Editing
Ghost writing
Self-publishing
Biographical slide shows
Photo digitization and enhancement
Short form bios
Biographical Short Story
Custom songwriting
Editing
You write, I fix and make suggestions.
Fixing means proofreading and making necessary adjustments.
Making suggestions means asking for additional material, proposing cuts, identifying segments that can be condensed, making stylistic observations, finding redundancies, etc.
Ghost writing
You talk, I write.
The interviews are primarily for you to transmit information to me. But they also give me an opportunity to ask questions:
Wasn’t she the one who introduced him to her?
Didn’t you say that happened before the marriage?
What did that kitchen you speak of so fondly look like?
I record the conversation and take notes. I bring them to my studio and write a narrative of everything revealed in the interview. I hand that draft back to you for corrections, additions, cuts and any other changes you want to make. You hand it back and I do rewrites. We can go back and forth like this as many or a few times as you like.
Self-publishing
You’ve already finished your book with or without editorial help and you’re satisfied. You’d like to get it into the hands of your intended audience. That audience can be as exclusive as immediate family members or as vast as anyone in the world who likes reading memoirs. How do you get it out there?
Your principal publishing options are described here.
I can help with any of them. Formatting your text for uploading to an electronic publisher. Doing any part or all of what needs to be done to have your book available in the print-on-demand market. Doing the legwork in submitting to agents or traditional publishers.
Biographical slide show
Got tons of photos (and clippings, printed announcements, etc.) you think can tell a pretty good story? Together we can sort them, chronologically and thematically. I’ll digitize them (see below) and create a slideshow you can play anywhere. Choose the music you’d like to accompany each sequence, or choose not to have music at all. Typical uses of biographical slideshows include testimonials, parties (usually birthdays) and gifts to family members.
Photo digitization
Photos are scanned, saved in jpg format (or any format you specify) and stored on DVD, flash drive or Cloud. Once digitized, corrections and adjustments, such as color correction, touch-ups and revivifying photos that have faded with time, can be made where needed.
Short-form biography
I know a lot of actors. None are quick to submit a bio for the programs of the shows they’re in. Not because of disinterest in the subject matter. Not because they’re irresponsible (which actors can be). They procrastinate because, for them, writing your own bio is such a chore. What should I put in it? What should I leave out? Do I have to limit it to a page? Or to 500 words? Or 100? Or 35?
Or whatever, it’s onerous. Not only actors feel this way. I’m convinced that it happens to anyone who’s asked for a bio, be it a theatrical program, a website, a corporate brochure, a press kit, you name it.
Why not have me write that bio for you? All I’ll need is a brief conversation in which you tell me everything you want people to know in the space allotted. You’ll read my draft, make changes and adjustments and we’re done.
Biographical Short Stories
Perhaps you’re not quite ready to write an account of your entire life and background, but there’s a specific story you want to tell. How you and your spouse met. How you got into your business. Your relationship with a teacher who was especially helpful to you. It can be even more specific—your first date with the person you eventually married. Or a little more far-reaching—the entire courtship. And there can be any number of them. In fact, this can be an excellent way to ease into that comprehensive autobiography.
Custom songwriting
Does this seem a little far afield from the goals of a memoirist?
Song is one of the most concise forms of communication I know of (I’ve written over 400). Like poetry, a lyric must pack a lot of meaning into a few words. Unlike poetry, a song needs to be direct, not obtuse. Comprehensible at the first listening. It’s the pairing of words with music that allows this.
I’ll write or co-write a song to your specifications. The music can be entirely original or I can put new words to a tune of your choosing.
Songs are effective not only as personal statements, but as tributes.