# My life story, when i was kidnapped.



## jesse09 (Jul 28, 2012)

I am now comfortable speaking about my experiences of when i was 13 kidnapped and taken to Cuba. Yes this really did happen and i don't know how people can get away with this stuff. After sharing my experience with several close friends and all giving me feedback that i should write a book or share my story with a screenwriter i decided to do exactly what they advised. I don't know much about writing, i thought about hiring a ghost writer but don't feel comfortable telling my life experience to someone else who can steal my story. I am debating on writing the story myself but i am not a writer, i don't know how to right a non-fiction story. Do i speak to the read telling them about everything in past tense or make it a story writing about myself as a character, i don't know. Could someone please help me?!


----------



## garza (Jul 28, 2012)

jesse09 - A professional ghost writer will not steal your story. Do not try to contact a writer yourself, and do not deal with a writer who shows up and says he is a ghost writer. In either case you may meet a crook instead of a professional writer. 

First you need a lawyer. Then you or your lawyer need to find an agent who in turn will find both a writer and a publisher. Most agencies will have lists of writers who ghost-write. The agent will represent the writer and take his commission from book sales. The lawyer will represent you in any negotiations and make sure everything is done properly. Paying him will be your responsibility, but that should not be too much up front.

It's best if you can find a lawyer who has some experience in publishing. He will know how to proceed.

Edit - The writer will have a way he prefers working. Where possible it's best for you and the writer to sit down face to face and you tell your story. The writer writes up what you tell him, then you get together again and the writer will ask you questions, and you will fill in more details. How truthful you are about the details is your business.  It's not the writer's job to question, but only to write what you tell him. His job is to put your story into readable prose.

An alternative is for you to record your story, send it to the writer, he writes it and sends it back, and you go through a back and forth with tapes and manuscripts until the story satisfies both of you. 

As you go, you will need advice from your lawyer about what you can say without creating a problem for yourself.


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 28, 2012)

garza said:


> jesse09 - A professional ghost writer will not steal your story. Do not try to contact a writer yourself, and do not deal with a writer who shows up and says he is a ghost writer. In either case you may meet a crook instead of a professional writer.
> 
> First you need a lawyer. Then you or your lawyer need to find an agent who in turn will find both a writer and a publisher. Most agencies will have lists of writers who ghost-write. The agent will represent the writer and take his commission from book sales. The lawyer will represent you in any negotiations and make sure everything is done properly. Paying him will be your responsibility, but that should not be too much up front.
> 
> ...




Whoa that's some serious work there, didn't know it was so complicated needing lawyers involved also. So let's say i do get a lawyer, i tell him about my story an give him a little bit change before we pick a writer and a publish to start working on the project. After i tell my story to the writer, what had happened and he finishes writing the story it goes to the publisher who will get the copies printed and put on book shelves. You really think this could sell well? New books are published everyday how would mine stand out? Random people in Barnes and Nobles looking through books? Do people prefer true stories over regular reads normally?


----------



## garza (Jul 29, 2012)

I can't predict how well it will sell. I have written a dozen ghost books, but all have had well-known people as the subject - politicians, televangelists, movie actors, that sort. The name on the cover sells the book. Your story sounds interesting. It may do very well with the right promotion.

If you start by looking for a writer, I promise you, you will find one, and chances are you will be ripped off. Go through channels. Get a lawyer, have him set everything up for you to be sure it's all legit.


----------



## Potty (Jul 29, 2012)

Garzas right, This sort of book is a top seller in the UK (We like to read about other peoples misery) and I'm already thinking about offering to help! The last thing you want is some rush job bodgit like me helping you.


----------



## Juganhuy (Jul 29, 2012)

Write your story first, to the best of your knowledge. Ghost-writing for YOUR story may leave out details that you would normallyremember why writing. It alos requires a lot of communication.

Once you finish writing, then you can either hire an editor if its actually what you want it to be, or contact a ghost writer to rewrite it.


----------



## garza (Jul 29, 2012)

People use ghost writers because they have a good story to tell but they don't know how to write. 

In the case of actors, politicians and such, the subject will already have a lawyer and a public relations person to handle all the details of finding a professional ghost writer and negotiating all the details of a contract. 

The private person with a good story to tell who writes it all out and starts looking for an editor or ghost writer on his own will find himself swimming with the sharks. The story may disappear with, as the song says, 'never a trace of red', only to re-appear later with someone else's name attached and if the original owner has no way of establishing a copyright, he can sit back and enjoy reading his own story along with everyone else.

