Archive of the Heart
Memoir Ghostwriting
The Story
After I published my own memoir, friends started asking me if I would help them—or more often their parents or grandparents—tell their stories as well.
Archive of the Heart became my ghostwriting project, consisting of memoirs that I have written and published for circulation within my clients’ circles of friends and family. I work primarily with older relatives who are at a juncture of their lives in which they are looking back and are ready to share their stories with their loved ones: high points, low points, successes, regrets and all. Having a ghostwriter translate a life into a story shows these family members that they are valued. There’s no greater act of love than listening. Through a family memoir, an “archive of the heart,” your loved one’s story will remain for generations to come.
I have also worked with clients who are not “looking back,” but rather who have just lived through a time in their life that was particularly poignant—a love story, a loss, a monumental career move—and they need someone to help them get the story on the page. The client was busy living their life—and living in the moment—which can make it difficult to identify what was particularly poignant or dramatic about it. Hiring a ghostwriter not only gives you access to someone who will put the words on the page; it gives you the outsider perspective that will help you find the heart of your story, made up of your life’s most interesting scenes.
The Craft
See, great memoirs aren’t “life stories” told from birth onward, like biographies. Memoirs are told in scenes. To write a scene, we must set the stage. Rather than asking a client, “What happened in your childhood?” I might ask, “What did your mother’s hair smell like, and why?” The answer to that question might unlock a memory of a favorite meal, and the labor that went into its preparation. I might ask, “Do you believe in soul mates?” which will likely reveal much about your parents’ love, your heartaches, and the ways you have healed. I use the details of the client’s life to build out a story, painting a picture for a reader of what it was like to be that person in the moment. I want a reader to be able to see what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. I want your family to know you more deeply than they did before, and I want you to know yourself more deeply than you did when we started to write as well.
The Details
There are larger companies who do the work of preserving life stories in the form of books, but these companies do work that is more akin to transcription, simply writing down what a client tells them. I am not a transcriptionist, but a writer. When I’m talking with a new client, I’m focused on asking the right questions to determine the dramatic narrative arc at the heart of their story. I’m also a scholar, and I supplement my scene writing and book structure with research that becomes the historical context of the client’s life. And unlike the big ghostwriting companies, I will never use AI to produce the text for your book. I take pride in my craft. Reach out to me if you would like to see sample chapters of my ghost memoir writing.
What’s included in a book package:
3-month production schedule from first interview to finished manuscript.
Ten hours of interviews. If you are in Southern California, the interviews will be conducted in person, over the course of five days. If you are located elsewhere, I am willing to travel for an additional fee that covers my flight and accommodations. If you prefer phone interviews, this is also an option. Additional interviews over the 10-hour package are possible, but they will incur an additional fee and may delay the production schedule for your book.
~100-page book, plus up to 20 color photographs. The book will be professionally designed, bound, formatted, and printed. Fifty copies are included in the package price, and more can be ordered for an additional fee. You will also receive a digital copy of the finished book.
Interviews, transcription, editing, proofreading, book design, printing, and shipping are all included in my package rate.
Reach out with any questions you may have, or to inquire about my rates!
