A private biography is the story of one person’s life, written by a professional from long interviews, paid for by the family, and printed in a short run for the people who knew them. It is not sold in shops. It usually carries no ISBN. The family owns it, if the contract says so.
I write these books. Below is how they differ from other books about a life, what goes in, how many copies get printed, who owns the result, and what one costs.
How is a private biography different from other books about a life?
A private biography is defined by its readers: the family, and nobody else unless the family decides. The same book could be written as a memoir or as a biography. What makes it private is who commissions it and who gets a copy.
| Book | Who tells it | Who it is for | Sold? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private biography | A writer, from interviews with the person and the family | The family and close circle | No |
| Authorised biography | A writer, with the subject’s or heirs’ cooperation | Usually the public | Usually |
| Memoir or autobiography | The person, in the first person, often with a ghostwriter | Anyone the author chooses | Sometimes |
| Family history book | A writer or a relative, across several generations | Descendants | Rarely |
Wikipedia defines an authorised biography as one written “with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation” of the subject or the heirs. Most private biographies meet that test too.
The difference is the audience. My authorised biography work is usually for a founder whose book will be read outside the family. A private biography stays inside it.
The form is a separate choice. Many family books are written in the parent’s own voice, which makes them memoirs in shape. I set out the three forms in autobiography vs memoir vs biography.
Who is a private biography for?
A private biography is for a family that wants one person’s life on paper while that person can still tell it, and does not want the world reading it. Three cases come up most often in the families this site is written for:
- A parent turning 70 or 80, with children in three countries who want the stories before the details go.
- A founder whose reasons for the big decisions were never written down, with a second generation already running the business.
- A grandparent whose life is the family’s link to a village, a language or a migration that the grandchildren never saw.
None of them needs a reader outside the family. All of them need a writer who keeps quiet.
Free printable: 100 questions to ask your parents
Ten sessions, ten questions each, in the order that gets a parent talking. Print it, take it home, tick them off as you go. Leave your email and download it straight away.
What goes into a private biography?
A private biography is built from recorded conversations, the papers in the house, and the family’s photographs, shaped into chapters the family approves before the writing starts. On my two books the inputs are fixed:
| The gift book | The full book | |
|---|---|---|
| Interviews | 15 to 20 hours, in 90-minute sessions | 30 to 60 hours, plus family, partners and colleagues as needed |
| Length | About 25,000 words, 10 to 12 stories | 60,000 to 90,000 words, the whole life |
| Time | Four months, print included | Six months of writing, then design and print |
The papers matter as much as the talk. The land papers in a steel trunk, the unlabelled box of prints, the uncle in Toronto with the letters, as I wrote on the family heirloom book. Every recording goes back to the family with the book.
From the desk
“Every family book I write is private,” as I wrote on the family heirloom book. “I cannot show you someone else’s grandmother, and you would not want me to show anyone yours.” On confidentiality I set out what that takes in practice: an NDA signed before any story is shared, and a single writer who does all of it, so the family’s history never passes through a team.
I put the harder part plainly on the same page. In this work, what stays out matters more than what goes in. In my gift book, the parent decides what stays out.
How many copies does a private biography print?
A private biography usually prints a handful to a few hundred copies, most of them given away, few sold. My self-publishing guide puts a typical family book at sixty to three hundred copies.
The services set their own starting points. StoryTerrace’s Classic package includes 4 hard copies and its PRO package 20. LifeBook’s packages include 10, 15 or 24 hardbacks. My gift book includes ten hardbacks to one address, and extra copies are billed at the printer’s price.
Ask for the print files as well as the books. With the files, a reprint in twenty years does not need the writer.
Does a private biography need an ISBN?
No. An ISBN is never legally required, as India’s ISBN agency says in its own FAQ, and a family book without one is a real book. Get one if you want it in library catalogues; it is free in India. How to get an ISBN covers India, Britain and the United States, legal deposit included.
Who owns a private biography?
Under Indian law, the writer owns the text, unless a written contract assigns it to you or the writer is your employee. In India, section 17 of the Copyright Act, 1957 makes the author the first owner of the copyright. The exception for paid commissions covers photographs, paintings, portraits, engravings and films. It does not cover a book.
So the family owns the text of the book only through a written assignment, and section 19 of the same Act sets three defaults that catch the careless:
- An assignment that names no period is deemed to run for five years.
- An assignment that names no territory is presumed to cover India only.
- Rights the family does not exercise within a year of the assignment are deemed to lapse, unless the assignment says otherwise.
A family book is printed once and kept. These defaults fit that case worst.
The clause should say the whole copyright, worldwide, for the full term, that it does not lapse for non-use, and the fee paid for it. Have your lawyer read it. In my contracts, copyright is assigned to the client on final payment, and I hold no rights in the books I write.
What does a private biography cost?
A private biography costs from a few thousand dollars for a short interview-led book to tens of thousands for a researched life, and the gap is mostly hours of interviews, research and length. Prices below are from each seller’s own page, read on 12 October 2026.
| Service | Price shown | Copies included |
|---|---|---|
| StoryTerrace Classic | From $3,250 all-in | 4 hard copies, 60 to 120 pages |
| StoryTerrace PRO | From $24,000 all-in | 20 hard copies, from 125 pages |
| LifeBook | $18,000 to $42,000 | 10 to 24 hardbacks |
| My gift book | From ₹5 lakh. Typically up to ₹10 lakh | 10 hardbacks, about 120 pages |
| My full book | From ₹10 lakh. Typically up to ₹20 lakh | Writing only; design and print not included |
StoryTerrace’s Classic is a fair choice for a shorter book built on 4 to 10 hours of interviews. LifeBook’s packages run from up to 200 pages to up to 300, with more hardbacks at each step. With any writer, if your parent thinks in Hindi or Punjabi, or the book needs letters and records as well as talk, the hours go up and so does the price. What it costs sets out what my fee covers and what it leaves out.
What should you ask before you commission one?
Ask six things before you sign, and get every answer in the contract:
- Who writes every page, and will you meet them?
- Is an NDA signed before anything is shared?
- Is the whole copyright assigned to you, worldwide, for the full term?
- Who decides what stays out of the book?
- How many copies are included, and do you get the print files?
- What happens to the recordings when the book is done?
The confidentiality page has the longer version of questions 1, 2 and 4.
Questions people ask
Is a private biography the same as a private memoir?
Close, and the words overlap. A memoir is told in the person’s own voice; a biography is told about them. Both are private when the family keeps them to itself, and many family books are memoirs written with a ghostwriter.
Can a private biography be published later?
Yes, if the family holds the copyright and the files. Add an ISBN, a cover and a listing, and the private book becomes a public one. How to self-publish a biography covers that step.
Can a private biography be written after the person has died?
Yes. It is built from family interviews, letters, records and any recordings that survive. It takes more research, and a subject who has died is one of the things I price higher.
How long does a private biography take?
Four months for my gift book, from the first session to the box at your door. Six months of writing for the full book, then design and print.
If you want to hear the voice before you decide, A Page in Your Voice is one page written from a five-minute recording, for ₹1 lakh, credited against the book.
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