Start by understanding what your vision is for your book, and then your budget range and ideal timeline. Then, assemble a list of ghostwriters and check out their portfolios and rates, and hop on calls with the ones whose writing you admire!

Hiring a ghostwriter for your memoir or autobiography is something that should feel like a good fit, and you should make sure you’re hiring an expert as there are a lot of unexpected costs that come with hiring amateurs instead of established professionals.

I offer a ton of information about my track record and portfolio here on my website and on my Work With Me page. I love to hop on calls with potential clients who want to see if I’m the right fit for their book! Feel free to contact me with more details about your project.

Nope! I don’t accept co-author credit.

As a ghostwriter, I want you to be front-and-center in your life story and receive sole credit and keep 100% ownership of the book and the IP. I’m just here to be of service in helping you tell your story!

Before you embark on this journey, I recommend doing a bit of soul-searching. Why do you want to tell this story? What are you comfortable with sharing with the world? What message do you want to come across?

You don’t have to have all the details figured out, and as you start working with me I’ll help you connect the dots between your memories, the theme of your story, and what readers will be excited about.

You can read about my process in this blog post on how I approach memoir writing.

I tailor my approach to each individual client and project, but have a structured process to start us out on the right foot. It’s critical to build a strong foundation of story structure and your “why” for telling your story before pen hits paper and we get going on the draft.

I’d be happy to elaborate more on my process on a Free Discovery Call if you’d like to contact me and share more about your memoir writing needs.

As an expert writer and seasoned creative professional, my rate is in the higher range of memoir ghostwriters and you can find a breakdown of my rates on my Work With Me page.

Feel free to get quotes and chat with multiple ghostwriters before starting your project: starting a book is an investment that will pay dividends if you can hire the right writer for your story.

Generally, though, you should expect to pay between $60k-$120k+ for an expert writer to ghostwrite your book. Remember that ghostwriters don’t participate in any royalties or back-end revenue for things like book-to-film adaptations, which is why ghostwriters charge more upfront than a typical writer.

I’ve spent my entire career as a writer learning how to capture voices authentically: I came up in Hollywood as a TV writer, where I perfected the craft of writing in the voices of different characters and shows.

I’ve been working as a memoir ghostwriter for the past seven years, and I know what questions to ask my clients to ensure I capture your authentic voice.

It depends! For clients who are crystal clear on their story and book, a book on the shorter side can take 2-6 months from first meeting to final draft.

Sometimes, the process of bringing a book to life isn’t linear: there may need to be more iterations when it comes to the outline process. Or, the rewrite process may need a bit of extra time in order to shape the book into its truest form.

The timeline of the book also depends on your availability to review drafts, meet with me as necessary, and send feedback and answers to any questions that arise during the writing process.

Most books take around 2-6 months to complete, but occasionally I’ll work on a book that needs more time. This is why I charge hourly so we can allow the process to unfold as it needs to.

My timeline is shorter than other ghostwriters because I don’t overload myself with projects. I keep my roster small in order to ensure every book I work on gets my best energy.

My hourly rate is $750/hour, and you can find more details about the estimated total book cost on my Work With Me page.

A lot of other ghostwriting services are faceless agencies and corporations. They often underpay their writers or don’t think to put enough care into finding true craftspeople to help you write your book.

When you choose to work with me, you get a far more personal and thoughtful experience. When needed, I can loop in my team members for things like proofreading and book cover design, but it’s me who will be your partner in this process of seeing your book come to life.

As a writer and creative, I have a track record you can trust, with my own published work out there for you to peruse.

Yep! This is another reason I charge hourly: each book requires different things. Some of my clients will ask me to interview other friends and family members so I can help them articulate their story better on the page. Others will want me to assist in researching certain aspects of their book.

My job as your memoir ghostwriter is to get to know you and your goals for the book, and help identify how I can help you get there.

You can expect the white glove treatment with me! I’ll guide you through everything I need from you, starting with our initial set of interviews while I craft the first outline of your book.

During the book outlining and ghostwriting process, I’ll need your input to bring your story to life, and that can be done over the phone, over Zoom, email, or in-person depending on what package you choose.

I love working collaboratively with my clients, sharing the in-progress draft each week so you can keep tabs on my progress, share insights that can help me capture your memories, and fill in the gaps of any context I might be missing.

Yes! An NDA is built-in to my contract with all the details.

Yes! You own 100% of the rights to the finished book and your story.

No, I only work in English. Duolingo has yet to grace me with wordsmithing abilities in another language!

If you’re looking to self-publish your book on Amazon after it’s done, I’d be happy to assist you with any and all aspects of publication.

You can read more about my book design and publishing services here.

I don’t accept residuals or any back-end profits from your book. You maintain 100% of the profits and rights of your book.