I've never negotiated directly with a subject. My agent negotiates for me, the subject's lawyer negotiates for him, and the publisher's rep negotiates for the publisher. Only _after_ a contract is signed do I meet with or otherwise contact the subject and begin the process of writing a book. That's how I do it, but if you feel safe doing it otherwise, there are other ways.

As for remembering details, it is the cross-examination by the ghost that is most likely to bring forth the bits and pieces that will make the book interesting. After one contract signing I was handed an 85 page typescript that the subject wanted 'smoothed out'. We sat down and I started asking questions about the content of every page. When we finished the published book was 369 pages. 

Make notes, write as much as you want, but don't show it to any writer or editor until you've talked to a lawyer. Unless, of course, you are feeling really really lucky.


----------



## Trilby (Jul 29, 2012)

I'd listen to Garza, he knows the business, (he's been there, got the tee-shirt).


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 29, 2012)

Trilby said:


> I'd listen to Garza, he knows the business, (he's been there, got the tee-shirt).



Thank you Garza all your help is REALLY appreciated, thank you so much. I started e-mailing law firms that specialize in Entertainment, i e-mailed one of the best entertainment law firms in L.A. "Greenburg". I know their is no client confidentiality so i was very vague about my life experience, i summarized my story by saying . "When i was 13 i was kidnapped and taken to Cuba by my religious fanatic mother to summarize what happened it was something out of a horror movie involving exorcisms, animal sacrifice, and more" I know i didn't share these details with you guys but i am really afraid of some trying to steal my story, i think with how vague i was no one could take it. I pray someone at this entertainment law firms reads that and thinks whoa this could be the next big thing because true stories like this are one in millions. I hope someone has faith in me and e-mails me back wanting to represent me because like you said Garza i can't do it alone and don't feel like getting lucky!!!


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jul 29, 2012)

I don't have the experience that garza does, and if you do get to hiring a ghost writer do follow his advice. Initially, however, it might be good to try Juganhuy's suggestion of writing it yourself. The result may not be a publishable book, but it could be a valuable document in a number of ways. 

Firstly it is only when you start to crystalise things into actual words that they become fully clear sometimes, then any story can be told in various ways, it will make clear to you what it is about the experience that you most want to get across, though you may be surprised to find that that is not what you initially write, sometimes things become obvious by their abscence. As I said I don't have garza's proffessional experience, but I have worked with a couple of people who had stories to tell about their lives. As an example, one was a very successful business man who wanted to celebrate his success, he wrote about his life in business, his struggles to get started and battles with authority and rivals, when he had finished it read like a litany of terrible experiences, "But I wanted to get across what a great, exciting, rollercoaser ride my life has been and how lucky I was!" he said. He is re-writing, men of his calibre don't give up easily, but he could not write the re-write if he hadn't written the other version first.

The second use is if you do decide to then hire a ghost writer it will give both you and them a point of reference, hopefully as more than just a reference to what you don't want to say.

Many people write straight from their head, but as a novice writing about real events it might pay you well to make notes of all the important events and aspects and put them into chronological order, remember you are not compelled to write the final document that way, you could equally well start in the middle, explain how you got there, recall the point in the middle where you began telling the story, and go on from there, there are many ways of doing it, but the notes give you an outline, a backbone to hang your story on before giving it flesh and clothing it.

The last point is that whether your story reaches the wide world or not, you will learn new communication skills from the experience. That is always a plus, improved communication skills equate to an improved quality of life across the board, from health, to relationships, to wealth. Good luck


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 29, 2012)

I already know the message i would send across, for one it's very entertaining story and for two it's about forgiveness. This is my mother we are talking about, my story would NOT change, i have thought over it a million times and replayed the events in my head over and over again. Regardless if i took notes or wrote it down it would come out exactly one way, the way it happened. Events like these are not forgotten or changed over time in my mind, i can remember exactly what the disgusting food i ate tasted like to this very day. I was very emotionally damaged and drained for so long, i lost trust in everybody i knew and was afraid of everything. Thinking of the story if i myself were a reader i would say it has to be the most craziest, entertaining, and mind pondering story i would have ever heard. After reading it i would imagine the readers to lay the book down and think omg i can't believe this really happened and think about it for a couple days.


