Approach

Hello, there. Let's start with an introduction. Me, I'm a lifelong word nerd and publishing nut who majored in magazines at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. In the decades since, I've worked as a staff writer and editor at numerous national and regional titles. As a freelancer, I've penned and edited non-fiction books (including memoirs), and written coffee-table books, "bookazines," travel guides, articles, posts, marketing material galore, website content, and more. Today I ghostwrite and edit books full-time. 

I'm not a dusty housemouse of a ghostwriter who expects non-fiction readers to wade through page after page of running text that breaks only for chapter endings and beginnings. Nope. I was schooled that you have to hook readers and draw them from line to line. That you can't assume they have the time, patience, and full-throttle interest in your words. That you've got to sell them on the read. 

Rather than bemoan the state of things, I embrace reality. If you intend for your non-fiction to connect you to readers and beyond, it must work hard. It must offer several layers of consumption. That means you offer up multiple points of entry for readers to jump in and digest your content. And the writing needs to be good, really good, in fact. One reader might scan captions, another might get pulled in by a list with a clever title, and another might inhale every last crumb.  

Memoirs written in at least partially modular formats appeal to the wide audience that is your family and friend group.  

(In other words, your book appeals to multiple generations—and even your grandchildren will read it.)