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Q&A What's a word for a person who took a very rough story and made it into a book?

Imagine if you set out to write a book based on a true story. You then interviewed your main subject talking about her experiences. That interview was your primary source material. You would be ...

posted 5y ago by Cyn‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:30Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42275
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:05:14Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42275
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T03:05:14Z (over 4 years ago)
Imagine if you set out to write a book based on a true story. You then interviewed your main subject talking about her experiences. That interview was your primary source material.

You would be the author of that book. End of story.

In this case, you're getting confused because the order is different. You had nothing to do with interviewing the subject or transcribing the interview. You came into the project later.

You are still the author.

If the story were nothing but a transcript of the interview (with or without a translation) that would be different. Just like (in the example of another answer) Anne Frank is the author of her diary, which was typed and translated with minimal editing/formatting.

I would say:

(Title)  
by (you)  
Based on the memoir of (MIL)

You might also do:  
by (you) and (wife)

In the acknowledgments, talk about where the story came from and who pulled it all together. Or put those basics on the inside title page.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-02-16T21:46:46Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 0