Portfolio & Reviews (PDF)…
Writing Samples (PDF)…
You’re British, an American expat, or a world traveller, and you have a story you want to tell…
If you want to get straight to the point, fill out the quick and easy form below and I’ll be in touch to schedule our free consultation (or you can reach out to me after taking just a quick minute to fill out the form)…
Your story could be how you rose from childhood poverty and juvenile crime in the Burngreave ghetto in Sheffield, to become a highly successful IT expert who, like Paul Crow, now manages cyber-disaster scenarios for whole cities. Paul contacted me and together we wrote his compelling memoir, “Lift Up Your Head,” which will soon tour across England.
But life isn’t all violence and transformation. Jeff and Clare Curtis’ book, “Cameron,” is a heart-wrenching drama with a happy ending – the story of how a British baby prematurely born in the Maldives during a violent storm – overcame every hurdle possible to somehow make it out alive. Today, Cameron Curtis is a happy, healthy two-year old who lives in Dubai with his equally happy parents.
Or maybe you’re more like my dear friend and co-writer Jon Gordon, who offered a healthy, sugar-free ice cream into the American food market, only to be crushed in an epic battle not unlike that fought by Erin Brockovich (with the same attorney). Jon attended my wedding in Somerset (Lamyat), in lieu of a honeymoon, we finished the book just days before the New York Times outed sugar as poison. With Universal Pictures interested and a major actor circling, “The Food Mafia…the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth,” may soon be a major motion picture. TheFoodMafiaBook.com.
Then there’s “Flatline, the day London died,” a cyberthriller written with a former MI6 agent whose name I cannot reveal unless…well, you know the rest. His story idea teamed a British MI6 agent with an American special ops man, which is why he hired me to make up his Brit-American writing team. Not to mention, I lived in Pilton (near Glastonbury) and he lived in Bristol, so we were able to meet in the middle at a pub to review weekly updates!
So, you see, we all tell stories for different reasons. Sometimes to document our past for our family; other times to illustrate our achievements and inspire others; sometimes to create memorable fiction; and, occasionally, to expose a horrible wrong or injustice. No matter what your goal, I can help you write your story in your voice and from your perspective, with the distinct possibility of landing a book deal, TV series, or motion picture possibility.
You Might Call it Professional Suicide, But I’m Going to Let You in on Some Secrets About Ghostwriters. Who We are. How We Make a Living. Where You Can Find Us. What to Look for in Hiring Us…
Different ghostwriters do it different ways, of course, because what works for one may not work for another; but as with any affair, common threads run between the cloth that binds us.
Number one secret: a professional writer pays bills by writing. If you don’t have the budget, you won’t get a professional writer to write your book unless it offers wider benefits. Those could be royalties, a television deal, or a movie deal, but unless you’re famous or the subject is hot, no professional writer can pay bills writing books on spec. So when you contact a ghostwriter, just realize that money is of primary concern (though lots of intangible factors affect the final price).
Author website: I imagine there are one or two Golden-Globe and Oscar-winning authors without one, but in today’s world it’s rare for a working author to go bare. My author website is SteveEgglestonWrites.com, yet there was a time when I didn’t have a website devoted exclusively to my writing. That was in the EggmanGlobal.com days, but back then I still had a web presence and my graphically-designed pdf Portfolios made me look pretty good (given my vast web of experiences in life).
A good website gives you a deep insight into the author than his credentials, adding glimpses of his personality, passion, quirks, and backstory. If you are writing about injustice, look for an author like me who has spent his life railing against it and has been the victim himself. I will be able to channel the molecular grain of your pain far better than someone who writes romantic comedies, though certainly the two can meet (take for example the movie Fargo).
Some authors come from a road of hard knocks, some are diverse and colourful in their interests, and yet others are highly-specialized and narrowly focused on a specific technical field. I’m a guy with a lot of sub-specialties, some highly technical, some more artistic: thrillers (especially legal), memoirs (especially inspirational ones), future and technology, health & diet (especially diabetes), cybersecurity, music (rock n roll), and anything legal – these are the stories I like to tell and that I tell best.
Personality is something that comes across better on some websites than others. I’m quite eclectic with lots of historic reinventions in my life, so on my website you’ll find a kaleidoscope of my life’s travails. I love the quote given to me by author James Dalessandro for my first fiction legal thriller, Conflicted (as it says more about me than all my credentials): “If the law ever produced a more colorful character than Steve Eggleston himself, I’d probably be afraid to meet him.” Ha!
On paper I’m a reformed attorney and now published writer in fiction and non-fiction with lots of awards, titles, and credentials, but the stuff on my website goes beneath the tip of the iceberg which is Jimmy’s quote. This is what you’re hoping to find on an author’s website as to try to match your book to the right author. And even then, you might truthfully just go by your gut: will this guy do what I need or not?
Number two secret: All things being equal, go with diversity and personality every time, because a good musician can play anything better than an average one with a specialty.
