You have the stories.
I’ll turn them into a book.
Your life. Your family history. The business you built. Let’s share your journey — for your loved ones and your community, for generations to come.
From an idea in your head to a printed book. I do all the heavy lifting.
Memoirs
Autobiographies
Inspirational Stories
Business Histories
Family Histories
Generational Stories
Ancestral Histories
Archival Photographs and Information
How-To Books
Marketing Guides
Self-help/Motivation
Textbooks
Novels
Historical
Autobiographical
Fantasy
How It Works
I make it incredibly simple for you to get your dream project done. I provide a turnkey service — from conception and writing to publication and delivery.
Free consultation by phone, to discuss basic questions.
Free in-person meeting for serious clients, to discuss scope, schedule, timeline and ballpark cost.
Informational Phase
Initial in-person interview to generate book outline and Introduction section of book.
Regular meetings to conduct scheduled interviews and to collect background materials (photos and pertinent documents such as newspaper clippings and journal entries).
Regular meetings to review and edit the manuscript’s first draft to create the final draft.
Fact checking and proofreading of final draft to create publishable manuscript.
Manuscript Phase
Hiring of page designer, and designer’s layout of covers and interior pages. (I obtain designer’s estimate.)
Hiring of printer, and printer’s printing of the book in physical form. May also include creation of electronic version of book, for Kindle and other formats. (I obtain printer’s estimate.)
Book copies delivered to client.
Production Phase
“Mike Sion is a sensitive and gifted interviewer and a highly talented wordsmith. He helped me tell my complex story in a readable and compelling way.”
— Heidi Hegerich
Previous Works
Video Memoirs
Sometimes words on a page aren’t enough.
A video memoir is a great accompaniment to a book, or an enduring record of its own.
Your voice and stories, memories and messages preserved beautifully in a high-definition video.
FAQs
Who owns the rights to the book?
You, the client, own the copyright. I work as a writer for hire.
How long does the process take?
Thirty weeks is a typical ballpark figure. This period can be shorter or longer, depending upon a range of factors. These include the client’s availability for meetings, the number of interviewees, and the desired length of the book. Full-length projects can stretch out to 50 weeks, if clients take breaks from the project or if the number of interviewees is large.
Will other people be interviewed for the book?
Together, we will create a list of additional people to interview (such as family members, friends and associates), whose own stories or perspectives can be included in the manuscript.
Will the book sound like me?
Yes. Since I am an experienced interviewer and writer, I weave your words and thoughts from our interviews into a narrative that is distinctly and unmistakably your voice in expression, personality and tone.
What’s more, you have entire creative control over the book. Final decisions on all content in the book — from the manuscript’s words to the selection of photos and their captions, and, of course, the book’s title — are yours alone.
What is the production process?
In addition to producing the manuscript from scratch to finish, I solicit written estimates from page designers and printers, discuss these with you, and facilitate the hiring of the designer and printer.
I then serve as the liaison between the client and the designer, and the designer and the printer, to ensure the book production remains on schedule and is satisfactorily completed. Finally, I arrange for the books’ shipping to the client.
How much will this cost?
Projects to date have cost as little as $20,000 and as much as $200,000, depending upon the size of the book, number of photographs included, and number of copies printed. These price tags reflect all the costs of the book, including design, printing and delivery.
I am the largest expense, since I fill the roles of interviewer and researcher, writer and editor, and production supervisor.
Once a project is greenlighted by you, the client, I charge an initial discounted rate for hours involved in conducting the first interview and writing the initial chapter outline and the book’s Introduction. If you agree to continue the project after this initial phase, I charge my regular hourly rate.
I will then bill either semi-weekly or monthly through the duration of the project. I provide detailed, itemized invoices showing days, times and specifics of work done.
The other two main costs are for the page designer, and for the printer. These costs are considerably less than my fees.
Smaller costs may include the purchasing of photos from stock collections, the hiring of an illustrator, and the engagement of a second proofreader. Not every project, however, requires these additional costs.
I’m Mike Sion.
One of the most experienced ghostwriters, book doctors and editors in the world.
Over the past two decades, I have produced more than 120 books for clients. These men and women have ranged in age from 30 to 96 and include Fortune 500 CEOs and startup entrepreneurs, high-ranking elected officials and dedicated activists, rock stars and simply solid, productive people who’ve devoted their lives to family and community.
I was born and raised in Seattle, the Emerald City, as it morphed from a sleepy, rainy burg on Puget Sound into a cultural and commercial cosmopolis. I graduated from the University of Washington, where I wrote journalism and fiction for the campus newspaper.
My journalistic career included writing and editing for newspapers and magazines in New York, California and Nevada, producing thousands of articles on almost every newsworthy subject under the sun. These included award-winning investigative series on methamphetamine abuse, legal prostitution and gambling addiction; features on Burning Man and Area 51; and interview/profiles of a lengthy list of luminaries, including entertainers and artists such as Mike Love and Richard Ford, George Carlin and Jay Leno, James Brown and Little Richard, Mary Travers and Sheryl Crow, Francis Ford Coppola and Allen Ginsberg.