Ghostwriter autobiography of miss

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I’ve been a ghostwriter for almost six years, and so far I’ve written and edited books for Olympians, professional athletes, investors, CEO’s, and other accomplished individuals all over the world. I’ve ghostwritten memoirs, nonfiction books, and even helped edit a few fiction books that you may have seen on shelves 🙂

As a memoir ghostwriter, my specialty lies in helping people tell their life stories. Those stories often dovetail with more practical topics: for example, I’ve helped CEO’s share their experience in business by pulling from stories of their own lives. When we view information through the lens of story, it’s more easily digestible. That’s why even in more traditional nonfiction books I recommend starting with story.

Phase One: Start with Story

I begin any book project from a place of story.

If I’m operating as a memoir ghostwriter helping you tell your life story, I want to know:

• Why do you want to tell this story?

• Who do you want it to reach?

• What’s the tone of this story?

• What memoirs (or other stories) do you think are written well that you’d like your book to emulate?

• Who are the “characters” of your life? What roles did they play? (Hero, villain, mentor, stumbling block, etc.)

• What are the biggest questions of your life? What are the biggest pain points or conflicts?

These types of story-based questions help us build a solid foundation for the book’s structure and how I tackle your life story.

I begin every book by hopping on a call with you to discuss your intent for the book and anything you need me to know about your story from a big-picture perspective. This helps as we start to dive into the nitty-gritty of the structure of your book!

Phase Two: Applying Good Story Structure to Your Book

Good story structure starts with an understanding of

I try not to sound didactic. A lot of what I’ve read about ghostwriting, much of it from accomplished ghostwriters, doesn’t square with my experience. Recording the author? Terrible idea—it makes many authors feel as if they’re being deposed. Dressing like the author? It’s a memoir, not a masquerade party. The ghostwriter for Julian Assange wrote twenty-five thousand words about his methodology, and it sounded to me like Elon Musk on mushrooms—on Mars. That same ghost, however, published a review of “Spare” describing Harry as “off his royal tits” and me as going “all Sartre or Faulkner,” so what do I know? Who am I to offer rules? Maybe the alchemy of each ghost-author pairing is unique.

Therefore, I simply remind the callers that ghostwriting is an art and urge them not to let those who cast it as hacky, shady, or faddish (it’s been around for thousands of years) dim their pride. I also tell them that they’re providing a vital public service, helping to shore up the publishing industry, since most of the titles on this week’s best-seller list were written by someone besides the named author.

Signing off, the callers usually sigh and say thanks and grumble something like “Well, whatever happens, I’m never doing this again.” And I tell them yes, they will, and wish them luck.

How does a person even become a ghostwriter? What’s the path into a profession for which there is no school or certification, and to which no one actually aspires? You never hear a kid say, “One day, I want to write other people’s books.” And yet I think I can detect some hints, some foreshadowing in my origins.

When I was growing up in Manhasset, New York, people would ask: Where’s your dad? My typical answer was an embarrassed shrug. Beats me. My old man wasn’t around, that’s all I knew, all any grownup had the heart to tell me. And yet he