A Custom Personal Book: Four Steps and a Free Sample

A custom personal book sounds like something that takes a month and costs a fortune: meetings with a writer, drafts, a designer. At Magical Book it works differently. The whole process happens from your phone or computer, the story is written within a minute, and you approve every page before anything is printed. Here is the full route, step by step.

Step 1: Choose who is in the book

Just you, you and someone else, or a group of up to four people: family, friends, or a team. For each person, add a name and one clear photo. The photo is used for the illustrations, so it helps if the face is toward the camera, in good light, with no sunglasses or hat and no one else in the frame.

Step 2: Answer seven short questions

What is the occasion (a birthday, a retirement, an anniversary, a thank-you, or just because), what tone to write in, three memories that have to be in, favorite places and hobbies, and a sentence for the last page. Answer in your own words, with no need to phrase it nicely. We do the phrasing.

Step 3: Read the book and change what you want

Within about a minute you get a cover and ten pages. This is the moment to go through it page by page. You can edit the text yourself, ask for a rewrite of a page, or leave a note and we write it accordingly. A good custom personal book is one that has passed through your eyes at least once.

Step 4: A free sample, and only then you decide

We illustrate the cover and two pages at no charge. You see how the people come out in the illustrations and how the book looks, and only if you love it do you order the full printed book.

What you get, and for how much

  • A printed hardcover with 21 pages: a cover, ten text pages, and ten illustrations.
  • A personal dedication on the opening page.
  • The first two people in the book are included, and the third and fourth carry a small extra charge. The writing and illustrations are included in the price. The exact price and shipping for your country are shown before you pay, and you can check them on the create page.
  • The book is sent to print after you approve it. In the US, delivery takes about 12 days.

Frequently asked

Do I need to know how to write? No. The questions are short, and we write the story with you.

Can I do it in another language? Yes: Hebrew, English, German, Spanish, or Arabic.

Can I add a memory after the book is written? Yes, as long as you have not approved printing. Leave a note on the page and we rewrite it.

Start a custom personal book now. The first step takes less time than reading this article.

More questions about a custom personal book

What if I do not have a good photo? A regular phone photo is enough, as long as the face is toward the camera and the light is good. If the illustration in the sample does not look like the person, upload a different photo and try again, before you pay.

Can I order several copies? Each order of the personal book is one copy. Extra copies are not sold on the site right now, but you can message the team and ask.

Is the book saved? An unpaid book is saved for 21 days. After purchase, the book and photos are kept for 8 months, and you can pay to extend that. Pages cannot be added to a book that has been created. For a new book, you create a new order.

What does the price include? The writing, the illustrations, the dedication, and printing as a hardcover. Shipping is shown separately. The first two people in the book are included, and the third and fourth carry a small extra charge.

Is there a custom book for kids too? Yes, a children's book in which the child is the hero of an illustrated story, with the same principle: one photo, a free sample, and only then payment.