I want a ghostwriter any tips?

[Boshi]

I want to publish my memoirs about a specific time in my life that I think would be of interest.

Has anyone used a ghostwriter or can give any suggestions as to how to go about finding a good one?

I’ve got an outline of my book but I would be considering a ghostwriter and self publishing, or alternatively taking the book to publishers.

Thanks for any advice on costs, how to find a good ghostwriter, how to decide to self publish or try the book at publishers etc

I happen to (vaguely) know this person who is a ghostwriter https://ianshircore.com/

Presumably to go to a publisher you'd need to have written it already? I think you can get ghostwriters online on freelancer websites.

Realistically it's extremely unlikely that any trad publisher would accept a ghost written book unless you're a celebrity, or what happened to you is objectively a huge commercial story. Eg first wheelchair user to climb Everest on their hands and knees, Ariel Cast which case the publisher will handle finding the ghostwriter as they'll want a ghostwriter who writes in their house style.

I'd recommend seeing if you can identify which genre of memoir your book would come into (eg misery memoir, sporting achievement, survived major natural disaster), and researching which publishers are working in that genre, then contacting them with a pitch to see whether they think your proposal has potential commercial appeal.

You don't need to have written the book to approach publishers. I got my first publication deal from submitting a short pitch, they were interested and asked me to go away and write up a longer pitch and a sample chapter, then they signed me based on those.

Self-publishing is extremely hard, especially for memoir. You have to treat it like a small business and do a shit ton of work on marketing and building up your brand online (eg though social media). Certain genres do better than others in self-publishing, but memoir is hard unless it's niche interest and you're either already part of the community interested in that subject, or you're willing to really promote yourself and exploit your personal life to get press.

"Eg first wheelchair user to climb Everest on their hands and knees, Ariel Cast which case the publisher will handle finding the ghostwriter as they'll want a ghostwriter who writes in their house style."

See that's why editors exist, a whole chunk got deleted there.

What I meant to say was, "Eg first wheelchair user to climb Everest on their hands and knees, Ariel Castro victim, sole survivor of a major plane crash. In which case the publisher will handle finding the ghostwriter as they'll want a ghostwriter who writes in their house style."

I'd say too that there are websites that offer paid memoir-writing services. A professional writer who is generally an aspiring writer rather than a working writer will interview you about your life, write it up, and the service will generally print and bind it into books for you.

They are decent (one of my friends writes for one), but aimed at people who want a nice thing to give to their grandkids, or a way to ensure their life story is recorded. Or for people who just want the ego boost of being able to say their life is in a book.

There's an AMA by a ghost writer - I'm not sure if they'd be able to help

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/AMA/4713728-im-a-ghostwriter-but-not-harrys-ama

Thank you, this is all helpful advice.

Any idea if there are any agencies that match you to ghostwriters with experience in your area of interest?

Thanks @JauntyJinty and @rivercobbler will take a look at those.

That's doubtful, just because there's not really a market for people wanting to hire ghostwriters for personal reasons, unless they're very rich and egomaniacal. Ghostwriters are mainly hired by celebs or by publishers.

The "tell your life story to one of our writers and they'll write it up for you" websites might be an option. Those sites generally have lists of writer bios so you can look through them and choose the one whose experience fits what you're looking for. But those services aren't generally for people pursuing publication.

I would very very strongly recommend against using your own money to hire a ghostwriter, at least not before doing research and pitching to publishers. Ghostwriters cost many thousands of pounds, and most publishers won't even look at ghostwritten books. (If they think your story has commercial interest, they'll sign you then commission their own ghostwriter.)