Self-made, and proud of it.
No angel funding, no easy start. You built the business, or took over the family one, and made it thrive through years of uncertainty and setbacks with persistent, determined hard work.
Legacy Authorship
So your grandchildren know the hard work it took.
I help founders and business owners turn a lifetime of hard work into a book your family will keep. I interview you and people from your life and business, do additional research, and write. The finished book is yours entirely, in your voice, with your name on the cover.
Also available
The Business Has a Story Too
Alongside founder memoirs, I also write the story of the business itself, a professionally crafted corporate history that gives your marketing team an authoritative source to draw on for campaigns, content, presentations, thought leadership, and corporate communications.
Explore the idea: 20-minute call
Who this is for
The founder or owner who grew the business the old school way.
You spent decades building the business, or took over the family concern and made it thrive through plain, old-fashioned hard work. Now that you have stepped back or sold, you are ready to tell the story. Your children have grown up in comfort and financial security, and you want them and your grandchildren to see how much work it actually takes to create business success and wealth.
Ready to tell the story, now.
You are no longer involved in the day-to-day of the business, and you are aware of the preciousness of time. You feel it is time to tell your story in print, as your legacy.
A record before the world changes completely.
The way you did things is disappearing fast. This book captures your approach to life and work as a record for your children and grandchildren, and the generations beyond.
I want to thank Jane Mackay for bringing an intuitive understanding to me and my story, absorbing a huge amount of information from scores of interviews, and, with careful attention to detail, crafting a story that captures the truth. Keith Byrd, Founder and Board of Directors, Transportation Impact / TransImpact
How it works
A process grounded in trust.
You are trusting me with the story of your life and the business you built. Here is how we will work together and how I will write your book and guide you through publishing it.
01 · Fit call
A conversation first.
Before anything else, we talk. I want to know if your story is one I can do justice to, and you should know exactly who you are trusting with it. Nothing is agreed until we are both sure this is right.
02 · Agreement
We put it in writing.
We come to agreement on price, payment schedule, and timing, and we sign a formal contract.
03 · Interviews
Recorded for accuracy.
Every conversation is recorded and transcribed. That way I work from your exact words when I write, and there is a record if a memory needs to be checked or if the account is ever questioned.
04 · Research
Fleshing out the story with details.
I go through whatever documents you can share: company records, legal findings that are not privileged, newspaper and magazine articles, etc. I also do additional research via Google Maps, Street View, Images, and general web search (e.g., looking up the record of what the weather was like on a particular day) to get the details that put the reader in the scene with you.
05 · Writing
You review the writing as we go.
I write and you review, one chapter at a time. I adjust and revise per your feedback, and you maintain full control over the shape, tone, and content of the book.
06 · Manuscript
Then the whole thing, polished.
Once we have a complete first draft, I do a full line and copy edit, then you review it again, and we make any other final revisions until you are satisfied. The manuscript is then ready to go to the publisher.
07 · Publishing
I stay with you through publishing.
I stay with you throughout the process of publishing. I help you choose a hybrid publisher and serve as your liaison with them, at no extra charge, until you hold the book in your hand.
A note on confidentiality
Everything you tell me, and everything the people around you tell me, stays confidential. I keep one archival copy of the working materials, solely to defend the book if it is ever challenged.
Scope
What is in, what is out.
Inside Legacy Authorship
A fit call, the recorded interview program, additional research, chapter-by-chapter writing and review, my own full line and copy edit, and liaison with your publisher. The story is told as you want it told, and you have final say and complete control over the version that gets published.
Available as an add-on
Guided self-publishing, if you would rather take that route.
Out of scope
Marketing or distributing the finished book once it is published. Anything beyond the production-ready manuscript and the hybrid publisher liaison.
Jane has a unique talent of being able to probe to bring out ‘the story’ and eloquently document it. She is a one of a kind ghostwriter and I highly recommend her. She captures the truth.
Keith Byrd, Founder and Board of Directors, Transportation Impact / TransImpact.
Common questions
Questions you might have.
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How do you keep the book sounding like me?
I record every interview and conversation, and when I write, I work from your exact words and cadence. You then review each chapter as it is finished, so if a line does not sound like you, we catch it immediately, and I can adjust the style and tone as I continue to write.
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How confidential is the process?
Everything you tell me, and everything the people around you tell me, stays confidential throughout. Supporting interviews happen only with people you approve, and you supply their names and contact details. I keep one archival copy of the working materials, solely to defend the book if it is ever challenged.
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Will my name be on the cover?
Yes. The book is your account, owned outright. You are the author. Ghostwriting is a functional and contractual service. You may choose to name me in the acknowledgements or on the cover, but that is entirely up to you.
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What about publishing?
At no extra charge, I guide you through choosing a hybrid publisher and serve as your liaison with them. I work with selected publishers that take no rights to the book (you retain all rights), take no cut of sales, and give you all the final files. Guided self-publishing is available as a separate add-on if you would rather take that route. Marketing and distributing the finished book are not part of this service.
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What happens if I want changes to a chapter?
You have final say. Nothing is locked in until you have approved it, chapter by chapter and again at the full manuscript stage. The story is told as you want it told, and the version that gets published is entirely yours to approve.
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Will you use AI?
I use AI to help me clean up and organize the transcripts, as well as for tasks such as creating a chronology or quickly finding certain facts in the transcripts. I use the paid versions of Claude, Gemini, and Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM), with the highest-level privacy controls that are available. I do not use AI for the writing. I write every word and every piece of punctuation myself.
From Jane
I want to help you tell your version of the story, in full, as a record for your legacy.
Begin
A book you’re proud to publish.
Let’s talk about telling your story.