A letter to send parents about the class book
Two ready-to-send letters explaining the class book to families - one for when the setting is paying and one for when each family buys their own. Copy it, change the names, send it.
The hardest part of this is not the ordering, it is the message to twenty-seven families explaining what you are doing with a photograph of their child. So here it is written for you. Take it, change the names and the dates, send it however you already talk to your parents. There is nothing to sign up for and no address to leave.
Send the letter first, the links second
A parent who gets a link with no context assumes it is a scam, and a parent who has already read one paragraph about it uploads a photo in under a minute. The order genuinely matters - send the letter to everybody, then send each family their own link a day or two later.
If your setting has a newsletter or an app that reaches everyone at once, that is the right place for the letter. The links are individual and must go to each family separately, because a link opens exactly one child's book.
What to change before you send it
The setting name, your name, and the date you need photographs by. Give yourself a fortnight - families take longer than you expect and the class cannot print until the last photo is in.
If you have a hard deadline, say what happens after it. "If we have not had a photo by the twelfth, we will print without that book" is kinder than silence, and it is also what actually gets the last four photographs sent.
What parents ask, in the order they ask it
Is this safe, what happens to the photo, and do I have to pay. The letters below answer all three in the first few lines, because a message that leads with the lovely idea and buries the photograph question gets replies asking the photograph question.
The other one, always: what if my child is off that week. Nothing happens - the photo comes from the parent's own phone at home, so it does not matter whether the child is in that day.
You can point them at the details
Both letters link to the page explaining what happens to a photograph. It is worth leaving in: it is the question a cautious parent will ask you privately, and answering it in advance saves you the conversation.
The letters
Pick the one that matches how your class is being paid for. Both are yours to change.
The setting is paying
Announces a gift. Asks for a photograph and nothing else.
Dear families, As a leaving gift this year, every child in the class is getting their own personalised storybook - a proper hardcover in which your own child is the hero of the story, with their name on the cover and their face in the illustrations. No two books are the same. [SETTING NAME] is paying for these, so there is nothing for you to pay. All we need from you is one photograph. In a day or two you will get a link that is just for your child. Open it on your phone, add one clear photo of their face, tick the box to say you are happy for us to use it, and that is the end of it - it takes about a minute and there is no account to create. Please send your photo by [DATE]. The books are all printed together, so we cannot start until we have every one. What happens to the photograph: it is used to draw your child's illustrations and is then deleted. It is not shown to any other family and it is not published anywhere. You can read the detail here: https://heroofyou.com/photo-privacy Any questions, just ask me. [YOUR NAME] [SETTING NAME]
Each family is paying
Names the price in the first lines. Makes opting out easy and unembarrassing.
Dear families, We are doing something a bit different to mark the end of the year. Instead of one book with everyone's photo in it, each child can have their OWN personalised storybook - a hardcover in which your child is the hero, with their name on the cover and their face in the illustrations. Each book is [PRICE] including delivery to [SETTING NAME], and each family buys their own child's directly - nothing goes through the setting and I do not handle any money. In a day or two you will get a link that is just for your child. It shows you the price, takes the payment, and then asks for one photograph - one clear photo of their face, from your phone, about a minute in total. If you would rather not, that is completely fine and nothing needs to be said to anyone. The books that are ordered will simply arrive together. Please order and send your photo by [DATE], because the whole class is printed in one batch. What happens to the photograph: it is used to draw your child's illustrations and is then deleted. It is not shown to any other family and it is not published anywhere. The detail is here: https://heroofyou.com/photo-privacy [YOUR NAME] [SETTING NAME]
Common questions
Can we change the wording?
Please do. It is written to be edited - the names, the dates and the deadline are the parts that must change, and the rest is a starting point rather than a form.
Do we have to give you the parents' email addresses?
No, and we do not want them. You send the letter and the links yourself, through whatever you already use. We never contact your families.
What if a parent replies with questions we cannot answer?
Send them to us. There is a contact page and a real person reads it - it is better than a teacher guessing at an answer about photographs.
When should the letter go out?
About a month before you need the books, and a day or two before the individual links. A link arriving with no warning reads as spam; a link arriving after a letter gets used.
More for schools
Last updated:
When the letter has gone out, the class itself takes a few minutes to set up.
Set up a class