your Story Foundry work with extended family and friends.