Case study: Secrets to writing my 100yo grandmother's autobiography

Part 3: What every aspiring life-story writer ought to know about telling family stories

“It’s beautiful” my grandmother Bonnie, 99, said through tears as she took the first look at her printed autobiography book.

“We did it together,” she said hugging me.

My family and I were visiting Bonnie earlier this year in a nursing home and were excited to finally give her a reader’s copy of her life story.

She was soon flipping to a photo of her younger self with long plaits to show my daughter, 7, as her doctor and a nurse popped by.

“Isn’t that amazing! I’m so glad you did this,” Bonnie’s long-time doctor said shaking his head incrediously.

It had taken my grandmother and me four years of planning, writing, polishing and publishing to get to this point.

There had been some serious ups and downs along the way but the writing had been worth it.

This is the third and final article about Bonnie’s life-story project (see articles part one and part two here!).

So keep reading to find out how we went from final draft to finished autobiography book in time for her 100th birthday this month during a global pandemic.

Quick autobiography recap

This time last year I presented Bonnie with the final draft of her autobiography manuscript, which had been written after months of phone interviews and transcribing.

I had formatted about 44,000 words into a Book Design Templates A5 Inspire template (US$39) with nine chapters, an introduction, epilogue and a centrespread of 25 photos.

Bonnie was eager to get her hands on the large stack of pages, which I’d printed out furiously on my home printer, and tied with red ribbon as a combined Mother’s Day and birthday present.

Before my family and I had left her home she had divided up the chapters on the antique dining table and was getting settled in her favourite chair to start editing.

At 99 there was no stopping her or her correcting pen.

About a week later Bonnie rang to say she had read the entire manuscript and made edits.

I’d seen speedy sub-editors during my career as a print editor but this was fast!

Right, I thought, when the hunk of papers landed in my letterbox, I better keep this momentum going.

Editing Grandma’s autobiography

The next few months I set aside a couple of hours two days a week to go through the autobiography edits.

This was on my days off work when one child was at school and the other was having quiet time.

Grandma had written notes in the manuscript margins and also on little scraps of paper she had inserted in between pages.

Some parts she had crossed out and others she had decided to keep.

There were also extra facts to add and typos to fix.

Bonnie’s handwriting was mostly clear but on days her hands had been stiff it was harder to read.

Luckily there were only some parts like this that I needed to crosscheck.

At last I sent this edited autobiography version off to a sub-editor friend for a final read.

This was just as I found out Bonnie had had a fall at home.

She had broken her hip and was in hospital awaiting surgery.

Selecting a printer for family stories

Now more than ever I felt a real urgency to get this autobiography finished.

The sooner the better.

Thankfully Bonnie was recovering and confident that after months of rehabilitation she would be back home before Christmas.

But at age 99 you can’t assume or predict anything.

I wanted Grandma to hold her book as soon as she could.

The race was on to find a printer.

Sure there were lots of printers locally and online but I had criteria.

We wanted a hardcover book, a small print run, an affordable price point, and made available only to readers who were family and friends.

I started researching options online and going 10 Google search pages deep.

I emailed several companies to ask questions but many were too expensive for a small number of books or automatically made the book public online at publication.

Finally I heard back from a friendly customer support team worker at IngramSpark.

They said I could choose private publication only and print on demand for about AUS$17 per book (plus postage and handling).

I was even given a discount code to waive the US$49 book setup cost. Winning!

Related article – How to get your own book printed without going crazy!

Your Family Stories System. Father and girl on his shoulders with arms spread wide at the beach. Click here to learn how to write a loved one's autobiography.

Print setup for a grandma book

Bonnie gradually got back on her feet over many weeks.

And as her strength improved plans were made for her to transition home.

While she was learning to walk again I was learning about IngramSpark’s book setup process.

Basically it included writing some descriptive info about the autobiography book, selecting print options plus uploading two PDFs: one being the book cover and the second the final manuscript.

