Questions about Biographer

Biographer is a personal biographer for your life story. You talk with it, out loud or by typing, and it asks about your life the way a good interviewer would. When you're ready, it writes the story for you.

Every story goes into your book, which you can download for free or order as a printed hardcover.

Anyone who wants their stories written down. Most people who use it are parents and grandparents telling their stories for their families. Others use it to write a memoir, or give it to a mom, dad or grandparent so they can tell theirs.

It isn't for children under 13, and anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian's permission.

No. You talk, and Biographer does the writing. You can edit any story yourself if you want to, but you never have to.

Create a free account with Google, Facebook or your email address. There are no passwords. New accounts confirm a US or Canadian mobile number with a texted code; outside the US and Canada you can continue without one.

Your first conversation is a short interview so Biographer can get to know you: what to call you, where you grew up, who's in your family. After that it goes deeper, into topics like your parents, your first job or how you met.

A phone, tablet or computer with a web browser. Biographer works at thebiographer.com, so there is nothing to download.

No. Biographer is an AI interviewer and writer. A small team builds it, and a few people on the team may read stories and conversations to help with support, fixes and quality.

Yes. On a phone, Biographer opens with a large microphone button so you can just talk. You can switch to typing whenever you like.

Yes. Turn on the speaker button and Biographer reads its replies out loud to you.

After the first short interview, it asks about the parts of a life people most want written down: childhood, parents, school, work, love, raising a family, the places you've lived, and what you've learned.

It follows up on what you say, so no two conversations are alike. You can also choose a topic yourself from Explore topics, or just tell whatever story is on your mind.

Yes. Biographer remembers what you've told it in earlier conversations and comes back to it, so the questions get more personal over time.

As long or as short as you like. Your messages are saved as you go, so you can stop in the middle and pick up later.

Always. Say you'd rather not talk about it, or move on to something else. You decide what goes into your stories.

If you want it to. With a US or Canadian mobile number, Biographer can text you now and then: at most twice a day, and never between 9pm and 9am unless you're replying. Reply STOP to end texts.

When you're ready, press Write Story at the top of the conversation. Biographer writes the story from what you said. It takes a little while, and we email you when it's ready.

If you've told a lot and never pressed the button, Biographer drafts a story for you after 12 quiet hours.

Yes. You choose whether your stories are told in first person ("I grew up...") or third person ("She grew up..."), and you can change it for future stories in Settings.

Yes. Tell Biographer what to fix, such as a name, a date or a detail you forgot, and it makes the change. Or press Edit on the story and change the words yourself.

Sometimes. AI can get a date wrong or add a detail you didn't say. Read each story before you share it and fix anything that's off.

Every story is saved on your Stories page and goes into The Book. In The Book you choose which stories to include, put the chapters in order, add a dedication, and download a PDF.

Yes. Add photos in a conversation or on the Photos page: JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF, up to 15 MB each. Talk about a photo and the conversation can become part of a story. Photos print in your book with your stories.

Yes. You can order The Book as a printed hardcover: 6 by 9 inches, up to 300 pages, in black and white or full color.

It depends on the length and on color. Black and white starts at $39 and full color at $79, plus shipping and tax. You see the full price before you pay.

Within the United States.

From 1 to 10 copies in each order.

Orders wait 24 hours before printing. To change or cancel in that time, reply to your confirmation email or write to support@thebiographer.com. Once printing starts, an order can't be cancelled.

A story can become a song, a podcast, a comic, an illustrated children's book, or an audio story read in a recreated copy of your own voice. You can also make an audiobook of your whole book.

Each one shows its price before you make it.

Biographer makes a recreated copy of your voice, from a short passage you read aloud or, if you've talked enough, from your conversations. You hear a sample and approve it before anything is made, and audio made this way is labeled.

You can delete your voice recordings, and the recreated voice, at any time.

Only you and the people you invite. Stories are private until you share them.

Press Share on a story. On a computer it copies a link; on a phone it opens your phone's share options. Anyone with the link can read that story without signing in, so send it to people you trust.

Yes. In Settings, under Shared with, invite family by email. A reader can read your stories and hears when new ones are ready. A contributor can also suggest stories, topics and photos for you. Neither pays anything.

Go to thebiographer.com/gift. You send a free invitation by email with a personal note and up to three stories you hope to hear.

You can also pay $129 for their printed book: one hardcover of either edition, up to 300 pages, with standard US shipping, which they order whenever they're ready. You read only the stories they choose to share.

Yes. In Settings, under Shared with, choose Invite, then Help tell their story.

Yes. Talking with your biographer, every story it writes, sharing with family, The Book and its PDF are all free. There's no subscription.

You pay only for what you choose to make: a printed hardcover, and Creations such as songs, comics and children's books. Each shows its price before you pay.

No. You sign up and start talking.

You do. Your stories, recordings and photos are yours. Biographer claims no ownership.

No. Biographer doesn't sell your information, and your stories aren't shared with anyone outside the people who help run Biographer, apart from the anonymized excerpts described below. Limited information goes to advertising platforms to measure our marketing, never your stories.

Biographer may publish short excerpts to show what it can do. A person on the team first removes anything that could identify you, and your name is never attached. You can turn this off in Settings or by writing to support@thebiographer.com, and anything already published comes down.

Biographer doesn't build or train its own AI models on your stories. It uses outside AI, speech-to-text and voice providers to run the service, and they receive what they need to do that. The Privacy Policy has the details.

Yes. Deleting a story removes it from your Stories page and your book; to have it removed permanently, write to privacy@thebiographer.com.

You can delete your account in Settings, except while a book order is printing or shipping or a paid Creation is being made.

In the United States.

Email hello@thebiographer.com. A real person reads every message, usually within one or two business days. For book orders and sharing, write to support@thebiographer.com, and for privacy requests, privacy@thebiographer.com.