How personalised is a Makesake book?

Every story is written from scratch using your child's name, physical appearance, home town, country, a friend's name, and what they love. No two Makesake books are ever the same.

Who writes and illustrates Makesake books?

Makesake books are written and illustrated using our proprietary creative pipeline, guided by a rigorous children's literature brief developed by experienced teachers and authors. Stories have genuine narrative structure, real humour, and emotional heart.

When are the illustrations created?

Your child's illustrations are created after you order. Each page is painted fresh for your specific book in your chosen style — watercolour, bold classic or comic book. The full illustrated book is delivered as a PDF and, for print orders, sent to our print partner.

Do I need to upload a photo?

No, it's optional. You can describe your child's appearance using our character picker and we'll illustrate them from that description, or upload a reference photo so the illustrations resemble them more closely.

Where do you ship printed books?

Printed books are fulfilled by our print partner Gelato and ship worldwide. Softcover and hardcover books are available in an 8x8in square format.

Is there a money-back guarantee?

Yes. If you are not happy with your book we will remake it or refund you in full.

Privacy Policy

Your Privacy

Your family’s privacy matters to us, especially because the information you share with Makesake Books is often about your child.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it (including how it’s shared with the AI providers who help create your Book), and what rights you have over it.

It should be read alongside our Terms of Use and How We Use AI page.

1. Our commitment

We collect only the personal information we genuinely need to create your Book, run our business, and comply with the law. We don’t sell your personal information, and we don’t use your child’s photos or drawings for anything beyond creating your order and the limited purposes described below.

2. What personal information we collect

Depending on how you use Makesake Books, we may collect:

your name, email address, and postal address;
order and payment details (payment card details are handled directly by our payment processor — we don’t store full card numbers);
Uploaded Content, such as photos, drawings, your child’s name, appearance details, hometown, interests, companion character names, and dedication messages;
correspondence when you contact us; and
technical and usage information about how you use our website, such as pages visited and device/browser type.

In plain EnglishThe most sensitive information we handle is what you tell us about your child so we can create their book. We treat that with extra care.

3. How we collect it

We collect personal information directly from you when you use our website, create a Preview, place an order, or contact us. We may also collect limited technical information automatically through cookies and similar technologies (see Section 9).

4. Why we collect and use it

We use your personal information to:

create, produce, and deliver your personalised Book;
process payments and manage your order;
communicate with you about your order, or respond to enquiries;
improve our products, website, and creative process;
send you marketing communications, where you’ve agreed to receive them (you can opt out at any time); and
meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

5. Children’s information

Makesake Books is designed to be used by adults creating a Book for a child, not by children directly. We don’t knowingly collect personal information directly from children, and we rely on the adult placing the order to have the authority of the child’s parent or guardian to share the child’s photo, drawing, name, and other details with us.

In plain EnglishIf you’re a parent or guardian and have concerns about information submitted about your child, please contact us straight away at stories@makesakebooks.com.

6. How our AI providers process your information

To generate your Book’s story and illustrations, we share relevant Uploaded Content and details with our AI Providers — currently Anthropic (Claude) and Google (Gemini). We only share what’s needed to generate your Book.

These providers are based overseas (in the United States), which means your information may be processed outside Australia. We choose providers with strong data-handling and security commitments, and we encourage you to review their own privacy terms if you’d like more detail. See our How We Use AI page for a fuller explanation of this process.

7. Storage and security

We store personal information using reasonable technical and organisational safeguards, including secure cloud hosting, encrypted storage, and restricted access limited to what’s needed to run Makesake Books. No system is completely immune to risk, and we continue to review and improve our security practices as we grow.

8. How long we keep your information

We generally retain order and Book information for as long as reasonably needed to support reprints, respond to enquiries, and meet our legal obligations (including tax record-keeping requirements). If you’d like us to delete your information earlier, contact us and we’ll action this unless we’re required to retain it by law.

9. Cookies and tracking

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies for things like remembering your Preview session, understanding how visitors use our site, and, where you’ve consented, showing relevant advertising.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings, though some parts of the website (like the Preview and ordering process) may not work properly without them.

10. Sharing your information

We share personal information only where needed to run Makesake Books, including with:

our AI Providers, to generate your Book;
our payment processor, to handle payment securely;
our printing and delivery partners, to produce and ship Printed Books;
our website hosting and IT service providers; and
regulators or law enforcement, where we’re required to by law.

We never sell your personal information to third parties.

11. Your rights

Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, you can ask us to access the personal information we hold about you, correct it if it’s wrong, or ask us to delete it (subject to any legal obligations we have to retain it).

To make a request, email stories@makesakebooks.com. If you’re not satisfied with how we’ve handled your personal information, you can also lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

12. Overseas disclosure

As noted in Section 6, some personal information (particularly Uploaded Content used to generate your Book) is disclosed to AI Providers located in the United States. By using Makesake Books and submitting this content, you consent to this overseas disclosure for the purpose of creating your Book.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or the law. We’ll update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page whenever we make a significant change.

14. Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your information, email us at stories@makesakebooks.com.

Our PromiseWe built Makesake Books because we believe every child deserves to see themselves in a story. We’ll always do our best to be transparent about how we use your information, and what you can expect from us. If we ever get something wrong, we’ll work with you to make it right.