How it works

How the research and writing process works

The four source markers

documented

Documented

A record says this. The citation is right there. Solid underline.

inferred

Inferred

No record says it directly, but the records point to it. The reasoning is shown. Dashed underline on amber.

invented

Invented

A detail added so the story can be read: the weather, a conversation. Only in written work, never in a dossier. Dotted underline on violet.

what if

What if

Alternate history. Something that did not happen, followed from a real turning point. Wavy underline on pink.

All four in one paragraph

Sample

Johann Weber sailed from Bremen in May 1889, aged 21. He likely traveled with his cousin Jakob, who is listed two lines below him. It rained the morning they left. Had the ship been full, he would have taken the next berth, to Buenos Aires.

A dossier page

Sample

Dossier W-03 · Weber, Johann · p. 4

Emigration, 1889

Johann Weber, 21, farmer, of Glückstal, appears on the passenger list of a ship leaving Bremen for New York in May 1889.1 Jakob Weber, 19, listed two lines below with the same origin, is probably a cousin; the two baptism entries share a godfather.2

Gap. No record of Johann's arrival in North Dakota before the 1898 homestead filing has been found. Searched: Pierce County tax rolls 1890–1897, St. Paul diocesan registers.

1. Passenger list, Bremen to New York, May 1889, line 212.

2. Glückstal parish register, baptisms 1868, nos. 41 and 1870, no. 12.

How the writing works

Research first, then write

The dossier comes before the chapter. Writing starts when the records have been searched and cited, so every fact in the story already has a source.

Invented details are marked

Weather, a conversation, a first name. Anything written to make the story read like a story gets a dotted underline, so you can see where the record ends.

Priced by word count

Writing is $0.65 per word, at standard ghostwriting rates. You approve the length before writing starts. A chapter usually runs 4,000 to 6,000 words.

What a sentence looks like

Sample

Johann Weber filed his homestead claim in Pierce County in 1898. The winter he proved up, the snow drifted to the top of the fence posts.

Homestead final proof, Pierce County, 1903.

From request to delivery

  1. Step 1

    Build an estimate

    Pick what you want on the pricing page. You see a line-by-line estimate before anything is sent.

  2. Step 2

    Send the request

    Tell us what you already know. We reply within two business days with questions and a start date.

  3. Step 3

    Get the work

    Most projects take 8 to 12 weeks. If a line will run more than 10 percent over, we stop and ask first.

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