We’ve all seen it. An actor, pop star, or politician writes a memoir, and beneath that person’s name on the cover is another in small type: “with (whomever)”. People who don’t write for a living usually need some assistance from someone who does when they take on a project this daunting. So if you’re a writer, how do you get that gig? We talked to a few co-authors of celebrity memoirs to find out how they got hired. Ultimately, there seem to be three main ways to go about it: be a known expert on said person (i.e. write an article about them for a magazine), get hired based on the merits of previous celebrity memoirs you’ve written, or win a Pulitzer Prize.
Hard Work And a Little Serendipity
A previous relationship with the celebrity is extremely helpful, especially if this is your first time on this kind of project. Aliya S. King, co-author of R&B artist Faith Evans’ Keep the Faith, is a prime example of how a little serendipity can play a huge role. As a contributing writer for Vibe , King was assigned to write a story about Evans. Over the course of the interview, the two women hit it off like old friends. It helped that they were close to the same age, had grown up in the same area (Orange County, N.J.), and even knew some of the same people. Several years later, when Evans decided to write a book, she tracked King down. It came as some surprise because the article that King ended up writing was balanced but didn’t always portray Evans in a flattering light. “We didn’t stay in contact at all between the story being published and her deciding she wanted to write a book,” King says. But Evans had been impressed enough with their rapport that she knew exactly who she wanted for the job when the time came. King already had an agent at that time, so her agent and Evans’ agent worked out the numbers. Evans didn’t yet have a publishing contract, but King helped her write a proposal, and they soon found a home for the book.
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| “I had interviewed Hulk [Hogan] a couple of times… After my most recent interview, I said to his publicist, ‘I’ve never met someone who’s so ready to write a book before.'” |
Although King had never published a book before this one, she had some experience with the genre. Before starting on the project with Evans, King had actually written a book proposal for a different celebrity memoir, which was never published (she declined to name the celebrity involved in the aborted project). That first project came to her after she had written a proposal for a book about the history of hip-hop magazines. An editor at Harper Collins was impressed with her writing but wasn’t interested in that particular book. However, when he was approached by a celebrity with a book idea, he suggested King as a co-writer. Ultimately, the unnamed celebrity decided not to go through with the book. “I learned a lot about the process because I actually wrote that entire book. At the time I was heartbroken because there was a lot of drama, but it was a lot of good practice.”
Mark Dagostino, co-author of My Life Outside the Ring with Hulk Hogan, writes for People and got into the co-authoring business through a route similar to King’s. However, in this case, Dagostino had the idea for the book and approached the subject himself. “I had interviewed Hulk a couple of times,” Dagostino says, “and followed the Hogan family for the better part of four years, and after my most recent interview — in which he really opened up about his life, and Nick’s situation, and his marriage, and how he wanted to put the past behind him and approach life with a different attitude — I said to his publicist, ‘I’ve never met someone who’s so ready to write a book before.'” Dagostino and his agent took the liberty of writing the full book proposal and then presenting it to Hogan and his management, who loved the idea.
The Hogan memoir is Dagostino’s first book, but like King, he has had other opportunities that either fell apart or just didn’t work out. But ultimately, he is pleased things happened the way they did. “This book had a real story, with some real meat on it, and was coming after a time of crisis in Hulk’s life. And I’m glad that my first venture turned out to be something really substantial and not something fluffy.”
One Star Client Leads to Another
After working with Faith Evans, King was approached by other famous people, including notorious drug lord Frank Lucas. Lucas was working with the same literary agent that represented Evans, so when Lucas decided to write a memoir, King’s name naturally came up. Her book with Lucas is coming out in 2010. In addition, King has two other co-authoring deals on the table that also came about as a result of her work with Evans.
Wall Street Journal columnist Jeff Zaslow attended the “last lecture” by cancer-stricken Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch because he thought it would make for an interesting column. The column was accompanied online by a four-minute video excerpt of the lecture. “Hundreds of thousands of readers ended up forwarding that column and video to friends and relatives,” Zaslow says, “helping to spark worldwide interest in Randy and his lecture. The morning that my column appeared, publishers began expressing interest in a book.”
“Hero of the Hudson” Captain Chesley Sullenberger read The Last Lecture, and when he started looking for a collaborator for his own book, he asked Zaslow if he was interested. Zaslow in turn was quite taken with Sully’s story, and the result was Highest Honor, which debuted in October 2009 at No. 3 on the New York Times bestseller list.
| “You have to be very good at interviewing. But you also have to be able to write from another person’s point of view.” |
Our final paragon of the celebrity memoir is Ron Powers, who co-wrote True Compass with the late Senator Ted Kennedy. How did Powers get that gig? Well, we weren’t able to get in touch with him before press time, but we can speculate that it might have something to do with being a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist. He also fits our second category, having also co-authored books with James Bradley (Flags of Our Fathers) and Robert Morgan (The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle: Memoir of a WWII Bomber Pilot).
Befriend the Dealmakers
So what have we learned here? To land a celebrity memoir deal, it helps if you are famous yourself or already know someone who is. Seriously though, as a long-term plan, it’s a good idea to try to land some celebrity interviews in national magazines. It’s unlikely that you will get this kind of book deal without some relevant experience. But hold on: Unless Victoria Beckham agrees to let you hawk her life story out of your trunk, you’ll need the backing of a publishing house. So, start researching the power players now and get on their radar.
Literary agent Dan Strone from Trident Media Group has handled many of these types of books including those by actress MacKenzie Phillips and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. He says that he almost always is involved in finding collaborators for his clients, and that he has a small stable of writers he calls on. Some have co-authored other books, and some are introduced to him in other ways and just seem like a good fit. “Most of them,” he says, “come from the magazine world. A background in journalism is important. You have to be very good at interviewing. But you also have to be able to write from another person’s point of view.”
Attorney Robert Barnett, who represented former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s book Going Rogue, as well as Dick Cheney’s upcoming book, adds that in the end, it is the client’s choice who he or she works with on such an intimate endeavor. He says, “Potential collaborators should make themselves known to editors, agents, and attorneys. […] I receive applications from many candidates each year.” Barnett recently worked on a project where there were more than 40 candidates. He also reminds us that credited co-authors are not the only game in town. Sometimes collaborators are hired to ghost write (uncredited), write a first draft, polish up a finished manuscript, or to do research. “Most of the collaborators I work with are very experienced,” he says, “but the aspiring collaborator has to start somewhere.”
M. David Hornbuckle is a freelance writer and editor who lives in New York City. He is the author of The Salvation of Billy Wayne Carter & Other Stories.
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