Questions, answered

You upload a clear photo of the hero and choose a story. We draw them once in that book’s house style and ask whether it looks like them. If it doesn’t, we can draw it again twice, or you can send a different photo. Only after you say yes do we illustrate the pages, into a story written by people. You read the whole book free and approve it before anything is printed.

Their name, their age band, three things they love, and who else is in the book. You can edit the words on any page while you’re making the book, and change the cover text and the dedication right up until you order it.

The whole book, free, before you buy anything. Change the words on any page, rewrite the dedication, title the cover, and redraw a picture you don’t like.

Written by people. Illustrated with the help of AI in our house styles, and checked page by page by you.

The stories are written by people. What changes for the hero is their name, their age, the people around them and the things they love, not the plot. A drawing of a child is an illustration, not a photograph, which is why we ask you to check the likeness before a single page is drawn.

Two to eight, in three bands — 2–4, 4–6 and 6–8. The band sets the story’s vocabulary and sentence length; every title is written for all three.

A clear, front-facing photo where their face is easy to see, in good light, with no sunglasses or hat hiding it. JPG or PNG, up to 10 MB and at least 400 pixels on each side. You can add up to three photos of the same person. If one won’t work, we tell you and you can try another.

No. The photo is our reference, and the hero is drawn as an illustration in the book’s house style, so they look like a character in the story, not a pasted-in photo. That’s why we ask you to check the likeness before any page is drawn.

Written by people. Illustrated with the help of AI in our house styles, and checked page by page by you.

Originals are deleted 30 days after your order ships, and you can delete everything in one click before that. Nothing is trained on your child’s photos. To draw the pictures we send them to our AI image service, which keeps them for up to 30 days for safety checks before deleting them. Beyond that, only the people and services making your book handle them.

Photos you upload but never order from are deleted 30 days after upload. Our privacy policy has every detail, including the services that help us make the book.

Hardcover, softcover, or a digital edition you read on a screen or download as a PDF. Each book’s page shows the price of every format in your currency, and standard shipping is free on your first hardcover with our email code. Order two copies of the same book and the second is half price.

Printed books are 30 pages and 206 × 206 mm square (about 8 × 8 inches), with 13 illustrated spreads and a dedication page inside the front cover.

To the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and standard shipping to all five is free on your first hardcover with our email code. Each country has its own prices, in its own currency. Import duties on a cross-border delivery aren’t included.

Every book is made and posted in 5–7 days. After that it depends on the carrier and where it’s going, so any date we give is an estimate. Where express delivery is offered, you can choose it at checkout for the price shown there. Once your book is posted, its tracking link appears on your order in your account. The digital edition isn’t posted at all: you read it in your account.

Yes. At checkout, say it’s a gift and we’ll post it straight to them, print your message on the dedication page inside the front cover, and, if you like, hold it to print and post on a date you choose, up to 30 days ahead. We save their address to your account, so the next book for the same person takes one click, and you can remove it any time.

Email hello@youinastory.com as soon as you notice. If a book can’t be delivered because the address was wrong, a replacement is a new order, so it’s worth checking the address carefully at checkout.

Yes. See every page, edit the story’s words, and change the cover text and dedication before you pay. Once you place your order, the book is final and we can’t make changes.

Yes, until your book is sent to print: email hello@youinastory.com and we’ll cancel it and refund you in full. Books go to print soon after you approve them, so write as soon as you can. If printing has already begun, we’ll stop the delivery where we can, but the printing is paid for and any refund will be partial. Once a book has been posted, the order can’t be cancelled.

Every book is made to your approval for one named child, so we can’t take one back because you’ve changed your mind, and the usual right to cancel a distance purchase doesn’t cover personalized goods. A book that arrives damaged or wrong is a different matter: see the next question.

Email hello@youinastory.com within 30 days of delivery, with photos and your order details. If it arrived damaged, misprinted, incomplete, or clearly different from the book you approved, we’ll reprint it or refund you, whichever you prefer, at no cost to you. None of this affects your rights under consumer law.