LifeBook’s Founder Talks to Alara Kap from Based Istanbul

Roy talks about autobiography writing services with Alara Kap

LifeBook is a project I came across and fell in love with during a family gathering where I found myself listening closely to the story of Roy Moëd, a man who founded a company that transforms life stories to life books, immortalizing memories in the most nostalgic way possible. After a well-thought process of 12 weeks, one’s words are translated into written ones, and a LifeBook is born. From first words to first heartbreaks, unkept promises to kept secrets, LifeBook reveals as much as one is willing to; without any judgment or prejudice … (Alara Kap)

What is the process of writing one’s story?

There are 3 steps:
1. 12 meetings are done whereby the subject is interviewed and recorded.
2. The recorded interviews are written by a ghostwriter.
3. The finished book is edited and typeset.

Following on from this, the books are printed and handmade in London on archive paper and stitched and bound.

Do you interview other people related to the person who is writing their story? After all, some stories need double-checking …!

No, the stories are purely the author’s stories, and we say it is the ‘author’s version of the truth.’ None of the stories are researched or fact-checked. After all, they are not for sale and are for private consumption by the family.

Once the book is written, the person is asked to come up with a title. Why do you think it’s important for a person to come up with a title themselves?

Sometimes the author has a title before they start. I also think the title in some way defines if it is aimed to be a serious autobiography or an amusing look back on one’s life. We are often asked to help with the title.

However, I have tried to ban ‘My Life’.