Free and printable
Paper before screen
The hard part of a personalized book is not the order form, it is deciding what to tell. Print these three sheets, get a coffee, sit down.
The three sheets below print on separate pages. Fill them in and the order journey is already answered: those are the same questions, in the same order.
One
The story plan
Find one moment to tell. Not a lifetime, a moment. The rest of the book is built around it.
- Which moment? Where, when, who was there?
- What was the place like? A smell, a sound, one detail.
- What changed in that moment? What was learned, won or ended?
- Tone: tender, adventurous, funny, bittersweet?
- How should the book end? What should the last page leave behind?
Two
Character cards
One card per person in the story. Up to 6; a larger cast is handled as a custom order.
Person 1
- Name (as it should appear in the book)
- Their role in the story: mother, brother, friend, cat…
- A sentence they always say
- One thing about how they look that a photo will not show
- The odd small thing that makes them them
Person 2
- Name (as it should appear in the book)
- Their role in the story: mother, brother, friend, cat…
- A sentence they always say
- One thing about how they look that a photo will not show
- The odd small thing that makes them them
Person 3
- Name (as it should appear in the book)
- Their role in the story: mother, brother, friend, cat…
- A sentence they always say
- One thing about how they look that a photo will not show
- The odd small thing that makes them them
Person 4
- Name (as it should appear in the book)
- Their role in the story: mother, brother, friend, cat…
- A sentence they always say
- One thing about how they look that a photo will not show
- The odd small thing that makes them them
Person 5
- Name (as it should appear in the book)
- Their role in the story: mother, brother, friend, cat…
- A sentence they always say
- One thing about how they look that a photo will not show
- The odd small thing that makes them them
Person 6
- Name (as it should appear in the book)
- Their role in the story: mother, brother, friend, cat…
- A sentence they always say
- One thing about how they look that a photo will not show
- The odd small thing that makes them them
Three
The dedication draft
The one line on the first page. Everyone who opens the book reads it first.
Write a detail rather than an adjective, keep it short, read it out loud. If it is odd to say, it is odd to read.
If you are staring at the blank line, there are starters here: the dedication writer
Sheets filled, book next
These answers map one to one onto the order journey. Three chapters and a few photos is all your 30-page book needs.
Create your bookQuestions about the sheets
What are these sheets for?
Planning a personalized book away from a screen. One sheet for the story, one card for each character, one for the dedication. Fill them in at the kitchen table, then copy the answers into the order form when you are ready.
How do I print them or save them as a PDF?
Use the print button at the top of the page or your browser's own print command. The page has its own print layout, so only the sheets come out. Choose "Save as PDF" in the print dialog if you would rather have a file.
Are they free?
Yes. No account, no email address, no download. Print them as many times as you like, for any book you are planning.
Can children fill them in?
Yes, and the character cards work especially well that way. Children remember the detail an adult leaves out: the name of the stuffed rabbit, the song in the car. That is exactly the kind of detail a story is built on.