Memoir: A Story About Your Life

Walk into any bookstore and you'll undoubtedly see a table loaded with memoirs. These books have firmly made their way into our popular culture—for instance, you have undoubtedly heard of, and perhaps even read, some of these successful memoirs:

• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
• This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff
• Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
• Growing Up by Russell Baker
• Winter Journal by Paul Auster
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
• The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to add your book to this illustrious list?

Now, there are some people out there—you know, the ivory tower, college professor types—who have a very specific definition of what a memoir is. “It must ONLY cover a specific period of your life,” some might say. “It must teach the reader an important lesson,” others might say.

I don’t listen to these people at all. For my purposes, a memoir simply means “a story about your life.” Exactly what this means can vary widely from one person to another, but I'm only interested in what it means to YOU.

For some of you, a memoir might begin when you are born (or maybe even earlier) and carry on through the present day. These types of memoirs are particularly common among people who want to write a personal history they can pass on to their children. And if you're one of the children reading this memoir, you want to know the entire story, warts and all.

For others of you, you'll want your memoir to center on a specific period of time—or even a specific moment—that had a profound effect on your life. 

This could be something positive—backpacking across Europe in college, spending a week with your idol at baseball fantasy camp, or rescuing your brother from a burning building when you were a teenager.

Or it could be something negative—losing your mother to leukemia, having your leg amputated after a shark attack, or being held hostage for two weeks in a foreign country.

Either way, this narrower type of memoir will be written with a specific purpose or theme in mind. It will detail an influential part of your life that other people will benefit from reading.

To recap, on one end of the spectrum we have the tell-all autobiography, while on the other we have a narrowly focused “slice of life.” What you have in mind for your book might be some imaginative combination of the two. For instance, I even wrote a book for a doctor that was 60% his real story and 40% fiction. We weaved the two together so that nobody could tell which portion was which. The final result was elegant, impactful, and very difficult to define.

At the end of the day, I can help you write whatever type of memoir you have in mind... and definitions be damned. (And if you don't have any idea what type of memoir you're looking to write, I can help you with that as well!)

Why Should I Write My Memoir?

There are several different reasons why somebody might consider writing their memoir, such as:

Did you have a profound experience as a teenager that your own children or grandchildren would benefit from reading? Are there countless family stories that will be lost forever when you pass? A memoir is the perfect gift to give to your children… and to their children… and to their children.

In addition to being an enjoyable process, the emotional and spiritual rewards of writing your memoir can be priceless. By examining parts of your life that you haven’t thought about for years, you’ll undoubtedly learn something valuable about who you are as a person. (I had one client who told me that writing her memoir was one of the most self-fulfilling things she had ever done.)

If you’ve experienced a grueling life lesson (illness, tragedy, addiction, abuse, etc.) but come out stronger because of it, you might have a strong desire to impart what you’ve learned to the world. And what better way to do this than by writing a memoir about your experience—a memoir that people will read for generations to come?

Help—I Don’t Know How to Write a Book!

That’s where I come in.

I have thirty years of writing experience, a decade of which I’ve worked exclusively as a ghostwriter. During this time I have ghostwritten books for a wide range of clients, including:

• An ex-Harlem Globetrotter who promotes literacy and anti-bullying to children around the world.
• A Chinese political prisoner who spent a dozen years in the gulag.
• An orthodox Jewish woman whose husband was in a coma for 15 years.
• A man who suffered a traumatic head injury but still persevered to become a doctor.
• A woman who grew up in the Philippines during World War II.

Along the way I’ve written several full-length novels, a biography of a Major League Baseball player, a screenplay for Lifetime Television, and a popular photography marketing book. I am also the author of The Cootie Kisser Convention on Canterbury Court, a very good children’s book with a terrible cover (Don’t believe me?—check it out here). My own personal memoir, Ramona Street Blues, will be available in late 2024.

In addition to my unique educational background (I have a B.A. in Creative Writing and a Master’s in Accounting), I spent 12 years as a professional editor for a Fortune 500 financial company, which developed in me a laser-focused eye for all the yucky stuff like grammar, punctuation, spelling, and all the rest.

(And because people feel compelled to ask—I am 54 years old, live near Sacramento, and have 5 kids and 3 dogs. I’m a regular person, just like you.)

Why Should I Hire You to Write My Memoir?

Because when you hire me to write your memoir, I guarantee to make your story shine.

The final manuscript of your memoir will read like a compelling novel—a novel where you are the main character.

How do I accomplish this? Well, I think of writing a memoir as putting together a huge jigsaw puzzle where half the pieces don’t even belong—but where we still have to turn over all the pieces.

When we first meet in person (writing a memoir is an intensely personal process, so I travel out to meet all my clients), I’m going to help you perform an exhaustive but exhilarating “memory mine” in which you will describe to me (in as much detail as you can) every single memory or anecdote you might possibly want to include in your memoir.

Once you start talking about that first memory, another memory will come, which will trigger another memory… which will trigger another memory… and so on.

As we conduct our interviews, you’ll be amazed at how much specific detail you remember about your life. All told, we’ll talk for about 15 – 20 hours (over 4 or 5 days—although, with the miracle of Skype and Zoom, we can spread this out as needed) until we have more than enough material (hopefully 2 or 3 times more) to write a full-length memoir.

During our time together, you’re going to lay out all the puzzle pieces of your life. My job is to figure out how these pieces fit together in such a way that your final memoir is something you’ll be truly proud of.

