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Garland Press

A book for their 18th, written by the people who know them.

A cloth-bound hardback of advice and stories from family, friends, godparents and teachers, including the ones who can’t be at the party. You share one link, each person answers one question, and we print it.

£89including UK postage
18th & 21stor any milestone birthday
Pay at the endwhen the writing is ready
Forest cloth · foil-stamped spine · printed jacket

Nobody faces a blank page.

What everyone you invite sees, and what you see as the writing comes in.

1Everyone picks a topic, then a questionOne link, no account: name, email, in. Each topic offers three questions, so there’s always one that suits.

Hi Sam, you’re invited to write for

Theo

What would you like to write about?

MoneyGetting it wrongSomething to cookTheo and me
What do you know about money now that you wish someone had told you at 18?
Tell Theo about a money decision you still think about.
What’s one thing you’ve learned about money? Say it the way you’d say it out loud.
2Each person writes one answerNot “write something nice”. A question specific enough that the first sentence comes straight away.

← Choose a different question

What do you know about money now that you wish someone had told you at 18?

The book is a surprise, so don’t mention it to Theo. Please write by 15 November.

Theo, when I got my first proper pay packet, I spent nearly all of it before the next one arrived. I couldn’t have told you where it went. Nothing grand: lunches, a jacket, a round I insisted on buying.
Add my words to the bookSave & finish later
3You read every entrySee who has written, ask for a change, leave one out, put the chapters in order, add a foreword.

Theo’s book · organiser

12 of 16 have written

1Uncle Sam · MoneyThe money I didn’t miss · 1,120 wordsNew
2DadLeaving home · 1,480 words
3EllieTheo and me · 560 words
4GrandadGetting it wrong · 2,310 words
5Mr Ellis (chemistry)Work · 940 words · 1 photo
6PriyaFriendship · 830 words

Drag to reorder · Ask for a change · Leave one out

4Each answer becomes a chapterTypeset into a cloth-bound hardback, with any photo on the facing page, and posted in time for the day.

Money

The money I didn’t miss

Uncle Sam

Theo, when I got my first proper pay packet, I spent nearly all of it before the next one arrived. I couldn’t have told you where it went. Nothing grand: lunches, a jacket, a round I insisted on buying.

Your gran told me to move a bit into another account on payday, before I had time to think of it as spending money. I started with ten pounds.

I still do it. The amount changes; the habit doesn’t. Set something aside before the month gets going, even if it’s only enough for a train ticket.

5

You bring the people. We make the book.

One month is enough. Tell us when the book must arrive and we’ll set the writing deadline.

Today

Set up their book

Choose the topics and questions.

Week 1

Share the link

In the family WhatsApp, by text or by email.

Weeks 2–3

Watch it fill up

See who’s written and nudge the rest.

Week 4

Read it, then order

Arrange the chapters and pay. We print and post it.

From a sample book for Theo

What did you learn the hard way when you first lived away from home?

Each chapter opens on its question and the writer’s name, and keeps every word as it was written. An optional photo and caption face it.

The opening of the chapter Everyone needs a Derek, by Dad, answering: What did you learn the hard way when you first lived away from home?

Nothing to pay until you’ve read it.

£89
including UK postage

Set it up, share the link and collect the writing for free. You pay once you’ve read every entry and you’re happy with what goes to print.

Extra copies £79 each, printed and posted together.

  • A cloth-bound hardback in five colours, with a printed dust jacket
  • Your title and a foil-stamped spine
  • Typeset chapters, with optional colour photos and captions
  • Up to 30 people writing
  • An optional foreword from you
  • A print proof checked by hand
  • Printed and bound in the UK
  • UK postage to the address you choose at checkout

Before you begin

When should I start?

Four to eight weeks before the birthday is a useful starting point, and two weeks is the least we need, or a few days more around bank holidays. Enter the date the book needs to arrive and we’ll plan the collection deadline, leaving about 12 days for you to read the writing and order, and for us to print and post it. If that leaves people less than a week to write, we’ll ask you to confirm. Delivery dates are estimates; we don’t offer express shipping.

What does each person write?

Each person picks the topic they’d most like to write about, then answers whichever of its three questions suits them. You can also give someone you invite by name a particular topic. Most questions ask for advice the writer has actually learned or used, often told through a story from their own life. Everyone can write as much or as little as they’d like.

Can it be a surprise?

The group invitation and its link preview say it’s a surprise and ask people not to tell the birthday person. Choose who gets the link carefully: anyone it’s forwarded to can join while it’s open. You can turn it off or replace it, and it closes at the collection deadline.

Can I read everything before it prints?

Yes. You read the entries, ask contributors for changes or leave an entry out, and arrange the chapters. You can add a foreword and choose the cover details. Once you pay and place the order, the book is locked. We check the print proof by hand before sending it to the printer.

All questions and answers →