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Initial Meet and Greet – $60

Before your loved one and the oral history writer start meeting regularly, there will be initial meet and greet to discuss the project. In attendance will be the Oral History Project Supervisor, the individual to be interviewed, and family member[s].

This will serve as both an introduction and a way to outline goals of the project, like length of project, types of narratives, and what specific stories you’d like collected. This typically lasts about an hour.

Weekly or Bi-Weekly Conversations – 1-2 hours at $30/per hour

The oral history writer meets with the individuals in their home for 1-2 hours, depending on preference. The writer will take notes and record the conversation, making sure to touch on topics and stories that they or their family would like recorded. The writer will also ask questions to solicit stories and to clarify things that they’ve said. 

We ask writers to commit to at least 2 months for each project, but you can also do a shorter project, or spread it out over more time. If you did a weekly meeting for 1 hour, that would be $30 a week x 8 weeks = $240. This also includes the recording of the conversation. Again, the length of the project is up to you to determine.

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Recorded Audio – $0

The writer will send the recorded conversation, perhaps in more than one recording, at the end of each week. Since this is a no charge service, there is no editing of the recording. 

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Written Transcript – $30/per hour, typically takes about 1.5-2 hours to edit a 1 hour transcript

The writer can create a text transcript of the recording for the individual and/or family. It typically takes about 3-4 hours to transcribe and edit 2 hours of conversation, so at $30/per hour, it would cost $90-120. Or, it takes about 1.5 hours to edit a 1 hour transcript, so it would be $45.

AI is used to help format the transcript. If you’re uncomfortable with the writer using AI, then they can format it by hand, but this will take significantly more time. If asked, the writer can also provide printed versions of the written transcripts, in large format print, if needed.

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Custom Written Narratives – $30/per hour, custom tailored to each project

The oral history writer can write narratives based on the conversations with your loved one and provide these to the individual and/or family. A narrative is a story that reflects specific memories or events. The writer can also conduct research to provide historical context, to clarify locations and names of landmarks, or to provide more information on a subject. We can also included historical photos.

Once your transcripts are completed, the writer will have a better scope of the project and can give you an estimate of how long it will take to create a narrative/s. Since each family has different stories to share, each project will be slightly different, which means each narrative will be 100% customized for you. The amount of research needed will also be dependent on the project. Most narratives are 1,500-3,000 words. Each narrative completed also includes 1 round of requested edits, if needed.

Payment Types

We are currently accepting payment through PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, and cash. You will receive a weekly invoice detailing our hours. We plan to add an online payment system to the site in the future. If you’re interested in a gift card, please email yourhistorymn@gmail.com.