LATHAM SHINDER
America's No. 1 Memoir Editor
I’m looking to add one more editing client to my current schedule.
Let me tell you just who I'm looking to work with.
My ideal client is a wealthy man who has written the first draft of a memoir, likely taken years to get it all down, and possibly worked with one or more writers and editors in the past (with marginal improvement in the manuscript), and as a result is now searching out a first-rate memoir editor.
The initial draft is 60,000 words and has a fantastic story—lots of external drama, conflicts that prevent the narrator from succeeding, failures galore, personal insights, and surprises—but lacks structure.
This client, you, understand that 75 percent of an editor’s labor goes into designing story. Who is this narrator? What does he want? Why does he want it? How does he go about getting it? What stops him? What are the consequences? Finding the answers to these questions and shaping them into story is an editor’s creative task.
You value literary talent and are willing to give your editor wide creative latitude. You are prepared, even impatient to have your initial words entirely rewritten if that’s what’s needed to transform the story into a compelling, must-read book.
YOU SEEK AN EDITOR FEARLESS ENOUGH TO CONJURE AN INNOVATIVE AND MOVING, EVEN QUIRKY WRITERS' VOICE FOR THE STORY.
A voice (and character) that will be remembered for decades.
You want your memoir to read like a novel—a page-turner, really—to include a clear story arc, scenes and scene sequences, acts, dialogue, conflict, suspense, and character. You don’t say it aloud but deep down you see yourself as the hero of this tale and at the same time understand you need a skilled editor to make this first-person telling come off as a natural revelation of deep character and not 240 pages of unabashed bragging.
You are motivated by winning, competition, and are likely a successful entrepreneur, adventurer, or leader of some kind.
You want to self publish because your require high quality, speed, and control over the publishing process. You are direct, demanding, and fast-paced and thus will make a decision to work with me quickly, likely on the first telephone call.
YOU HAVE A HIGH NET WORTH AND THEREFORE SPENDING $60,000 FOR A BOOK EDIT IS AN EASY DECISION ONCE YOU FIND THE RIGHT EDITOR.
You agree to a two month project length, are excited to get the polished manuscript so quickly, and pay $30,000 at the beginning of month one and $30,000 at the beginning of month two.
There, I've laid out the exact person I'm looking for.
I've listed the word count, story questions, editorial focus—structure and voice—timeline for completion, price, and payment terms.
Have I left anything out?
If this is you I'm describing then pick up the phone and give me a shout.
In fact, let's get started today.
(903) 271-7770
If you need more than an edit, a full ghostwrite, perhaps, then keep reading.
About
I’m Latham Shinder, author of the novel The Graffiti Sculptor (available at Amazon.com), and a full-time ghostwriter and editor.
I ghostwrite books for CEOs, entrepreneurs, national speakers, or just about anyone who seeks a good story well told.
I specialize in memoirs, what I think of as “personal experience / lessons learned” books.
These are books with a personal narrative—a fatherless boy growing up in a depressed area of Chicago, a doctor struggling with a callous health care industry, an Houston entrepreneur who fulfills a life-long dream of building the region’s newest general aviation airport—and I blend these personal stories with the lessons learned along the way.
Praise for Austin Executive Airport by Ron W. Henriksen.
“TERRIFIC STORY. I LOVE AIRPORTS SO MUCH I TURNED MY HOME INTO ONE."
JOHN TRAVOLTA
Actor
You know it takes knowledge, dedication, and effort to write a memoir. You know it isn’t going to happen overnight. And anybody who tells you so shouldn’t be trusted.
I’ll bet you know a lot of people who want to write a book, but it just doesn’t happen.
The writing process is slow.
I’m going to tell you the two main reasons most people never write their memoir.
The first reason is this: it takes time.
The book writing process is slow. It takes time for planning, research, interviews, reading, writing, editing, and polishing that final draft. More than any other resource, it takes time to turn the most interesting events of your life into a marketable memoir.
That’s why I’m offering to help. I’ve found a way to shorten the process . . .
You talk. I write. It's that simple.
“LATHAM LED ME ON A FASCINATING TOUR OF THE BOOK WRITING PROCESS."
VAN ALLEN
Founder, Timeline Recruiting
Author of Success Undressed
You talk.
I write.
It's that simple.
