Marina Krakovsky - Ghostwriter

I'm a journalist, author, and editorial consultant specializing in the social sciences.
• I'm the author of one business book, THE MIDDLEMAN ECONOMY, and have completed collaborations on four others: SECRETS OF THE MONEYLAB, DIE WITH ZERO, HOW GOOGLE WORKS, and TRILLION DOLLAR COACH. (I was the co-author on the first, the ghostwriter on second, and the researcher on the remaining two.)
• My articles and essays have appeared in Discover, the New York Times Magazine, Scientific American and Scientific American Mind, O, The Oprah Magazine, Psychology Today, Slate, FastCompany, Stanford Magazine, the Washington Post, Wired, and more.
• I earned my degree in English from Stanford University.
• Before I turned to journalism and editorial consulting, I worked for 8 years as a software technical writer, first on staff and later as an independent contractor--creating user manuals on behalf of Oracle, Apple, Netscape, and others. During this time, I also wrote an after-market book, UNDERSTANDING THE ORACLE SERVER, published by Prentice-Hall.
• My editorial services include ghostwriting, developmental editing, Internet research, creating and critiquing book proposals, suggesting appropriate agents, and guiding authors through the entire process from idea to publication.


"Having well-thought-out ideas is one thing, but converting those ideas into a convincing, easy-to-read book is another. For that I would need to work with a writer who could take my words, stories, and explanations and shape them into a flowing, easy-to-read text while retaining my voice, style, and passion. That writer was Marina Krakovsky. I was really lucky to have a writer who was familiar with the relevant ideas from economics and who had the ability to support these ideas with relevant academic research. She also knew my agent as well as Kay-Yut Chen, a brilliant economist whom I went on to hire for work on this book. I want to thank Marina not only for all this, but also for pushing me through the long, unfamiliar, and sometimes painful process of turning a complex series of ideas into a book anyone can understand." (From author Bill Perkins's Acknowledgements in DIE WITH ZERO, a book that went on to become a WSJ business-books bestseller)

"Marina Krakovsky, our research partner, always goes about two steps farther than we expect. She is as insightful and thoughtful as she is diligent and thorough." (From the Acknowledgements of the New York Times bestseller HOW GOOGLE WORKS, by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle)

"Marina Krakovsky helped us connect Bill's principles with academic research, showing that he was truly ahead of his time in the business management world. She is always creative and insightful, and a heck of an editor to boot. It was a great pleasure to work with you again, Marina!" (From the Acknowledgements of the NYT and WSJ bestseller TRILLION DOLLAR COACH, by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle)



• Writing a book takes a tremendous amount of time; that's one reason people turn to ghostwriters. However, it's impossible to outsource all the work—the client-ghostwriter relationship is truly a collaboration, requiring significant time and effort from both parties. Yes, working with me will save you time (and will yield higher quality) than doing everything yourself—but you are the expert in your subject and in what you like, so to attain the best possible product you need to carve out time for interviews, draft reviews, and the like. The single biggest time commitment I ask for is a regular weekly call (about one hour); during that call, I ask questions to gather all the information I need to do that week's work on my end. Doing that not only enables me to work efficiently (which saves you money)—it also helps me capture your voice (in a way that sending me a bunch of documents does not).
• If you're looking for help with a book, I like to start with a small pilot project—such as an outline, a sample chapter, or a single article. That way, both of us can test the waters before deciding on whether we want to make a larger commitment. A book collaboration is certainly a large commitment!

What about short-form content and other services?

• In addition to working on books, I help experts in their fields produce shorter-form content—blog posts, articles, and ebooks.
• I provide proposal critiques for existing proposal drafts, and I develop detailed outlines and other proposal sections.
• Although Reedsy requires service providers to be listed as either ghostwriters or editors, not both, there's often a gray area between these services, particularly for experts who like to do some of their own writing, so I also provide developmental editing where appropriate.
• For experts who are new to book publishing and have many questions, I offer guidance through video consultations, which experts can book on an hourly basis.
• For experts who prefer to do their own writing but need some coaching to help them move forward, I serve as a sounding board, accountability partner, and voice of encouragement.

What don't I do?

I don't take on fiction or memoir/autobiography. If you want help with your novel or your life story, you'll be far better off finding a writer who specializes in those areas.