Upwork: This is the largest freelance website on the planet. When I joined three years ago (it was ODesk back then), I was a neophyte. Like everyone else, I had no Upwork job history, no client reviews, no stars, no jobs-completed rate, and no money earned. It took me several fumbling tries to even figure out how to lock a deal, but I persevered. Today I’m a Top Rated Upworker, have countless 5-star reviews, hold a 100% completion rate, and boast $50,000+ in earnings. There are a handful of writers in my category, and you can search for us by name and speciality (ghostwriters).
What I like about Upwork is that I too can search for what I want and filter out all the rest. If I want to write a thriller for no less than $10,000, I search the “Find Work” tab for thrillers and filter out any jobs with a budget under $10,000. If someone has posted a thriller book of any kind, and the budget is right, I then apply. To date I’ve written two 100,000-word thrillers (fiction novels) for clients who found me on Upwork, plus another 50+ articles, websites, white papers, and marketing campaigns.
Look to Upwork rating reviews (to show ability to collaborate), books written (to show capability and success), and knowledge base for the key ingredients before personality. Match all three with personality and you’ll rarely go wrong.
Global Lion Intellectual Property Management shops books for publication. The power-of-nature behind Global Lion is the literary lion himself, Peter Miller. He’s a traditional lit manager who has set up over 1500 books in his career with major publishers, repping book from Helter Skelter (the biggest-selling true-crime book of all time) to Sir Ken Robinson’s latest skein on education. I’m going to tell you the obvious because it cannot be overstated: that’s a damn lot of books, making Peter one of the wisest cats in the jungle.
In the old days, all working writers had agents and all were exclusive to their agent. At least that was the rule. Today things have changed. Agents are diversified and often represent books not the authors themselves. Even though I’ve written a dozen books, Peter only reps me on two of them (The Food Mafia and a Dian Fossey/Gorilla’s in the Mist-true crime book). He sources clients for me nonexclusively and I do the rest.
Number three secret: Very few books get published by major publishes. That’s because the publisher to take on a book from an unknown author must be convinced the book will be a bestseller – either because of the writing, the story, or the subject, and usually the later two. Celebrity sells. Disaster sells. Injustice might sell. Great literature? Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.
But you don’t care about that because you’re writing a book for a different reason and today you can self-publish for nothing (except the cost of your co-writer or ghostwriter) on Amazon’s Createspace. People write for legacy, for catharsis, to tell their stories, to make them authorities, to leverage a new career, to prove expertise, to generate business in something else – you name it.
But here’s what I can tell you: the vast majority of people who write books are glad they did.
I’m repped by legendary literary manager Peter Miller of Global Lion Management, who through the years has set up 1500+ books and countless TV shows and movies, not the least of which are Vincent Bugliosi’s “Helter Skelter,” the Charlie Manson story that still to this day is the biggest selling true-crime book of all time, and most of the incredible books written by Sir Ken Robinson, who addresses the failings of modern education like no other.
Number four secret: Believe me, it’s not easy getting big reviews and accolades – but it’s important. Getting a 17x New York Times bestselling author, a/ to even read your book, much less b/ give you a great review and c/ allow you put it on the cover of your book. Yet that’s what 17x NYT bestseller John Lescroit did from my debut legal thriller, Conflicted. And NYT bestseller Keith Ferrell allowed me to put his great review on the back.
While I’d say it’s easier, it’s certainly no walk in the park to garner an Amazon bestseller, either. You have to nail the book, nail the genre, then get the word out to enough people who will give your book a read on a short timeframe. Most recently I was proud to do this with A Natural Solution for Diabetes Wellness: The Discovery of Lysulin.
When you hire an author to ghostwrite or collaborate on your book, you need even more than that, because not all great authors play well with others. Many are recluses, or non-social, or insistent upon doing it their own way, only. You need someone with dozens of favorable reviews from all sorts of people, to raise the odds that you’ve hired a team player.
I can point to dozens of happy clients and you can call or email anyone one of them anytime. If the author you’re contemplating can’t point to many successful projects and many happy clients, you would be wise to keep looking.
I could say, grab the phone and call me today, because my 10% discount expires at midnight. But I won’t, because that’s not how it works. Only contact me if you’re ready to tell your story, and no matter when you do, I’ll give you free initial consultation worth hundreds of dollars and a 10% discount off whatever rate we haggle out.
Email steve@steveegglestonwrites.com
Toll Free from US/Canada: 1 (844) 200-7913
Office UK: +44 01749 938 118
Steve’s UK Mobile: 07784 850 751
Before getting in touch with me – please fill out the quick form below (it’ll take less than a minute). After submitting, I’ll be in touch as soon as I can or feel free to reach out to me using any of the above contact methods.
Let’s tell your life story, or any segment or inspiration therefrom, when you’re ready to make a cherished investment of time, effort, and money. When you are, it will change your life forever. 😊