Why Do I Need a Ghostwriter?

Why? Because the truth is, writing a memoir is hard. Really hard. Much harder than it looks.

Writing a memoir is infinitely more complex than sitting down at your desk and pounding out words on your computer. There are dozens of other things to consider—grammar, pacing, structure, theme, consistency, dialogue, tone, voice… and on and on.

Writing a memoir takes time, focus, and dedication. It can be a frustrating and lonely endeavor to write a book—although there are few things in life quite as rewarding as finishing one.

In other words, it’s really hard!

Fortunately, in the end, who physically wrote the words on the paper doesn’t matter. It’s what your memoir says that matters—not whose name appears on the cover.

That being said, when you allow me to ghostwrite your memoir, it will be your name on the cover, in big letters. You will be the author, and you will own 100% of the book rights.

Furthermore, because you and I will spend dozens of hours talking together, the final memoir will be written in your “voice.” I’m just the middleman between your brain and the printed page.

My job is to help you get your great idea down on paper, then quietly slide back into the shadows. That’s why they call it ghostwriting.

One important thing to keep in mind when we work together—I value privacy above all else. I will personally write every single word of your book. I don’t outsource (except for the final proofreading), and I won’t show your manuscript to anybody, including my wife! And when somebody asks me about the books I write, I calmly explain that I'm contractually forbidden from revealing anything about them (this drives my friends crazy, but it makes me feel mysterious, like I'm some sort of international spy).

How Long Does It Take to Write a Memoir?

All told, it will take approximately eight months to write your memoir, from when we first meet in person to when you’re holding the final manuscript in your hand. And then one final month where we do all the extra stuff like self-publishing your book or querying agents and publishers.

The rough breakdown of my process is as follows:

I call this the “gathering month.” This is where we will conduct our interviews, and where I will, as I comb through the transcripts, pester you with a thousand texts or emails to “fill in the blanks.”

I am a big believer in writing a very detailed outline before I write one word of the rough draft. This will allow us to identify the theme of the story, and to structure the story exactly the way we want it. Outlining allows us to make sure that the story flows, and will keep us from getting too far off track once we begin the rough draft.

This is my time to shine. For three months, I will barricade myself in my office (which looks surprisingly like a Starbucks) and write the entire rough draft of your manuscript (which will be between 60,000 and 70,000 words, approximately 250 to 280 printed pages). Some clients like to see my progress every couple of chapters, while others like to see the entire rough draft at the end. Your choice.

During these months, you and I will work closely together, making sure that the story flows perfectly. I will send you chapter 1—you will make edits and send it back. We will keep doing this until the chapter is perfect… and then move on to chapter 2.

At the very end of this process, I will hire a professional editor to read through the entire manuscript to make sure that I didn’t make any nitpicky errors.

This last month is where we wrap everything up. It is during this time that I can help you:

• Finalize your cover (although, as I mentioned, I am not a graphics guy; but I know a guy who knows a guy).
• Set up your book to sell through Amazon (if that’s where you’d like to publish)—both print and Kindle editions.
• Get your manuscript printed.
• Write a query letter and/or book proposal you can send to literary agents or publishers.

How Much is This Going to Cost?

My fee to write a 60,000 to 70,000-word memoir is $30,000 (payable in 10 equal installments). That’s at the lower end of the scale to have your memoir written—not suspiciously-dirt-cheap like some, but not outrageous and generally-unaffordable like others (some out there are floating a $500K fee to write a memoir, which is pretty much highway robbery unless you're some sort of uber-celebrity).

This fee is all-inclusive. It covers my travel out to interview you; the fee to transcribe your interviews, design your cover, and proofread your final manuscript; and any incidentals along the way. I will never ask for a single penny beyond our agreed-upon fee.

What do I say to those who say my fee is too high? I explain that in ghostwriting, like in life, you get what you pay for. If you pay somebody $800 to write your book, you’re going to get a lousy book.

On the other hand, I am a professional—no different than a housing contractor or an orthodontist. And I’m going to charge a professional fee, just like they do.

Now, I know that $30,000 is an insane amount of money; believe me, I wish that I could go lower. But even if that's below your budget, don't hesitate to give me a call. We might be able to work out some sort of compromise. Plus, even if we don't end up working together, I'm always interested to hear people's stories!

The bottom line is that I'm a professional, and I’m going to put everything I have into making your project shine. And I guarantee that you will be absolutely THRILLED with the final product!

Let's Get Started Today!

I'll be honest—most of the people who visit my website never contact me, and that’s fine. After all, during these 8 or 9 months I’m going to be living, breathing, and dreaming about your project, so I only want to work with people who have a passionate desire to write their memoir.

If you are this person, please call or email me today, and we can set up a time to talk in more detail.

My phone number is 916-805-4875—I answer my own phone and return all calls within 12 hours. Texts are fine too.

My email is memoirsareforever@yahoo.com. I'm the only person with access to this email account, and I respond to all emails within 12 hours.

If you'd like to see some of my writing samples and/or a sample contract before we chat, please click the links below.

However you choose to get hold of me, I look forward to chatting with you—and to help you realize your dream of writing your memoir!

Hope you’re having a wonderful day!

Jim Gratiot

P.S.: Because I dedicate so much time and energy to each project (upwards of 1,000 hours per book), I’m only able to work with one or two clients at a time. I would love for you to be one of these clients. I can’t wait to hear what your great idea is, and I can’t wait to get started. Call or email me today: