This startup lets you invite others to share wisdom, then binds it in a hardcover book

Looking back, I can’t remember all that many “wise” things said to me by family over the years, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have memories of words. In my family, it has always been more about the goofy things than the great ones, but they’re still the words that I love to look back upon and reflect.

A new startup called The Wisdom of Others is taking this one step further by allowing you to take those words, bundle them up, and have them printed into a keepsake-quality book that you’ll be able to pass through the family for years to come.

“You can think of our books like a personalized Life’s Little Instruction Book written for someone you care about by everyone that cares about them.”

The ideas that were pitched to us were pretty varied. For instance, if someone you know is expecting a child, you could gather up all of the sage advice you can find and have it bound into a book for them. Maybe you could pass on some answers to “what’s the secret to a great marriage” questions. Essentially, whatever words you can pass on, TWoO makes it easier to do, and keeps it incredibly classy.

CEO Ryan Beieler tells us that the books are printed on 100-pound weight paper that is drawn from sustainable forests. It’s just one of the little touches that helps to make the books truly heirloom quality.

Beyond the paper, though, there are other great qualities to the books. Black satin bookmarks, decorative headbands, silver foil stamping, premium end papers and fly sheets are all “special touches you’ll definitely notice.”

The system by which it works is interesting. Once you’ve set up the design of the book and the question that you’d like addressed, you can then invite contributors to add their wisdom. Pricing is set by the type of book (hardcover, PDF or ePub) and then by contributors, and appears to be very reasonable:

Overall it’s a great idea. We’ve seen apps such as Egobook that let you turn your Tweets into publications, but The Wisdom of Others is something that could be passed on for generations.