My well-defined ghostwriting process guarantees a finished, print-ready memoir in exactly six months.
In the first month, I’ll need an hour or two of your time several days a week.
We’ll talk on the phone, you’ll tell me your story, and I’ll ask some questions. I’ll prompt you for details you thought were long gone, but suddenly become clear.
I capture your voice and your words, and I restructure the material into a compulsively readable book. I remove all the boring parts, fill in the gaps, and craft a story around a single clear message.
“LATHAM TURNED MY AFRICAN TRAVEL JOURNAL INTO A DEEPLY PERSONAL MEMOIR BY RECOMMENDING I WRITE A LONG, INTIMATE LETTER TO MY HUSBAND TELLING HIM ABOUT MY LIFE AFTER HIS DEATH. I CAN'T THANK HIM ENOUGH."
ROBERTA SANDENBERGH
Architect
Author of Letter from South Africa
With my help, you become an irresistible narrator sharing a courageous story that provides readers with a new understanding of themselves. You share your hardships and successes and the lessons learned along the way. And in doing so, your personal story reveals universal truths.
Bottom line: you don’t write a word.
As a memoir ghostwriter, here’s what I’ve learned from helping authors write, edit, and publish their books. Anyone, with the right help, and the right tools, and the right attitude, can succeed.
I take on only one ghostwriting project at a time, which gives me the freedom to take you by the hand and literally lead you through the book writing process.
Many authors like you have someone like me in the background coaching, writing, and editing. I can promise you that Lee Iacocca didn’t write those two best-sellers by himself. Iacocca was the author, but he wasn’t the writer.
Read what some of my editing and ghostwriting clients had to say.
MICHAEL POSS
Attorney & CPA
Author of Ebby Halliday
“Thanks to Latham for enhancing the narration and polishing the rough edges.”
SHARON SIMONS
President, Mom at Last
Author of Mom at Last
“Working with Latham was easier than I thought possible. He made the interviewing and writing experience unforgettable—imaginative, insightful, and fun. I received a well-crafted and suspenseful memoir in a voice readers love.”
ROB TENERY, M.D.
Author of Dr. Mayo's Boy
“To me, an editor’s two most important responsibilities are to preserve the author’s message and keep the story line on track. Latham does both with sensitivity and deftness.”
Choose me to ghostwrite your memoir.
Choose me and I’ll show you how to:
—MAKE YOUR BOOK STAND OUT
—SPEAK DIRECTLY TO YOUR AUDIENCE
—CREATE READER-FRIENDLY CHAPTERS
—SING IN YOUR OWN VOICE
Whoever you choose to lend a hand, don’t let anything keep you from telling your story.
Picasso was a terrible colorist. Hemingway couldn’t write like everyone else. Bob Dylan can’t sing. But that didn’t stop any of them.
Why should it?
The really good artists and writers and storytellers figure out how to circumvent their limitations. The fact that Hemingway couldn’t adjust his style to please his editors left him with no choice but to improve his novels using a terse minimalist style. Had Bob Dylan been more of a technical virtuoso, he might not have felt the need to give his song lyrics such power and resonance.
These writers and artists learned to sing in their own voice.
They didn’t make excuses. Instead, they found a unique way of sharing their story with the world. And most important, they got to work.
Recent Book Projects
Here are just a few of my recent editing and ghostwriting projects:
-
a business memoir about the founder of a regional telephone company, a surprisingly humble leader with the stoic determination to do whatever needed to be done to make his company great
-
a construction memoir about a real estate developer who honors his grandfather by building the region’s first green high-rise
-
a coming of age memoir about a young boy whose father murdered his mother and how forgiveness has become the guiding principle in his life
-
a war memoir about seeking peace
-
a medical memoir that reads like a thriller
Not long ago I edited a handful of other books: a work about retirement planning for a financial advisor and Dallas-area television personality, an architecture memoir about what it means to live small, and a 9/11 memoir about the connection between a father and a son.
And that’s not all . . .
More recently I edited a remarkable book about justice for a state Supreme Court judge, a book about achieving peak performance for an executive coach, a book about competitive advantage for an HR consultant, and a book on how to hire superstars for the CEO of an executive recruiting firm.
Hot Off
The Press
I believe we all have a unique story to tell.
