How long does ghostwriting take?

Most books take 4-7 months from interviews to final manuscript.

Do I keep all rights?

Yes, you keep 100% rights and royalties.

Can you help publish?

Yes, we handle editing, design, distribution and launch.

● Author studio • Est. 2016 • 214 books shipped

You lived it. We help you write it. Publish it.

Literally Wrote The Book is a ghostwriting and publishing studio for founders, operators, survivors and obsessives — people who literally wrote the book on what they do, or should. Interviews → manuscript → cover → launch. You talk, we type.

Get book roadmap Our story ↓ Read journal

214Books published

38Bestsellers

4.9★Avg. rating

92%Finish rate

Stack of published books and author writing

FEATURED MEMOIR

“The Operator” — from 40 hours of voice notes to #1 business memoir

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01 — About the studio

We turn lived experience into books that sell ideas.

Our listening room, Brooklyn● REC 04:12:33

The phrase “she literally wrote the book on it” is our hiring filter. We work with ER nurses, pitmasters, SaaS founders, hostage negotiators, ultra-runners and grandmothers with pie empires. If you have 10,000 hours, we have 100,000 words for you.

Founded by two magazine editors who got tired of great stories dying in DMs and keynotes. Today we are 18 writers, 6 editors, 3 designers and 1 very tired fact-checker named June. No AI sludge, no fluff — every chapter is interviewed, outlined, drafted and read aloud before it ships.

✓Interview-first method: 12–20 recorded conversations. You never stare at a blank page.
✓Authority architecture: thesis, stories, frameworks, proof. Built to get clients, gigs and press.
✓Publishing done-for-you: editing, cover, ISBN, print, Kindle, audiobook and launch in one place.
✓You own everything: 100% rights, royalties and files. NDA on request.

How we work Client love

“Most people don’t need discipline. They need a witness.”
— Mara Ellison, co-founder & head writer. 63 memoirs, 2 NYT lists.

02 — Shelf of proof

Books we ghosted, guided & launched

A slice of the last seasons. Business, memoir, health, food, true crime and one very angry book about HOAs. All names shared with permission.

Memoir

The Operator: Notes from 20 Years of Fixing Companies

40 interviews → 68k words → WSJ bestseller. Keynote engine for founder.

Cookbook

Smoke & Patience: A Pitmaster’s Bible

120 recipes tested twice. 45k copies, James Beard nom.

Business

The Quiet Closer: Sell Without Sleaze

Lead-gen machine: 3,200 inbound calls in 9 months.

Memoir

Night Shift: An ER Nurse’s Field Guide to Grace

Book-club favorite, 112k Goodreads adds.

Self-help

Mile 70: Mindset from Ultrarunning

Corporate workshops sold out 6 months.

True story

Paper Trail: The Accountant Who Took Down a Syndicate

Optioned for limited series.

03 — What we do

From voice note to hardcover.

👻 Ghostwriting — $18k+

You talk 2 hrs/week. We deliver a full 40–70k word manuscript in 5–7 months, with outline, interviews, drafts and revisions.

✍️ Book Coaching — $4.5k

Write it yourself, but never alone. Weekly sprints, chapter teardowns, accountability and line edits for 12 weeks.

📝 Proposal + Query — $6k

For traditional deals: killer proposal, sample chapters, comp titles and agent list. 71% request rate.

🚀 Edit • Design • Launch — $9k+

Developmental edit, copyedit, cover, interior, ISBN, Amazon + Ingram, audiobook and 90-day launch plan.

04 — Method

The Literally Method™ in 4 moves

Excavate

2-week story mine. Timeline, artifacts, 3-hour life interview. We find the book inside the anecdotes.

Architect

Thesis + TOC + “sizzle” chapter. You approve the spine before we write a word.

Draft aloud

Weekly interviews → chapters in your voice. You comment by voice note, we revise.

Launch loud

Cover reveal, ARC army, podcast tour, Amazon bestseller sprint and bulk sales.

What you get, in the box

✔ 200–300 page manuscript + audiobook script
✔ Cover + interior + Kindle + hardcover files
✔ Author one-pager, press kit, Amazon page
✔ 90-day content engine: 30 posts from book

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05 — Reviews

Authors talk. Numbers louder.

“I gave them rambling Zoom calls. They gave me back my voice — only clearer. My book now closes $50k consulting deals.”

— Dana R., SaaS founder
Client portrait

“I cried reading chapter 4. It sounded like my mother, who died in 2019, telling our story. Worth every penny.”

— Luis M., memoir author
Client portrait

“From idea to #1 in my niche in 6 months. The launch plan alone paid for the book 4x over.”

— Priya K., business coach
Client portrait

06 — Journal / News

Field notes for future authors

Craft lessons, publishing breakdowns, client diaries and title teardowns. Click any story — each opens as its own page.

Oct 04, 2026

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Beyond the Blank Page: How IPTV Live Football Fuels Your Writing Life in Portugal Every writer knows the ritual: you sit…

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THE MARGIN — 1 email / week.
Open rates, hooks, chapter structures. Read by 24k writers.

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Questions? Good. Writers ask.

How much of my time does it take?

About 2 hours a week for interviews + 20 min to review each chapter by voice note. No homework marathons.

Will it sound like me or like AI?

Like you on your best day. We build a voice bible from your recordings — cadence, jokes, swears kept intact. Every line is human-drafted.

Do I keep rights and royalties?

100% yours. We are work-for-hire, NDA-friendly, and hand over all source files, ISBN and accounts.

Traditional or self-publish?

We do both. If you want a Big-5 deal, we write the proposal and intro agents. If you want speed + profit, we self-publish premium hardcovers in 90 days.

What does it cost?

Coaching from $4.5k, full ghostwriting from $18k, publishing packages from $9k. Payment plans available.

● 3 SPOTS LEFT FOR THIS QUARTER

LET'S FIND THE BOOK HIDING IN YOUR STORY.

Tell us your idea in 2 sentences. We'll reply within 24h with honest take: is it a memoir, a how-to, or a TED talk in disguise — plus next steps and price.