This helps to keep our interests aligned: you’re hiring me to carry out your vision for the book. If I were to accept a residual-based model, my interests would be more aligned with making a book that’s more commercially successful, but not necessarily a book that’s within my client’s vision. This book is also ultimately your story, not mine. I’m just here to help you tell it!

I want to help bring your vision for your book to life, which is why I believe it’s important for you to retain your rights and royalties.

A standard memoir is somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 words (around 200-260 book pages, depending on the size of the book and the font and layout.)

While anything below 50,000 is shorter than I’d recommend you go for your book, it’s okay to creep into the 70,000-word range for books that require the extra length. If you’ve hit 90k words – you’ve gone too far, abandon hope (and find a good editor) all ye who enter here!

I have slightly different package options for memoirs listed on my Work With Me page with all the details about my offerings and what’s included!

Listen, in my personal opinion I think there is no difference between a memoir and an autobiography – *cue the outrage from the book community!*

I know that what I’m supposed to say is that a memoir is more narrative nonfiction, and an autobiography is just the straight facts of someone’s life from beginning to end.

But in reality, the line is always blurred. There are going to be some elements of narrative in an autobiography, and people’s memories aren’t always accurate – so how can you possibly say an autobiography is more “factual” than memoir?

Some memoirs are going to be more “fictionalized” than others (see: Jim Carrey’s memoir) but at the end of the day we’re splitting hairs, here.

TL;DR I don’t think the difference between “memoirs” and “autobiographies” is significant – but yes, I write both!

Yes! I often work with clients who want multiple books, especially if their memoir is a hybrid of some type, such as business advice books that also dive deep into elements of your life story.

I’d be happy to share examples with you for what a memoir series or different hybrid memoir books could look like.

No. If you’re old enough to be reading this FAQ, you’re old enough to have a story to tell.

Successful memoirs aren’t marked by how many years its subject spent on earth. They’re remembered for the quality of storytelling, and the message behind it.

As of the writing of this FAQ page, I don’t do any broad coaching or consults other than my free Discovery Calls which are meant to be the first step in kicking off larger projects.

I do offer developmental editing, which you can read about here.

If we’re not a good fit, you’ll know right away. This is another reason I bill hourly rather than in lump sums: you’ll be able to know if we’re a right fit from the first outline and my approach to your story, capturing your voice, and how we’re working together.

My standard contract will lay out all of the different details about how we can work together and my cancellation policies.

If you’d like to write the draft yourself, I recommend instead hiring me as a developmental editor once you’ve finished your draft.

I always welcome any materials my clients have for me during the writing process, so if you have journal entries or other written materials I’d be happy to take a look and integrate them into the manuscript as I write. I love being collaborative with my clients, and want to make sure you see yourself reflected on the page.

Visit my Work With Me page for a breakdown!

Yes, in some cases I’ll take on books that have fictionalized elements to them. This can be helpful if you’re wanting to combine multiple people in your life into composite characters, or if your memoir is too sensitive to be billed as a true story.

As a heads up, the fictionalization process takes more time, so I’ll need to come up with a custom estimate for you based on what you’re wanting to be fictionalized in your memoir.

As long as you have a guiding idea for your book and understand why you want to have your memoir written, that’s plenty for us to start with!

If you don’t have these things figured out, I recommend taking some time to journal or talk with a friend or family member about your memoir.

Be honest with yourself: why do you want this memoir to exist? Do you want it to inspire others? Do you want to leverage it to get to where you want to be in your career? Or do you just want to capture your life so you can leave your legacy with family, friends, and future generations?

I came out as bisexual in the LA Times, so I understand the stone-cold courage required to share your personal life with the world!

If telling your story will alienate people in your life and hurt you in a way that you don’t want, then maybe consider fictionalizing your memoir or finding another method of expressing yourself.

A memoir is both intimate and loud; a personal story told in a public forum. My clients often tell me that writing their memoir with me and telling their story is a cathartic experience. They’re able to let go of past trauma, move on to better things, and share their life and learnings with the world.

I take great care in helping my clients navigate what they should and should not share in their book, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide what’s worth putting out there, and what should be omitted.

Books can be a great source of income – and they can also bring you untold personal and professional opportunities.

In my blog post 6 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Should Write a Book, I share more about the perks writing a book can bring you.

However, nothing is guaranteed. Book sales require knowledge of who you are and why people should buy your books. My publishing packages include book launch strategy and PR help, which can aid in boosting sales.

If you don’t have an existing platform, email list, or other way to reach your audience, I’d recommend building that or setting aside a budget to run ads for your book.

If you’re an entrepreneur, coach, educator, or creator – a book is good for business!

A book can open up the door to a mini book tour, where you talk to the press and podcasts and share your ideas with the world.

Great books endure across generations, so working with a high-quality ghostwriter like myself can help set you up to get professional opportunities from your book for years to come.

Sure. I work with writers who go both the self-publishing and traditional publishing route – in both cases, you still need an amazing manuscript to succeed!