Member Spotlight: Ken Churilla

How did you land your first book ghostwriting project?

My first book came from a friend who wanted his story told but had no idea how to tell it. I had never authored a book before, but I had been a journalist for 25 years, so I pitched the idea to him and we embarked on the process not knowing what would come out of it, if anything at all! We started and stopped a number of times for a variety of reasons, but after a while, we ended up with what turned out to be a pretty good book on our hands.

What is your favorite type of project or client?

I love writing memoirs – be it as a ghost or as a credited co-author. The opportunity to midwife someone’s story, from their head to the page, in their voice, is a huge rush for me. I’ve written everything from star-studded and juicy to a regular guy’s tale and they all feed that same fire for me.

What’s your favorite question to ask clients during an interview?

When it comes to the interview, I never work from a set batch of questions. Every interview starts from the same jumping off point in what they’re looking to do, but from there it’s just a conversation that flows. In that initial conversation, however, the key elements I need to come out of it with are: 1) an understanding of what is motiving them to do their book and 2) how serious they are about it.

What are the best parts of this career?

There are a few answers to this question. It is an awesome responsibility bestowed upon you when someone entrusts you with their story, and that high never goes away. I also love watching someone get lost in a memory when they answer a question. That moment when you’re digging in on something and they start remembering things they had long forgotten. You can see it in their eyes as the layers fall away and that memory gets clearer and clearer as they keep talking. They might be sitting right in front of you, but you know full well they are a million miles away, and the only thing they see is some freshly unearthed memory. There’s nothing better.

What’s one thing clients might be surprised to know about you?

I never finished college. I actually left school with a little more than one semester to go to take a job in the career I was going to school for. I’m sure most people are saying “are you kidding me” right now, but it all worked out the way it was supposed to. Without that decision, I wouldn’t have had anywhere near the amount of amazing experiences and people in my life and I surely wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun! Even still…BOILER UP!

How can people reach you?

The best way to reach me is my website KenChurilla.com. There you can learn a little about my process, see some of my past work, hear some of my songs (I’m a songwriter), and send me an email or book a free consultation.