----------



## Olly Buckle (Jul 29, 2012)

You remember exactly what the food tasted like, but a memory is not the same thing as the words that describe that memory, and when someone else hears those words they make a mental form for themselves, that will never be exactly the same as your memory, it has gone through two translation processes, once from your mind into words, then from the words into their mind. Telling the story is not the same as living the story, or even re-living it, 'disgusting' will not get across to people what that food tasted like, 'disgusting' can mean many things to many people, but that was a particular variety of disgusting. I think once you get into it and get started you will be surprised. I am not suggesting that your story will change in the sense of being factually different, but that putting it into words will make it something else in the way that a picture of a place is different from actually being there and different again from even the most accurate description. As the comedian says "It's the way you tell them". I think you will find it challenging and very interesting when you follow it through, well I hope so. I really do wish you all the best with this, it strikes me as an excellent project in a number of ways.


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 29, 2012)

Olly Buckle said:


> You remember exactly what the food tasted like, but a memory is not the same thing as the words that describe that memory, and when someone else hears those words they make a mental form for themselves, that will never be exactly the same as your memory, it has gone through two translation processes, once from your mind into words, then from the words into their mind. Telling the story is not the same as living the story, or even re-living it, 'disgusting' will not get across to people what that food tasted like, 'disgusting' can mean many things to many people, but that was a particular variety of disgusting. I think once you get into it and get started you will be surprised. I am not suggesting that your story will change in the sense of being factually different, but that putting it into words will make it something else in the way that a picture of a place is different from actually being there and different again from even the most accurate description. As the comedian says "It's the way you tell them". I think you will find it challenging and very interesting when you follow it through, well I hope so. I really do wish you all the best with this, it strikes me as an excellent project in a number of ways.




I understand exactly what you mean now, makes perfect sense. Describing these events like how a book does it would be hard for me since i'm not a writer unless i spent countless hours learning and perfecting. I know what you mean now, using detail down to describing the smell of the food to the taste to the feeling it gave me after eating it. Writing is not easy and for anyone here who writes i give you mad props, the way i see it now is painting a picture for my reader using words. Not an easy task if you have no experience, i'm currently writing a book. A how to book, it's much easier explaining how to do things then tell about events in my life describing them to make a mental picture for reader. It's why i don't consider myself a writer, a how to book is like 123 abc. Well because i know the subject really well its like 123 abc for me.


----------



## garza (Jul 29, 2012)

jesse09 - You don't need to tell a potential attorney anything at all about the content of the book. What you want to find out first is whether they have experience in publishing. You say you have emailed a firm that is involved in entertainment, but that can mean almost anything. You need a lawyer who specifically knows book publishing. There are many of them, so one should not be hard to find. 

Trilby - How did you know about the T-shirt? It says, 'My Agent Got His 15 percent, but all I got was this lousy T-shirt'. I don't wear it much in public.


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 29, 2012)

garza said:


> jesse09 - You don't need to tell a potential attorney anything at all about the content of the book. What you want to find out first is whether they have experience in publishing. You say you have emailed a firm that is involved in entertainment, but that can mean almost anything. You need a lawyer who specifically knows book publishing. There are many of them, so one should not be hard to find.
> 
> Trilby - How did you know about the T-shirt? It says, 'My Agent Got His 15 percent, but all I got was this lousy T-shirt'. I don't wear it much in public.




Can you suggest any lawyers?


----------



## garza (Jul 29, 2012)

That I'd rather not do. The easiest way is to go to a local attorney, explain what you want to do, and ask for his recommendation. He may charge you a small consulting fee, but he should be able to help you find the representation you need. And remember, at this stage he does not need to know exactly what your book is about.


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 29, 2012)

garza said:


> That I'd rather not do. The easiest way is to go to a local attorney, explain what you want to do, and ask for his recommendation. He may charge you a small consulting fee, but he should be able to help you find the representation you need. And remember, at this stage he does not need to know exactly what your book is about.




It's a little more complicated than going to a local attorney, i live in Cancun, Mexico. That tourist place all the people come visiting too i liked it so much i decided to live here haha. So contacting the u.s. is kinda hard i normally just use e-mail, i can only google search attorneys but then i rly have no clue who i'm dealing with and since i have no recommendations from a local attorney i have to rely on who has the biggest law firm as a source of security.


----------



## The Backward OX (Jul 30, 2012)

The bigger the law firm, the crookeder they are.


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 30, 2012)

The Backward OX said:


> The bigger the law firm, the crookeder they are.



and expensive too, 5,000 retainer fee and 495 an hour. 5,495 just to get one hour of their time when they don't do anything other than negotiate deals. This is frustrating, looking for a lawyer typing in publishing lawyer is not effective i have to resort to entertainment lawyers publishing but than i get a wide array of music lawyers and more. Being in the U.S. this would be so much easier.


----------



## garza (Jul 30, 2012)

I'm thinking now your best bet may be to go through an agency first. They won't charge you anything. Ask for suggestions about what you should do. Email half a dozen of the larger agencies. 

