To Start
First, tell us what you have in mind for your book. We’ll questions and make suggestions that will guide you to the best format.
Depending on the scope of your book, you can anticipate between eight and twelve hours of one-on-one personal interviews. BiographyMasters has developed a simple technique to guide you through the interview process. While you talk, we listen and record. Later, we’ll organize the audio material into a Word document.
Interviews can be done in person, on the phone, via Zoom, or any combination of the above.
You’ll receive a copy of the first draft of each chapter. Upon your approval we’ll move on to the next recording session and the next chapters.
Can I broaden the scope of my biography?
If you wish, we may conduct supplemental interviews with other people you designate, or research topics to deepen the context of your book. They could be anything from parents, relatives, associates, to the culture and politics of your hometown. How about vignettes of your great-grandfather’s farm in Tuscany, your grandmother’s experience on Ellis Island, or that merger that changed the course of your business? All this can provide more texture and color to your story.
Your story will be written like a novel while presenting truth in an interesting, logical flow. Your story can be told in the third person (“He did this, or he thought that …”), or the first person with you doing the talking (“I did this, or I saw that”).
Your biography can include up to 30 photographs at no extra charge, including your photo on the back cover. While we never rush a project, our goal is to complete the entire process in around six months.
Following is a typical scenario.
Step One: A complimentary consultation
This is when we begin to get to know each other. We’ll discuss your vision for the book, go over options, schedules, and agree on a course of action. We’ll discuss who will be involved, which point of view, how far back, timelines, your target readers, and anything else you want to say. When all your questions are answered, you can decide if you want to pursue the project or not. If so, we’ll set up a tentative schedule of interviews. You need not worry about how to write a memoir, or how to write a biography. That’s our purpose in life!
Step Two: Interviewing & recording
The interviews are relaxed, enjoyable, and best done in the comfort of your home or office. We’ll record your story and gather any other information intended for the book.
You can anticipate up to fourteen separate interview hours for a full-length biography. Interviews can be conducted over a short period or stretched over several months. It’s all about what is convenient for your schedule. Throughout the process you will have complete control over what material goes into your book. You can add or delete anything you wish prior to the final edit.
Step Three: Transcribing
Your recorded stories are transferred to a Word document in our secure computers. Your information will never be seen by anyone else except you and BiographyMasters until you are ready to release your book.
Step Four: Your first draft
We roll up our sleeves and write, write, write! We’ll polish the narrative and develop the story with you in the middle of the action. When it’s done, we will have spent literally hundreds of hours writing, revising, and editing your book.
As we write, we’ll discuss the cover of you book as to design and color. There may be several iterations until you’re completely satisfied with the final product.
Step Five: Formatting
After you read the final draft of your manuscript and make corrections or deletions, it’s back to us. We’ll conduct a final edit and then arrange the photos and/or images in chronological order. The final product is formatted and prepared for publication.
Step Six: Book production
You can either publish it yourself, or we will do it for you. If we publish and administer your account through KDP-Amazon or Ingram, we will arrange for all printing and shipping of your books with a small service and handling charge. We also send your royalty report at the end of each quarter, less our administration charges (a small percentage of royalties), and we’ll mail your royalty check soon after that. We are paid only when you earn royalties on your book.
About Authorship
You can place your name on the book as the sole author which makes us your “ghost writer,” or we can be your secondary author. Most often, the biographer is a secondary author (“with John Smith”). This is your choice.
In every case, the rights of publication belong to you, and you only.
All these options are yours and are included in our fee.
Biography Masters 