TURNING LIFE EXPERIENCES INTO A BOOK
The process typically begins with a casual meeting where writers will get to know their elderly subjects – sharing ideas as well as gathering details, anecdotes and life experiences.
After that, more in-depth interviews will take place to capture the heart and soul of the story.
For companies like He’s which make use of AI, interview transcripts are input into a system that readily transforms raw text into a polished, ready-to-publish memoir.
Zhao and his team conduct lengthy two-hour interview sessions with seniors – anywhere from four to eight sessions.
After each round of feedback, they will revise and refine the manuscripts until the client feels the story truly reflects their life.
“We usually set a list of about 200 topics covering different life stages,” Zhao said.
“Seniors pick the memories they want to highlight, and sometimes the family also wants input, so we share the questions with them.”
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
In China, the cost of hiring a writer or an agency varies and is dependent mainly on skills and the memoir’s length, experts told CNA.
A memoir can cost anywhere between 10,000 to 80,000 yuan (US$1,365 to US$10,920) depending on the length and customisation like the style of writing and writer’s experience.
At Yueplus, an AI-written memoir can cost anywhere between 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, He said.
Most clients want a few simple printed copies “for their own perusal”, he added, but there have been requests for formal publications too – where memoirs are published and sold commercially, which could fetch additional costs of up to 30,000 yuan.
“The profits from book sales are all theirs to keep,” He said.
For Zhao and his team, who adopt a more labour-intensive approach, a completed memoir spanning over 200 pages and comprising anywhere between 60,000 to 70,000 words, could cost between 10,000 and 30,000 yuan.
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