A last-minute gift for a parent that arrives by email

If nothing you order now will arrive in time, this still will. You give them the book of their life, in their own words: they answer questions about it by talking or typing, and their answers become a typeset book. $49 plus sales tax, paid once, and nothing has to be shipped.

Give it — $49

Sales tax is added where your state applies it, and you see the total before you pay. Changed your mind? Until the code is redeemed, we refund you in full, no questions asked, up to 90 days after you pay.

How it reaches them

01
By email, on the day you pick
Choose Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and the email goes out that morning: in December, at 10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific. Leave the date blank and it goes out as soon as you've paid, usually within a minute. If you pick today and that hour has already passed, it goes out straight away too.
02
Or in your hands, tonight
Print the card, put it in an envelope and give it to them yourself. The code is on the card, and it works the moment they type it in. You can do both: the card and the email carry the same code.

The card you can print tonight

Example

heirleaf

A life, word for word

For Margaret

“For all the stories you tell at Sunday lunch.”

Linda

Your code

ABCDE-12345

heirleaf.com/redeem

Or point your phone's camera here: it opens with the code already in.

A book of your life, written or told by you. Go to the address above, type in the code and start whenever you like. There is no account and no password, and it's paid for. The code doesn't expire, and the book is yours for good.

One sheet of paper, printed at home. It's ready as soon as you've paid, on the page with your code and in the email we send you. The names and the code here are an example.

What happens when they open it

They tap the button in the email, or type the code at heirleaf.com/redeem, and answer their first question. No app, no account and no password. They can talk instead of typing: we write down what they say, and they read it over before it goes in the book.

They start whenever they like

Christmas Day is for the family. The code doesn't expire, so they can open it that morning and start in January, or in March. Twenty-one answers already make a whole book, and they fit in an afternoon. You never see what they write: the book is theirs.

Read a whole sample book first

If you're buying it today

Is it too late on Christmas Eve?: No. Pay, pick Christmas Day, and the email reaches them that morning. Or print the card that night. Either way, it still arrives in time.
Is there anything to unwrap?: A card, if you print it. The book itself is written afterwards, by them, and they download it as a PDF; they can have it printed and bound later. If you want a bound book under the tree on the 25th, this isn't it.
What if the email doesn't reach them?: The code works all the same. Read it out to them slowly over the phone and have them go to heirleaf.com/redeem. Capitals or not, with or without the dash, it works either way.
Can I change my mind?: Yes. Until the code is redeemed, we refund you in full, no questions asked, up to 90 days after you pay.

Give it — $49

Other ideas that don't need shipping

If the book isn't right for them, these two lists are ours too, with what each idea costs and who it isn't for.

Everything else about the gift, and the form to give it, is on one page. How the gift works