Fableself
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Gift guide · Best friend

A Best Friend Gift Worth the Inside Jokes

Friendship is the least commemorated love there is. Decades of trips, disasters and inside jokes, and the standard gift is still a mug. A book that tells the story of the two of you corrects that properly.

An illustrated page from a Fableself book, Best friend

Comic book style was practically invented for friendship lore: the failed camping trip, the concert, the year of the terrible flat. Pop art and risograph keep it loud and warm.

Ten spreads cover a lot of shared history. Send photos from both phones, and let the dedication settle, in writing, who was right about the camping trip.

Before you order

When should you order?
There is rarely a deadline, which is the whole advantage. Three weeks covers proof, printing and delivery comfortably, and a book with no occasion attached to it lands harder than one that was owed. If you are tying it to a birthday, order early enough that you are not choosing between a rushed story and an empty hand.
The detail that brings the story to life
The material is the private canon: the phrase neither of you can explain to anyone else, the trip that went wrong, the thing they say every single time. Sentiment is not what makes this one work. Accuracy is. If a third person reading it would not get the joke, you have chosen correctly.
How do you avoid it being embarrassing?
Match the style to the register. Risograph and comic book carry a funny book without turning it into a greetings card; watercolour on the same story reads as a declaration nobody asked for. And you see the proof before you pay, which is the point at which to notice you have written something too sincere to hand over.

Styles that suit the occasion

Four illustration worlds we reach for most often. There are twenty-four in total.

See all 24 styles

How it works

Send a few photos and the moment you want remembered. We write an original story, illustrate every page in your chosen style, and send you a digital proof. You approve it before any payment is taken; then we print and ship the hardcover.

The whole process, step by step

From the journal

Start their book

Most books are proofed within days. Tell us the moment; we do the rest.

Begin the story

Hardcover, $137.50, shipping included. You approve a digital proof before paying.