Of course you could always take a run up to Brownsville and see a lawyer there, but not one of the big firms that charges the kinds of fees you are talking about. Those are the firms that work for the politicians and movie stars. Of course the really big time lawyers in the field work for the televangelists. That's where the big money is.

I just googled 'attorneys for authors' and there are some likely looking possibilities. It won't cost you anything to query a few. 

Ghost writing is something I never considered until my agent at the time suggested it. He told me a certain well-known person wanted to write a book but was no writer. It happened to be someone I respected, though I did not know the person well at the beginning. A deal was struck, a contract signed, and we started work. Frankly I've never given any thought to how the subject goes about finding a ghost, but, as I say, politicians, movie stars, and such already have lawyers on retainer and p.r. people on payrole, so for them it's only a matter of telling someone 'Hey, I wanna write a book. Find me a writer'. 

You are correct that being out of the U.S. complicates the process in your situation. With me, location does not matter. 

I'll keep thinking. I could, of course, recommend a lawyer and an agent, but I'm not at all comfortable doing that.


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 30, 2012)

garza said:


> I'm thinking now your best bet may be to go through an agency first. They won't charge you anything. Ask for suggestions about what you should do. Email half a dozen of the larger agencies.
> 
> Of course you could always take a run up to Brownsville and see a lawyer there, but not one of the big firms that charges the kinds of fees you are talking about. Those are the firms that work for the politicians and movie stars. Of course the really big time lawyers in the field work for the televangelists. That's where the big money is.
> 
> ...



Garza so far you have been the most professional help i have received from anyone so of course i want to remind you i am thankful for the time you spend to reply to my post. On another note when you speak of an agency you are referring to agents? Start emailing agencies that have a collection of agents for further instruction is how i understand it, author agents.
I don't want you doing anything that would make you uncomfortable, i will start emailing agencies and google attorneys for authors to find smaller name attorneys who could be of use. 
What is the likelihood of me being able to write the story on my own? It's best i hire a ghost writer or is writing something not that hard to self teach?


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 31, 2012)

jesse09 said:


> Garza so far you have been the most professional help i have received from anyone so of course i want to remind you i am thankful for the time you spend to reply to my post. On another note when you speak of an agency you are referring to agents? Start emailing agencies that have a collection of agents for further instruction is how i understand it, author agents.
> I don't want you doing anything that would make you uncomfortable, i will start emailing agencies and google attorneys for authors to find smaller name attorneys who could be of use.
> What is the likelihood of me being able to write the story on my own? It's best i hire a ghost writer or is writing something not that hard to self teach?




I have began emailing literary agencies such as Writers House or anyone else who regularly attends Frankfurt Book Fair. Since i am in the beginning stages i sent a simple synopsis of what the story is about to see if it can create enough interest to get me a response, i'm slowly learning how the process of writing a book works. Agents, lawyers, editors, publishers, writers, ghost writers, i mean jeez their is so much i didn't know that goes into making a book! So Garza what do you think about me contacting those agencies how you suggested?


----------



## Trilby (Jul 31, 2012)

jesse09 said:


> I already know the message i would send across, for one it's very entertaining story and for two it's about forgiveness. This is my mother we are talking about, my story would NOT change, i have thought over it a million times and replayed the events in my head over and over again. Regardless if i took notes or wrote it down it would come out exactly one way, the way it happened. Events like these are not forgotten or changed over time in my mind, i can remember exactly what the disgusting food i ate tasted like to this very day. I was very emotionally damaged and drained for so long, i lost trust in everybody i knew and was afraid of everything. Thinking of the story if i myself were a reader i would say it has to be the most craziest, entertaining, and mind pondering story i would have ever heard. After reading it i would imagine the readers to lay the book down and think omg i can't believe this really happened and think about it for a couple days.



Hi Jesse - from what you say I believe there are readers' that would be interested in reading your story. 

Good luck in finding a writer and let us know how you get on.



garza said:


> Trilby - How did you know about the T-shirt? It says, 'My Agent Got His 15 percent, but all I got was this lousy T-shirt'. I don't wear it much in public.



Hi Garza, 

I'm a mound of useless information. That's why I am so... so... mmm what's that word?
'Skint'
That's the one.


----------



## garza (Jul 31, 2012)

jesse09 - Contacting the agencies is good so long as you remember that the crocodile has a lovely smile from the outside. Don't agree to anything yet, don't give away too much of your story, and if an agency asks for money, scratch them off your list.

