Meet Tom Hostage of Bespoke History

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Hostage.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve owned a commercial printing biz for 20 years with my brother, Tim. I am one of ten kids and wrote a book about my family – last name Hostage – that became the prototype for a business I founded 10 years ago: Bespoke History. I’ve written 25 family, corporate and institutional history books since then and spun off another company, Bespoke reunion Publishing, that produces 50th reunion yearbooks for Holy Cross, Providence College, Bucknell University, Dartmouth College, Fordham University and the University of Florida since 2011.

Our books are the highest standard in either genre. Ours is a grassroots story. I’ve been hired by two NFL owner families and written books for some of the top leaders in their respective fields. But I did this on my own on a string.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every time you are about to finish a book you realize that you are out of revenue once that book is printed and therefore you had better be working on the horizon. Constant battle between making the sausage and finding the next customer (not to mention the administrative tasks!)

Life has dictated that I need to do as much as possible myself and keep the revenue to support my family and support the operational costs of the business.

But I am coming through the other side and have achieved several benchmarks to get me to a state where I can grow the business again.

Bespoke History – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Bespoke History produces privately commissioned family, corporate and institutional history books. Its sub-division, Bespoke Reunion Publishing (BRP), produces reunion yearbooks for 50th and 25th reunion classes at colleges and secondary schools.

BRP clients include Holy Cross, Providence College, Bucknell University, Fordham University, Dartmouth College and the University of Florida.

Our Bespoke History clients include some amazing families, businesses and institutions. We are currently focused on a deadline for producing a book on the history of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, commissioned by CEO Josh Kraft.

We have several projects in play at any given time. Would welcome questions about this.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Looking into the eyes of the first client who took a chance on me and telling him that I will make him so very happy he did. I’m about to write my third book for this guy.

Contact Info:

• Address: Bespoke History
  7103 Avalon Drive
  Northborough, MA 01532
• Website: www.bespokehistory.com
• Phone: 508-254-5442
• Email: tom@bespokehistory.com

Image Credit:
Avert your eyes

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