Tell Your Story Out Loud. We’ll Write the Book
The stories your family asks you to tell again deserve to outlive the dinner table. You talk; we write your memoir in your own voice.
Dictate writes memoirs and family legacy books from interviews. You tell your story to an AI interviewer by phone, up to 15 hours in all, and we write the book from your own words, in your voice. You review every chapter, decide what stays private, and own 100% of the book. You can publish it publicly or print a private family edition. Our goal is a finished manuscript in 4 to 8 weeks, at your pace.
Who writes a memoir with us
Grandparents who want their grandchildren to know where the family came from. Veterans, immigrants and business founders whose stories are a piece of history. People who came through something hard and want others to know they can too. And adult children who want a parent’s story recorded while there is still time to ask.
You don’t need to be famous, and you don’t need to be a writer. You need the stories, and the willingness to tell them.
Why talking works better than writing for a life story
People tell their best stories out loud. On the page, the same memory comes out stiff and careful. In conversation, with someone asking "and then what happened?", the details come back: the smell of the kitchen, what your father said at the train station, the joke that broke the tension.
Silas, our AI interviewer, asks those follow-up questions, one conversation at a time, by phone. There is no typing and no app to learn, which is why the format works well for older storytellers. A family member can help set up the first call.
Honesty, privacy and the people in your story
A memoir is your truth, and it includes other people. Before a chapter is final, think about the living people in it. You can change names, leave out details, or skip a story entirely, and you decide all of that when you review. Hard memories can be told at your own pace, or left out.
Write about what happened and how it felt to you, rather than judging people who can’t answer back. If you plan to publish publicly and a story touches someone’s reputation, it is worth a word with an attorney first. Dictate writes only what you said; nothing is invented to make a chapter more dramatic.
Public book, family edition, or both
Some memoirs are meant for the world: a story that can help others, published on Amazon and in bookstores. Some are meant only for the family. Many are both.
Because you own the print-ready files, you choose. Publish it publicly in your own accounts, print a private family edition to hand out at a reunion, or do one now and the other later. Photographs can go in too: you upload them, and you decide which ones the book uses.
How the interview process works
Your part is talking and reviewing. Everything else is done for you, remotely.
A strategy call
We talk about who the book is for, what it needs to do for you, and what you already have: talks, notes, articles, recordings. We confirm the scope of your book on the call.
Research before you talk
Before your first interview, Dictate researches you and your field, so the questions start where your expertise starts instead of at the basics.
Phone interviews with Silas
You talk with Silas, our AI interviewer, by phone at times you choose, usually once or twice a week. Up to 15 hours of conversation in total. No writing and no homework.
Chapters from your own words
Chapters are written from your interview transcripts as you go, in your voice. Nothing is invented: every story and claim comes from you or your uploaded material.
You review and approve
You read every chapter in your author portal, leave notes and approve it. A sentence only you can confirm, like a date or a number, is flagged for you to check.
Ready to publish
You get print-ready and ebook files, a custom cover, Amazon copy and an Author’s Toolkit, set up to publish in your own accounts.
A realistic timeline
Our goal is your finished manuscript in 4 to 8 weeks. Your interview and review pace sets the timeline, so a busy month moves it and a free week speeds it up.
- Week 1Strategy call, research on you and your field, and your first interview.
- Weeks 2 to 5One or two interviews a week. Chapters arrive in your portal as you go.
- Weeks 5 to 8You review, ask for changes and approve each chapter. Then the files are prepared.
- After approvalYou publish in your own accounts, on your own launch date.
Memoir and Legacy Books: Questions
Can I order a stack of copies for the whole family?
Yes. You publish in your own account, so you order author copies at the printer’s cost, in whatever quantity you need, with no markup from us.
Can I make a private family edition that isn’t sold to the public?
Yes. You own the print-ready files, so you can print a private family edition through a print-on-demand printer without listing it for sale, alongside or instead of a public edition. Some memoir packages include printed copies shipped to you; ask on your call.
If I publish publicly, can bookstores and libraries order it through IngramSpark?
Yes. Your files are prepared for Amazon KDP and for IngramSpark. IngramSpark lists your book in the Ingram catalog that bookstores and libraries order from. Both accounts are in your name, so royalties come straight to you.
Who owns the rights to my life story and the book?
You do. You own 100% of the copyright and keep 100% of the royalties. Dictate claims no ownership of your book and takes no royalties, and your publishing accounts are in your name.
What does the speaking help include, if I want to tell my story to groups?
Every book comes with an Author’s Toolkit: bios, Amazon copy and quote graphics. Optional marketing packages add a speaker one-sheet with talk topics, and the largest adds a keynote outline and speaking pitches. We help you get ready to be booked; nobody can honestly promise the bookings.
I’ve never written anything. Can I still write a memoir?
You don’t need to be. You talk on the phone with Silas, our AI interviewer, and the chapters are written from your own words, in your voice. Your job is to talk and to review. Most people who write a memoir with us have never written a book before.
Your Family Will Want This Book
Start with the free training. See how the stories you tell at the table become a book in your own voice.
