Some Lives Should Be Recorded
Those who lead consequential lives, build organisations, or take on real responsibility rarely leave behind a full account.
I turn your story into the book that should exist, but doesn’t.
“I spoke to a few writers before Mark, but once we started talking I knew I had the right guy. He didn’t just write the story, he worked through it with me and made sense of it.”
David Giles - CEO, Entertainment Brands Group
Why Work With Me
I'm a UK-based ghostwriter and author working with people who've built, led and changed things to help create the books that should exist, but often don't. Memoirs, founder and leadership stories, and accounts of people whose lives shaped others, directly or indirectly, are rarely properly recorded, and that's a shame.
When someone has been in the thick of it, their experiences contain lessons for all of us in their judgement calls, wins, mistakes, and near misses. Whether a book like that ends up on a family bookshelf as a private memoir or in a bookshop published for a wider audience, these stories help us all navigate the road ahead.
Alongside my own independent work, I also ghostwrite for an established publishing house.
I didn't arrive at this work from journalism or publishing. I came through business. Founding companies and sitting on both sides of risk for long enough that I stopped having to imagine what those decisions felt like. I've experienced success and failure first-hand and know what it means when a single decision affects payroll, reputation or survival.
Earlier in my career, I wrote Crystal Mapping, a book on visual thinking and clear communication. I've always had a thing for making sure the story you're telling hits the mark. The same discipline applies here. The goal is simple enough: stand far enough back to see the whole thing, breathe in life and energy, and make it make sense.
Whether you have a part-written document that needs editing or finishing, or you're starting from scratch, the process is the same. I listen carefully and ask the questions that matter to help you produce something clear and dangerously human. Something others will want to read - not just another machine-driven business book.
If you've built something, led something, or made decisions that shaped outcomes beyond yourself, and you want that documented as a compelling story, give me a shout.
How We Can Work Together
There's no single reason people decide to get their story written down, and no single form it has to take.
I tend to focus on business, but a career in medicine, the arts, public service or sport can carry just as much weight as anything that happens in a boardroom. What matters is the connection between the story and the people it's written for.
The Story Session - Discovery & Manuscript Review
Anyone ever told you, you should write a book? Sometimes it's just a passing remark. Sometimes though, there's a grain of truth in it. If it's still there at the back of your mind, months or years later, I can help you find out.
A Story Session is a few hours of conversation, with no commitment beyond that. What you get at the end isn't just my impression, but a short written Story Blueprint of what I think the real story is, the possible themes, who it's actually for, and how it might take shape.
Sometimes the honest answer is that there isn't a book there yet, or not the one you thought. I'll tell you that too.
If you've already started writing, the session works a bit differently. We'll look at what exists, talk through the structure, find the gaps, and work out whether it's on the right track or needs rebuilding.
Either way, you leave with something in writing. Maybe that's enough to scratch the itch and you leave it there. Maybe it's the start of something bigger - the choice is entirely yours.
This isn't for the bookshop. It's for the people who already know you, and the ones who'll only ever know you through what gets written down. Your children, their children, whoever comes looking one day and wants more than a name on a family tree.
A Private Memoir is your story presented as a lasting keepsake for future generations.
For those who have lived some or much of their lives in the public eye, or whose impact has influenced a wider audience than just family, a public memoir can make sense.
A Public Memoir is built for a general reader, shaped for publication, and written with the understanding that the point is to make people want to keep turning the page.
Most businesses document their assets carefully. Financial performance, legal structures, governance arrangements are all professionally kept and archived. What rarely gets documented is the thing that created those assets in the first place - how you think, your judgement, values and decision making: often the most valuable thing a founder or leader possesses.
A Founder Story preserves your experience and guiding principles for the next generation, and for the people who'll carry the business forward. It becomes the story your company tells about itself, and the lens through which others understand your approach to leadership and risk.
Done well, it also establishes you as a leading voice with a clear point of view on leadership, culture, or your industry that outlasts any single role or company.
Working out which of these fits is part of what I do before a word is written. If you’re not sure where to start, that’s fine, the uncertainty is usually where the conversation gets interesting.
Process & Engagement
Every project begins with a confidential consultation to clarify your objectives, intended audience and the scope of the work. From there:
The Interviews. We begin with a series of structured, recorded interviews to uncover the patterns, turning points and details that bring your story to life.
The Drafting. I shape the material into a compelling narrative, crafting each chapter into a publication-ready manuscript through a process of review, discussion and refinement.
The Refinement. Once you're happy with the structure and content, I deliver a complete manuscript for final review and approval.
The Book. Finally, I'll help you decide how you'd like your story to live on. Whether that's a beautifully produced private edition, a professionally printed hardback, independent publication or support in exploring traditional publishing, I'll guide you through the process and coordinate whatever level of editorial, design and production support is required.
Most projects take between six and nine months. Confidentiality and discretion are guaranteed throughout. Because of the depth of work involved, I take on only a small number of commissions each year.
Fees & Scope
Every project is different. The subject, depth and the intended audience shape the work and determine the cost.
A Story Session, a two to three hour conversation to explore whether there's a book worth writing, or to help shape and strengthen a memoir you've already started is £500 - £750.
Projects typically begin at around £7,500 for a Founder Story, with full Memoirs starting from £18,000.
Final cost depends on the depth of research, length of manuscript and what you're trying to achieve.
In all cases we start with a conversation before anything is agreed. Payments are staged and, if it helps, can be spread monthly.
Every Story Begins With A Conversation.