Storyphile | Your life. Your story. For the people you love.

Living Obituaries

How living obituaries work

We all hope that, when we die, our loved ones will remember us the way we want to be remembered. But why leave things to chance?

Storyphile can help you write a living obituary now—so your last words will be your own words.

Your obituary can be as long or as short as you like.

Obituaries printed in local newspapers are typically 500 words or fewer. A longer, essay-style obituary can be 2,000 words or more. It can be designed to do double duty as a eulogy.

What you’ll need to do

  • Get started. (You’ll need to sign a letter of agreement and pay a 50% deposit.)
  • Work with us to plan your living obituary and decide what aspects of your life you’d like to focus on.
  • Sit for an interview. (We can do this in person or by phone. We’ll record our conversation to help us write your story.)
  • Review a first draft of your living obituary and let us know if there’s anything we need to fix.
  • Approve a final draft of your living obituary.
  • Decide where and how you’d like your obituary to be published when the time comes.

What you’ll get and what it costs

  • Pricing starts at $495 for up to 500 words (suitable for publication in your local newspaper).
  • Longer, living obituary essays (up to 2,000 words) start at $1,595.

How long it takes

  • two to four weeks

Deposits and payments

The deposit is 50% of the total fee. The balance is due when you receive your finished obituary.