Designed in London. Printed and bound close to you.
Free delivery, included
No subscription, ever
Image pending · shot 2 Closed book on raw wood, raking light, spine foil catching.
Image pending · shot 3 Open spread, flat, showing text and one photograph on facing pages.
THE OBJECT
Made to be handled for fifty years.
Your entries and your photographs, typeset properly, printed on uncoated stock and sewn — not glued — so it opens flat and stays shut. One copy exists. It has your name on the spine.
Hardcover, linen over board
Foil-blocked spine
Smyth sewn in signatures, opens flat
Uncoated premium stock
Up to 300 pages, included
Printed endpapers, head and tail bands, ribbon
Designed in London. Printed and bound close to you.
Image pending · shot 8 This year of my life — the book alone on a kitchen tableThis year of my life
Two minutes, on the sofa.
A prompt when you want one, a blank page when you don’t. Your camera roll is already in there. Nothing to lay out, nothing to design — we typeset it as you go.
Image pending App — today’s prompt, angled
Image pending App — the entry composer, straight on
Free on iPhone. The app is free forever, for everyone — you’re buying the book.
Image pending · shot 4 Macro: foil-stamped spine at 45°.
Foil block
Image pending · shot 6 Macro: linen weave, single swatch.
Linen, Havana
Sewn, not glued.
Every book is Smyth sewn in signatures — folded sections stitched through the fold, then rounded and backed — which is why it opens flat and why it will still be a book when the child in it is forty. The spine is foiled after binding, one name at a time.
Image pending · shot 5 Macro: paper edge and sewn signatures.
Signature, folded and stitched
Image pending · shot 10 The bindery: hands, thread, a stack of signatures.
Head and tail bands
Every Lifebound book is made to one specification — linen over board, foil-blocked spine, Smyth sewn in signatures — at the bindery nearest you. UK orders are printed and bound in the UK; US orders in the US; EU orders in France.
One book. One price. That’s the whole thing.
No subscription, no page-count surprises, no extra charge when it’s finished.
Image pending · shot 7 Person on a sofa, phone in hand, book on the arm of the sofa in soft focus.
Frequent questions
What if I don’t finish?+−
Then you print what you have. A short book is still a book. We’ll nudge, we won’t nag, and there’s no deadline you can fail.
How long do I have?+−
As long as you like. There’s no deadline. If you’re still going two years after your chapter closes we’ll check in — and if we don’t hear from you, we’ll print what you have and send it, rather than leave you with nothing.
Do I keep the app after the book ships?+−
Yes, forever, free. The app has never been the thing you pay for. Start a second chapter whenever you like.
What if my photos are low resolution?+−
We check every photo the moment you add it and tell you straight away if it won’t print well — while you can still take another one. We’ll suggest a swap, and we’ll never print a photo below our quality floor.
When does it actually arrive?+−
Ten days from the day you approve it. Not before — the book is finished when your chapter is.
Is this a subscription?+−
No. One payment. We don’t store a card.
Not the right moment yet?
Tell us roughly when your chapter starts and we’ll be here a month before it does.
