29: Rutger Bruining of Story Terrace Talks Life Stories

The Life Story Coach

Rutger Bruining of Story Terrace talks life stories

Rutger Bruining thought about recording his grandparents' life stories—life in the Resistance during WWII, 20 years in the Caribbean—but he never got around to it. The regret he experienced at having missed the opportunity spurred him to start Story Terrace, a company that produces life story books.

"A biographer for every person."

Rutger's breakthrough came when he realized he could tap into the freelance market to match up writers with customers. When someone orders a book package, Story Terrace assigns them a writer within their area, allowing most interviews to be conducted in person. If Story Terrace doesn't have a writer nearby, they go looking for one [Hint: This is why you should have an updated LinkedIn profile!].

To date, they have 200 freelance life story writers in the US, and many more in the UK and the Netherlands.

Also covered in our interview:

• using family members as guinea pigs when starting a new life story business
• how Angel investors helped him get his fledgling business off the ground
• the guidebook of high-level tips Story Terrace provides to its freelance writers
• creating a structure or outline of the book before the writing is started
• using technology and an online platform to help customers upload photos and captions, and—in the future—to make edits to the drafts
• systematically surveying customers after they've gone through the process
• Story Terrace's Virtual Reality pilot program (compare this to the work Hilarie Robison is doing with embedded links to videos in her life story books at Legacy Tale)

Links and stuff:

Story Terrace

Want to learn more about becoming a freelance life story writer for Story Terrace? Check out their application process.

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Now go out and saved someone's story.