Again I had to do some research, especially to double-check my print options.

However, IngramSpark did provide helpful getting-started resource links, a PDF file checklist and a file-creation guide.

In the end we went with: A5 trim size, hardback (case laminate) binding, 260 pages, standard colour interior colour and paper, and a matte cover finish.

IngramSpark also had a free online cover template generator.

I used this once I had my final page count to create the exact dimensions for the front and back covers plus book spine.

Bonnie had picked her favourite cover design from a variety of options I’d made using Canva templates.

However, incorporating this cover design into my IngramSpark cover template file using Adobe Photoshop got the better of me.

So I found an experienced book design freelancer on Upwork who took 1.5 hours to do this task for about US$30.

She was a lifesaver because I didn’t want to stuff up the cover and was anxious not to waste more time, especially as Bonnie was back in hospital.

She had had another fall, breaking the other hip, and was due for emergency surgery.

Related article – Book covers: How to create a memorable cover design

Autobiography print pressure heats up

This was a hectic time for our family and, as we would find out, our country.

I joined my dad, uncle and brother at the hospital to see Grandma before her risky op.

She was upbeat and talking to the cleaner from her bed about fishing trips past.

When she was due in theatre we went out to grab some lunch downtown.

But the sky looked wrong: Armageddon orange.

Strong winds had picked up and smoke blocked out the sun.

This was the beginning of a catastrophic Australian summer fire season and I hoped it wasn’t a bad omen.

New Year miracles

Miraculously Bonnie recovered from her operation and started rehab again.

And more good news, in the new year, I received a reader’s copy of her autobiography book in the mail.

I was ecstatic and in awe of IngramSpark’s fabulous book quality.

It was beautiful and professional.

Bonnie and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the result.

Again she got out her correcting pen, this time from her new room in a nursing home, to give the reader’s copy a proofread.

The plan was, once I’d made her minor corrections, we would do a small print run for family in time for her 100th birthday party in May.

But this book journey involves a final chapter of drama: COVID-19.

Related article – 3 tips for celebrating family stories + family history

Century celebrations with COVID-19

As I’ve written about here, the global coronavirus pandemic has thrown all our lives into chaos.

This was blatantly obvious the other weekend when Bonnie turned 100.

My family and I showed up to her nursing home room window clutching gifts, balloons and handmade posters.

What was supposed to be a family party back at her house on the river became a chat from a side street through a wire fence.

Nevertheless we made the most of it and spoilt her rotten as best we could.

Thankfully I had had a flu shot a month earlier.

And therefore, together with my aunt and uncle, we were allowed into the home.

On entry we were required to show immunisation documentation and have our temperatures checked.

Against all odds, and while maintaining social distance, we finally handed Bonnie her box of books: happy 100th birthday Grandma!

Final say: Bonnie’s autobiography

Starting this life-story book project had seemed a doable, short-term project.

I’d thought: I’ll just send Bonnie questions in the mail then use my journalist skills to bang her responses together and be done in a couple of months. Too easy!

In reality it took years of consistent work, determination, pivoting and patience against a backdrop of maternity leave, work, interstate moves, multiple surgeries, a national emergency and a global pandemic.

Along the way I’ve learnt more about life-story writing and book publishing.

But most importantly I’ve learnt so much about my beautiful and strong grandmother, our family plus how to handle what life throws at you.

Hers is an autobiography book of memories that in turn ended up making some of its own.

And I know it will prompt many more as signed copies are now distributed to family.

This includes a new great-grandchild, who arrived days after Bonnie turned 100.

I’m so happy her story is there for him to read in the future.

Because as the book’s anonymous introductory quote reads:

“Love is like a rose. When pressed between two lifetimes, it will last forever.”

Happy writing!

Free gift!

Do you want to do what I did and help a loved one record their life story? I’ve created a step-by-step guide on how to do this called the Your Family Stories System. Sign up to get the first few sections for free!

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