As for going ahead with the writing, that's fine. Write down all you can remember, every detail. Write down all you can remember of conversations you had with various people, but _do not_ make up conversations. What you need to write down is something along the lines of 'That day I talked with Jorge about his work, and he told me a bit about what he did'. If you can remember brief snatches of conversation word for word, that's okay, but it's best to stick to a summary of what was talked about. 

But again, caution. Do not show your notes or any section of completed narrative to anyone. Once a contract has been signed you can give everything to the ghost. He'll get in serious trouble if he misuses your material, or even if he tells people he's writing your book. 

The exception to that last point is if the book cover says 'jesse09's story, as told to Billy Ray Finebecker'. Some people consider that a more honest way of publishing. I personally don't see that it makes any difference whether the ghost's name appears. The story is your's. The ghost is there only to make the story easier to read; to shape it so a publisher will accept it and the public will buy it. And some ghosts prefer not to be identified so that the only requests they receive to ghost other books come through their agent.

Edit - Trilby - My brother once called me 'an encyclopaedia of useless information' but I've found over the years that no information is useless, especially if one happens to be a journalist. Every scrap of knowledge has value. But the t-shirt, I mean, really...


----------



## Baron (Jul 31, 2012)

The Backward OX said:


> The bigger the law firm, the crookeder they are.


Crookeder?  Really?


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 31, 2012)

Garza i only e-mailed regular attendants to the Frankfurt Book Fair which i was told is the red carpet of book fairs and only who's who shows up so the common theme in agencies i emailed was their legit. No charge for nothing, you are right about me playing with smiling crocs. The first website i went to they asked for a summary of my story and why i think it would be better then other stories. I copy and pasted what i wrote and e-mailed more agencies. Do you think this e-mail is safe without revealing to much information?

"Hello,
My story is unique detailing of my tragic series of events in my life that took place when i was 13, i was kidnapped by my religious fanatic mother and taken to a third world country where i experienced exorcisms, animal sacrifice, and more. It is literally something out of a horror movie, i read stories about people's life experiences and watch movies. The majority of the time their stories and movies are often saturated with similar stories or movies. No one has a story like mine, no one has experienced what i had to experience at 13 by their own mother. No one has seen grown men decapitating pig's and using their blood for rituals or using pig blood to bathe in, i have at 13 years old. No one has had to experience an exorcism tied down to a chair surrounded by people chanting demonic incantations, i did at 13 years old. This makes my story very unique, very rare, and potential to be worth millions with the right representation. If you find the minor details or small part of my story i have shared as interesting and believe like i do that i am one in millions to experience something like this than feel free to email me back so we can talk.Thanks - Jesse"

I tried making it as catchy as possible without revealing to much, i think it's pretty hard to read that and not think what i had to experience is sickening an wildly interesting.


----------



## garza (Jul 31, 2012)

I'm not certain how rare the experience is, but to have someone willing to tell the whole story is certainly unusual. What you are giving in the email is too detailed, in my opinion, and over-written. Here's what I would say:

_At 13 I was kidnapped by my mother and taken to another country for an exorcism. I want to find someone to put my story into words for a book. Do you represent any writers who would be suitable?_

How much the story may be worth will depend on many factors. Avoid making such guesses. And avoid using such expressions as 'third world country'. Don't say that no one else has experienced such an exorcism. There are case studies.

Please don't be offended, but if this bit of writing represents your style, then you do need a ghost.


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 31, 2012)

No not offended one bit, i know i am not skilled in writer. Writing has never been my strong point, this is why i wanted a ghost writer. Thanks for the change up i didn't send out to many e-mails because i didn't know what to say, this is a whole new learning experience to me. I was just trying to sell my story and make it stand out. Prior to this thread i didn't even know the steps involved in creating a book, so i'm going to use what you wrote and send some more e-mails out. I need to go take some writing classes -.-


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 31, 2012)

I sent out over 20 emails now to the most reputable literary agencies scattered across the world using the template you provided, i targeted agents who were experienced in memoirs directly e-mailing them instead of the agency as a whole. I guess now i just wait to see if an agent would like to have one of his clients ghost write for me, wonder how this would work if say someone in the UK responded. Guess i'll wait and see!


----------



## garza (Jul 31, 2012)

Long distance is not the problem it once was. Technology has solved many of the problems we faced years ago.


----------



## jesse09 (Jul 31, 2012)

garza said:


> Long distance is not the problem it once was. Technology has solved many of the problems we faced years ago.



I'm writing an Ebook, any advice there Garza?


----------



## garza (Jul 31, 2012)

Sorry. All my experience has been with traditional publishing of one kind or another.


----------

