Put Me in the Story

What Put Me in the Story does

Put Me in the Story is a personalization platform that produces customized children's storybooks in which the reader or a named child is featured as the principal character. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, the company operates as a private, for-profit business with a reported workforce of 101–250 employees. Its product is sold through the Sourcebooks, LLC. website, and the underlying legal entity is Sourcebooks, LLC., indicating that the platform is operated as a product line within the Sourcebooks publishing organization rather than as an independent commerce entity with its own retail infrastructure.

The core product is a single-platform personalization offering that allows customers to insert a child's name and identifying details into professionally published narratives, producing a one-off customized book. The source data indicates a single core product with no separately documented modules, tiering, or companion applications, and the company has no dedicated mobile application or public API. Distribution is conducted through the Sourcebooks web channel rather than through app stores, marketplaces, or third-party retail. The product is positioned in the personalized children's publishing and gifting category, a market in which unit economics are driven by holiday and gift-occasion seasonality.

The company's revenue mechanics, pricing model, and unit economics are not disclosed in the available source data. Operating under Sourcebooks, LLC. provides structural advantages in editorial production, licensing, and distribution, but also creates dependency on the parent's strategic priorities, capital allocation, and publishing IP pipeline. No funding rounds, management team details, named partnerships, certifications, or AI/ML capabilities are documented, which materially limits the depth of strategic and financial inference that can be supported from the source material alone.

Name

Put Me in the Story

Legal name

Sourcebooks, LLC.

Website

https://putmeinthestory.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Put Me in the Story is a personalization platform, operated under Sourcebooks, LLC., that produces customized children's storybooks featuring the reader as the main character. Founded in 2013 and based in Naperville, Illinois, it serves parents and gift-givers through the Sourcebooks web channel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personalized Children's Books

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Book Publishers (51313)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Picture Book Publishing (MPAJAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Children’s Digital & Interactive Publishing (E-books, Apps, Enhanced Content) (MPAJAFAJ)

Keywords

• Personalized children's books
• Custom storybooks
• Personalized publishing
• Children's gift books
• Personalized content

Headquarters

HQ city

Naperville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Core offering

Put Me in the Story is a personalization platform that creates customized children's storybooks where the child or recipient is featured as the main character. Operated under Sourcebooks, LLC., the offering enables parents, family members, and gift-givers to order personalized books in which a child's name and identifying details are integrated into the story. The product is delivered through the Sourcebooks website and the dedicated putmeinthestory.com site.

Product overview

Put Me in the Story is a personalization platform offering personalized storybooks and content. It appears to be operated under Sourcebooks, LLC., with the product available through the Sourcebooks website. The source data provides limited detail on the specific product architecture or related modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Put Me in the Story A personalization platform and product line that creates customized children's storybooks where the child's name and personal details are integrated into professionally authored stories; intended for parents, family members, and gift-givers seeking personalized books for children.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Others

• Sourcebooks (parent imprint): Sourcebooks, the legal parent of Put Me in the Story, is a major independent trade book publisher. Included as a peer because the parent's catalog, distribution, and editorial assets directly shape Put Me in the Story's product, supply chain, and competitive positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Hallmark (Keepsake & Personalization): Hallmark operates a major keepsake and personalization business that includes recordable storybooks and personalized children's products. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the personalized gifting category with strong retail distribution.
• Shutterfly: Shutterfly operates a broad personalized products platform (photo books, cards, gifts, and personalized children's books). It is comparable as a large incumbent with overlapping personalization capability, deeper marketing budget, and significantly broader category reach than Put Me in the Story.

Direct peers

• Wonderbly: Wonderbly (formerly Lost My Name) is a leading personalized children's storybook company with global reach and strong digital-first direct-to-consumer operations. It is the most directly comparable peer to Put Me in the Story in terms of product format, target customer (parents/guardians of young children), and gifting use case.
• Hooray Heroes: Hooray Heroes produces personalized children's books and soft toys, primarily serving European and select international markets. Comparable as a direct competitor in personalized children's literature with a similar gifting-occasion focus.
• I See Me!: I See Me! specializes in personalized children's books, puzzles, and gifts that place the child as the protagonist — a nearly identical product concept to Put Me in the Story. Operates U.S.-based direct-to-consumer and is a frequent head-to-head competitor in the personalized picture book category.
• Compoz: Compoz (and similar personalized book brands operating via custom print-on-demand workflows) competes directly in the personalized children's book space with overlapping use cases (birthday gifts, keepsakes).

Regional players

• Wonderbly (US/Canada operations): Wonderbly's North American storefront competes directly in the U.S. market Put Me in the Story serves, often with overlapping title themes and similar price points. Functions as a direct U.S. competitor despite UK origins.

Emerging players

• Artifact Uprising: Artifact Uprising offers premium personalized print products (photo books, prints, gifts) with a direct-to-consumer model and brand-positioned premium pricing. Comparable as a digitally-enabled personalized print brand targeting gifting and milestone occasions.
• Artifact Publishing: Adjacent to Artifact Uprising, this peer represents the broader premium personalized-print category that increasingly competes with personalized children's books for parent gifting share.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PutMeInTheStory
• Facebookfacebook.com/PutMeInTheStory

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Put Me in the Story