Ghostwriting can be a rewarding experience in more ways than one, given the enduring public appetite for revealing memoirs by celebrities, sports stars and ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges. Publishers are on the lookout for smart writers who can win the trust of subjects and turn in-depth interviews into gripping writing that puts your reader in the centre of the action, whether you are writing about someone’s abused childhood, exotic sex life or rise to global power or fame.
This comprehensive day course, led by professional ghostwriter Andrew Crofts and leading literary agent Andrew Lownie, introduces all the skills you’ll need to get started in this potentially lucrative field. You’ll learn how to find and recognise great stories, and how to build a relationship with your subject that enables you to get to the heart of their life story.
You’ll also learn how to pitch these fascinating life stories to publishers, and how to handle the business side of the profession to make it worth your while. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to write in your subject’s voice, to create believable, natural and versatile writing that readers will identify with.
This course is for you if...
- You’re a journalist interested in translating your skills into creating long-form memoirs
- You’re an enthusiastic non-/fiction writer who’d like to learn to build relationships with subjects and publishers to turn ghostwriting into a source of income
Course description
This practical weekend course gives attendees the skills and professional knowledge they need to plan, pitch and produce ghostwritten memoirs.
Topics covered include:
- How to find the subjects and convince them to hire you
- How to win the trust of your subject and encourage them to open up
- How to maintain the relationship
- Negotiating contracts with publishers, and when to consider self-publishing
- How to manage out the money side so that you can make a living
- How to get into the subject’s head and write like they would if they could
- How to present the story to an agent or a publisher
- What can go wrong, and what you can do about it
Tutor profile
Andrew Crofts is a ghostwriter whose own memoir, Confessions of a Ghostwriter was published in 2014. Andrew has published more than 80 books, a dozen of which were Sunday Times number one bestsellers and has also guided a number of international clients successfully through the minefield of independent publishing. Andrew serves on the Management Committee of the Society of Authors and lectures on the subject of making a living from writing at Kingston University, as well as making frequent guest appearances at writing workshops, literary festivals and in the media. Andrew blogs regularly on matters pertaining to publishing, self-publishing and writing on his own blog at http://www.andrewcrofts.com
Andrew Lownie set up the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency in 1988. It is now one of the UK’s leading boutique literary agencies with some two hundred non-fiction and fiction authors. Andrew has written and reviewed for a range of newspapers and magazines, including The Times, Spectator and the Guardian. As an author, most notably of a biography of John Buchan and a literary companion to Edinburgh, he has a deep understanding of the issues and problems affecting writers. He is a member of the Association of Authors’ Agents and Society of Authors and was until recently the literary agent to the international writers’ organisation PEN.
Details
Date: Saturday 18 April 2015
Times: 10am-4pm
Location: The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU
Price: £249 (includes VAT, booking fee and drinks)
Event capacity: 16
To contact us, click here. Terms and conditions can be found here.
Returns policy
Tickets may be refunded if you contact us at least 14 days before the course start date. Please see our terms and conditions for more information on our refund policy.
