How much does it cost to turn your life story into a book?
Memoir ghostwriters, life story writing services, editors, guided journals and AI biographers: what each costs in 2026, what you get, and how to choose.
By Yosuke Sakurai · · 8 min read
Ask what it costs to have your life story written and you’ll hear numbers from twenty dollars to fifty thousand. Both are honest. A guided journal and a professional ghostwriter are both ways to end up with your story in a book, but they’re as different as a cookbook and a private chef.
This guide sets the main options side by side: what each one costs, what you get for the money, how long it takes and who it suits. A note before we start: we make Ever Journal, one of the options below, so we’re not neutral. The prices come from each provider’s own pages and published rate surveys, checked in October 2026. Prices change, so check the current ones before you pay.
The short answer
- A memoir ghostwriter usually costs $25,000 to $75,000. Newer writers start around $10,000, and the best-known charge $150,000 or more.
- A life story writing service costs from about $3,250 for a short book to $42,000 for a long one with many printed copies.
- Writing it yourself with an editor costs roughly $1,750 to $2,250 for a developmental edit of a 50,000-word book, plus printing.
- A weekly-question gift service like Storyworth costs $69 to $199 for a year, with a hardcover included.
- A guided journal costs about the price of a book, around $25.
- An AI biographer costs from nothing to about $200. Ever Journal is free to start, and Eve+ is $59.99 a year.
The options side by side
| Option | Typical cost | Who writes it | How long | Printed book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memoir ghostwriter | $25,000 to $75,000 | A professional writer, from interviews | 6 to 12 months | Arranged separately |
| Life story writing service | $3,250 to $42,000 | A writer the service assigns | Weeks to months | Included |
| Write it yourself, with an editor | About $1,500 to $4,000 | You, with professional editing | As long as you take | Print on demand |
| Weekly-question service | $69 to $199 a year | You, one answer a week | About a year | Included |
| Guided journal | About $25 | You, by hand | As long as you take | It is the book |
| AI biographer | Free to about $200 | AI, from your answers | Weeks to months | Usually a PDF to print |
Memoir ghostwriter: $25,000 and up
A ghostwriter interviews you over many hours, researches what needs researching, and writes the whole book in your voice. It’s the most expensive option and the one that asks least of you.
What it costs. The Editorial Freelancers Association’s 2026 rate survey puts memoir ghostwriting at 50 cents to $1 a word. For a 50,000-word book, about 200 printed pages, that’s $25,000 to $50,000. One ghostwriter’s 2026 guide puts most experienced professionals at $25,000 to $75,000, first-time freelancers at $10,000 to $25,000, and elite memoir specialists at $150,000 and up. Most charge a flat fee for the project. Travel for in-person interviews is usually extra.
How long it takes. Six to twelve months from the first interview to the final draft is typical.
Good for: people with a story they want to publish or share widely, a budget to match, and little time or wish to write.
Life story writing services: from about $3,250
These companies sit between a ghostwriter and doing it yourself. They match you with a writer, run a set number of interviews, write a shorter book and print it. Many are bought as gifts for a parent or grandparent.
What it costs. Two examples, as listed in October 2026:
- StoryTerrace‘s Classic package starts at $3,250 for a book of 60 to 120 pages, written from 4 to 10 hours of interviews, with 4 hardbound copies. Its PRO package, for books over 125 pages, starts at $24,000.
- LifeBook Memoirs starts at $18,000 for a book of up to 200 pages, from 11 face-to-face interviews, with 10 hardback copies. Its largest package is $42,000 for up to 300 pages and 24 copies.
Independent personal historians, who do this work on their own, set their own rates. Ask for a quote that covers interviews, writing, design and printing, so you can compare like with like.
Good for: families who want a finished, printed book about one person, and would rather pay than write.
Writing it yourself, with an editor: about $1,500 to $4,000
If you’re willing to write the first draft, you can buy the professional polish separately. One ghostwriter’s own pricing guide calls this the strongest option on a budget.
What it costs. The same EFA survey puts developmental editing of a memoir, which looks at structure, pacing and what’s missing, at 3.5 to 4.5 cents a word. For 50,000 words that’s $1,750 to $2,250. A copyedit, which fixes grammar, consistency and clarity, runs 2.7 to 3.5 cents a word, or $1,350 to $1,750. You might want one, the other or both.
Printing. You don’t need a publisher to hold your book in your hands. A print-on-demand service such as Lulu prints a single 100-page, black-and-white hardcover for about $12. Color photos and more pages cost more, and each copy is printed when you order it.