So my purpose, my mission, my inspiration is to help you tell yours.
I helped the following authors identify the memorable scenes, polish the dialogue, and heighten the emotion by taking readers through a transition in values.
“I HAD FRIENDS READ THE BOOK BEFORE AND AFTER EDITING. THE FEEDBACK WAS NOTHING SHORT OF EXTRAORDINARY.”
MARK M. TAVAKOLI, M.D.
Author of Dead Man’s Alive
These authors created remarkable books by writing about the honest struggles of life. They produced lasting narratives by understanding that life isn’t about subtle adjustments to stress nor is it about the hyper-conflicts of master criminals.
Life is about the ultimate questions of finding love and self-worth, of bringing serenity to inner chaos, of time running out.
And they shaped these stories around a perception of what’s worth living for, what’s worth dying for, what’s foolish to pursue, the meaning of justice and truth.
"I'M GRATEFUL TO LATHAM FOR HIS RESEARCH, WRITING, AND NUMEROUS INTERVIEWS—IN COAXING PILOTS AND SKYDIVERS AND OTHERS TO RECALL LONG-FORGOTTEN STORIES."
RON W. HENRIKSEN
Former Chairman, Logix Communications
Author of Austin Executive Airport
More books and some kind words.
Praise for Ebby Halliday: The First Lady of Real Estate by Michael Poss.
"THIS STORY READS LIKE AN ADVENTURE TALE."
NORMAN BRINKER
Brinker International
"A BUSINESS BIOGRAPHY OF INTENSE VITALITY AND AUDACIOUS COURAGE."
ROSS PEROT
Perot Systems Corporation
Dr. Mayo’s Boy: A Century of American Medicine
by Rob Tenery, M.D. is a medical memoir that traces the experiences of three generations of Texas physicians in small town Waxahachie and big city Dallas.
Dead Man’s Alive
by Mark M. Tavakoli, M.D. explores a new kind of medical memoir, nuanced and lucid, unafraid to confront the uncertainties at the heart of modern medicine.
Searching for Dad: Nine Side Effects of Growing Up Fatherless
by Byron Ricks is a coming of age memoir that will help absentee fathers, single mothers, and sons survive a fatherless childhood.
"LATHAM SAW THE BOOK WITHIN THE MANUSCRIPT AND IN NO TIME, WE WERE READY FOR PUBLICATION."
BRYON RICKS
President, BRS Seminars Group
Author, Searching for Dad
What does it take to write a book that touches audiences?
Keep reading and find out . . .
How to Accomplish Greatness
The second reason most people never write their memoir is this: you get what you expect.
Another way to say this is: you get what you believe.
And I’m willing to bet you don’t believe you can write this book. You may not believe you have a compelling story. You may not believe you have the talent. You may not believe you have the wherewithal to sit for hours, weeks, months, and actually finish writing your book.
The way to overcome these beliefs is to work with someone who can coach you through the process.
“LATHAM HELPED ME GET UNSTUCK. HIS POSITIVE PERSONALITY AND WRITING SAVVY HELPED ME FINISH MY BOOK."
BRENT O'BANNON
Executive Coach
Author of Selling Strengths
I’m looking for people who have a burning desire to tell their story. I look for people who understand the enormous value of working closely with a successful professional, and are willing to be led, step by step, through the book writing process.
You don’t need to have the intelligence of Einstein. And I don’t care if you don’t know anything about writing—story structure, controlling idea, scene design, story conflict, progressive complications, turning points, grammar, or even spelling.
If you can listen, learn, and apply the information we will share, then I will guarantee this book is written on time and on budget.
Pricing
A memoir based on your life experiences, the good times and the hard times, of approximately 250 pages, will take me six months to ghostwrite and edit.
My fee is $300,000.
I believe your project calls for extra time and attention to achieve the quality you deserve.
That you’re still reading means you know this can work. I typically conduct a series of meetings, either face to face, or more commonly over the phone. I record the calls and have the audio transcribed by a professional transcription services firm. My fee covers all transcription costs, story consultants, researchers, editors, and proofreaders.
Here’s what I expect of you.
You must be open, coachable, and ready to begin. You must be willing to be interviewed, to review the drafts I send you, and to make constructive comments to improve the manuscript. You must be ready to write this book.
