Publisher Puts You Between The Covers

The Age

Friday June 30, 2006

By JORDAN CHONG

CLIENTS of new publisher Book of Life aren't looking to have the next award-winning best-seller - the book's highest accolade will probably be pride of place on the family bookshelf.

The company, started by journalist Alan Stokes, formerly of The Australian Financial Review, aims to provide a way for people to have their life recorded in a hardcover, This is Your Life style book, researched and written, for a fee, by a professional writer.

As with many small businesses, Stokes has put his family home on the line to start the company.

"I know the statistics aren't good for small businesses but I'm hoping that this is something that's fairly unique for Australia," Stokes says. "Hopefully we'll kick on.

"I can probably put my house on the line for a year or two in the hope that the brand will be strong. If they (the corporate world) get the idea, I expect that I'll be breaking even within a year and hitting budget within 18 months."

A book takes about two months to complete. The subject is interviewed at length and testimonials are sought from friends, family and work colleagues.

Stokes declines to name the authors who will write the books but describes them as "top people" who have edited magazines and newspapers in Australia. In addition to the corporate world, where he hopes Book of Life can be part of a rewards package for well-performing employees, Stokes is also aiming at families.

He says there are many terrific stories about so-called ordinary Australians, and refers to Andrew Denton's successful interview program on ABC television, Enough Rope.

"It is those stories as much as the big stories that I want to have recorded as a book of life." he says. "The unsung heroes are the great stories."

Melbourne University Publishing chief executive Louise Adler says the concept provides a valuable service.

"It's a great outlet because most of us, commercial publishers, are often inundated with family histories that are not commercially viable," Adler says.

Describing it as the "vanity press", Adler says there is an ever increasing number of people keen to pay someone to document their life story, and a ready supply of professional writers advertising their services.

"If you go to State Library of Victoria, for example, they will tell you the greatest area of research in the library is ordinary people who are trying to trace their family history," Adler says.

"It's a huge area of interest for ordinary Australians.This kind of publishing fits in perfectly with that kind of large interest in Australia."