Good for: people who enjoy writing, or want to, and need help shaping the result.
Weekly-question services: $69 to $199 a year
Storyworth made this idea popular: someone receives a question every week for a year, writes or records an answer, and the answers become a printed book. It’s the most common gift version of writing a life story.
At the time of writing, Storyworth costs $69 to $199 depending on the plan, and Remento costs $99 for the first year. Both include a hardcover book. The storyteller still does the writing (or, with Remento, the talking). Our guide to Storyworth alternatives compares these services and their prices, and Storyworth vs Remento goes deeper on the two best known.
Good for: a gift for someone who likes to write, or talk, a little every week.
Guided journals: about $25
A guided journal is a printed book of prompts with space to write the answers by hand. Korie Herold’s Dad’s Story, for example, is a 112-page linen hardcover with a list price of $24.95.
It’s the cheapest way to start and makes a lovely object. The catch is that someone has to fill it in, and a blank page is just as hard to face when it comes with a prompt at the top.
Good for: people who like writing by hand, and families who’d treasure the handwriting itself.
AI biographers: free to about $200
The newest option. An AI asks you questions, you answer by typing or talking, and it turns your answers into written chapters. The quality varies a lot, so it’s worth looking at how each one handles the details you didn’t give it.
What it costs. Most are far cheaper than a human writer. In October 2026, Autobiographer cost $99 once or $16 a month, Biography Studio AI offered three chapters free, then $119 for the whole book, and Tell Mel, which interviews you by phone, cost $39 to $219 for a year. Ever Journal is free to start, with a first chapter and five questions a week, and Eve+ is $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year for unlimited questions, voice answers, photos and a PDF of the book. Our list of the best apps for writing your life story compares eleven of them.
What you give up. An AI won’t bring a professional writer’s judgment about what to cut, or spend a week researching your grandfather’s regiment. And you still have to supply the memories: it can only write well about what you tell it.
Good for: people who want to tell their own story, at their own pace, without the budget for a writer.
What drives the price
Whichever route you choose, the same few things decide the cost:
- Length. Professionals price by the word, the page or the project, and a 30,000-word family history costs far less than an 80,000-word memoir.
- Interview time. More hours of interviews mean more material and a bigger bill.
- Research and travel. Archives, old letters and in-person visits all add cost.
- Design and photos. A book full of restored photos costs more to lay out and print.
- Printed copies. Packages include a set number. Extra copies for the whole family add up.
- Revisions. Find out how many rounds of changes are included.
Questions to ask before you pay
- How many hours of interviews are included, and what does an extra hour cost?
- How many rounds of revisions do I get?
- Who owns the finished text and the recordings, and can I have digital copies of both?
- How many printed copies are included, and what do more cost later?
- How long will it take, and what happens if the storyteller can’t finish?
- What happens if I’m not happy with the draft?
Which one is right for you?
- Under $100: a guided journal if you like writing by hand, or an AI biographer if you’d rather answer questions and have the writing done for you.
- A few hundred dollars: a weekly-question service if it’s a gift for someone who’ll write a little each week.
- A few thousand dollars: write it yourself and hire an editor, or choose a shorter book from a life story writing service.
- $20,000 and up: a ghostwriter or a full-service memoir company, if you want a professional book and someone else to do almost all of the work.
Whatever you choose, the hardest part is usually starting. If you’d like a few prompts first, our 60 life story questions and our guide to writing your life story are good places to begin.
Where Eve fits
Ever Journal is the low-cost end of this list. Eve, its AI biographer, drafts a first chapter from a few basics, then asks one question at a time about the biggest gap in your story. She writes only from what you tell her and marks what she doesn’t know instead of guessing, and you approve every change. It won’t replace a professional writer, and it doesn’t print books, but it’s free to start, and the book is yours to download whenever you like.
Sources
Checked on October 26, 2026:
- Editorial Freelancers Association: 2026 editorial rates (memoir ghostwriting, developmental editing and copyediting)
- Amy Suto: How much does a memoir ghostwriter cost?
- StoryTerrace: packages
- LifeBook Memoirs: packages
- Lulu: print-on-demand costs
- Penguin Random House: Dad’s Story by Korie Herold
- Storyworth, Remento, Autobiographer, Biography Studio AI and Tell Mel prices: from our Storyworth alternatives and best life story apps guides, checked the same week