Family story gifts compared: which kind fits your parent
There are a few good ways to help a parent tell their life story. They suit different people. Here is a plain description of each kind, and where EverTold fits.
The main kinds
Weekly questions that become a printed book
A question arrives each week by email or text. The answers, written or recorded, are collected for about a year and printed as a hardcover book. Best for parents who like to write and families who want a book on the shelf.
Phone call services
An automated call asks a question and records the answer. Best for parents who do not use the internet.
Recording it yourself
A phone on the table and a list of questions. Free and personal, but the recordings are hard to organize and share.
EverTold: a conversation that becomes stories told for each relative
A gentle interviewer talks with them out loud and follows up. Every story is written, narrated, and told to each relative from their own place in the family, with a story-time telling for children. Paid once, kept for good. No printed book; a printable PDF can be downloaded.
How EverTold works
- The storyteller has a spoken conversation with a gentle interviewer, in a phone, tablet or computer browser. It asks, listens, follows up and waits for them to finish. Typing is optional.
- Every answer is written up as a story and narrated aloud. Their own recordings are kept privately for the family.
- Each relative hears every story told from their own place in the family: a daughter hears about "your uncle", a grandson about "your great-uncle".
- Children can choose a story-time telling of the same story, in simpler words at a gentler pace.
- Family members can send a question to the storyteller, and the answer comes back as a new story.
- One payment for lifetime access. No printed book: a printable PDF book, the audio, transcripts and photos can be downloaded any time.
Side by side with specific products
These pages describe each product only from its own website, and say where it may suit your family better. They are linked below.
Give EverTold
One storyteller, a lifetime family library, paid once.
Two storytellers, usually Mom and Dad, sharing one family library, paid once.
One payment, no subscription. 30 day refund. Delivered by email on the day you choose.
Give EverToldQuestions
Is EverTold a subscription?
No. EverTold is one payment for lifetime access, with no renewals.
What does EverTold do that other family story gifts do not?
Each relative hears every story told from their own place in the family, and children can hear a story-time telling made for them. The stories come from a real spoken conversation, and the storyteller’s own recordings are kept for the family.