From Award-Winning Author to Ghostwriter, Everett De Morier Finds Purpose in Other People's Stories

For much of his career, author Everett De Morier pursued the goal shared by many writers: publishing his own work and finding an audience. By most measures, he succeeded.

By Jim Keegan

Reporting from Austin, Texas, USA

July 2, 2026     Updated 7:48 p.m. ET

His novel Thirty-three Cecils won the London Book Festival Fiction Prize and is currently in feature film development, with Matthew Modine and Dustin Hoffman attached. His true-crime book In the Ghost Shadows: The Untold Story of Chinatown's Most Powerful Crime Boss was nominated for the Edgar Award, one of the most prestigious honors in crime writing, and is currently being developed as a documentary series by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's G-Unit Film & Television.

His latest true-crime work, The Spider King: The Most Notorious Criminal Mastermind You've Never Heard Of, will be released by Skyhorse Publishing in October 2026. Yet the book has already optioned the documentary rights to Steve Rotfeld Productions and optioned the scripted film and limited-series rights to Upstream Entertainment.

Yet despite the awards, publishing deals, and film adaptations, De Morier says the greatest satisfaction of his career today comes from a different kind of writing altogether: ghostwriting.

"When I was younger, I looked at it as selling out," De Morier said. "We were all those pure artists back then. We thought the only thing that mattered was writing our own books. But what's better than getting paid to hear someone else's story and then helping them find the right home for it?"

Over the past several years, De Morier has quietly built a reputation as one of the more sought-after ghostwriters in nonfiction, memoir, and true crime. While confidentiality agreements prevent him from discussing many of his projects publicly, he has worked on books, screenplays, memoirs, and investigative narratives for entrepreneurs, executives, crime victims, and individuals whose stories have later attracted film and documentary interest.

One assignment, he recalls with a laugh, involved a billionaire flying him across the country to discuss writing his memoir.

"I won't say which billionaire," he said, "but it was my first time flying first class."

Today, De Morier is among the top-rated ghostwriters on Reedsy, the publishing marketplace that accepts fewer than 3 percent of applicants. He has also developed relationships with literary agents, publishers, and production companies that frequently seek him out when unusual stories surface.

What separates De Morier from many ghostwriters, however, is his approach to finding the story itself.

"The biggest mistake people make is thinking the story is the events," he said. "You can stack crimes, lawsuits, business failures, victories, scandals—whatever it is. That's not the story."

Instead, he focuses on the decisions behind the events.

"Why did someone cross a specific line? What were they afraid of? What were they trying to protect? That's where the story lives."

That philosophy has shaped much of his true-crime work. In In the Ghost Shadows, he examined not only the crimes of a powerful Chinatown crime figure but the social and cultural forces surrounding his rise. Likewise, The Spider King explores the life of an international cybercriminal mastermind through the lens of motivation, ambition, and consequence rather than simply cataloging criminal acts.

The approach reflects a broader shift within modern true crime. Audiences increasingly seek context and psychology rather than straightforward retellings of crimes.

"The older I get, the more I realize most people aren't looking for sympathy," De Morier said. "They're looking to be understood. They've spent years telling people what happened. Very few people ever ask why."

Trust becomes an essential part of that process.

"Some of my closest friends today are people whose books I've written," he said. "You spend years, talking about the most important moments of someone's life. That's a unique relationship."

Sometimes the work involves helping a client shape a memoir. Other times it means developing a book proposal for publishers or identifying stories that may have value as documentaries, television series, or feature films.

Industry observers note that De Morier occupies an unusual position within publishing. He is both an accomplished author with his own growing body of work and a behind-the-scenes collaborator helping others bring their stories to market.

Still, he remains cautious about viewing storytelling as simply another business.

"The goal isn't to manufacture a story," he said. "The goal is to recognize one when it's there."

For a writer whose own books have earned awards, adaptation deals, and critical recognition, it might seem surprising that he now spends much of his time helping others tell their stories. But De Morier sees no contradiction.

"The books with my name on the cover are important to me," he said. "They always will be. But there are a lot of incredible stories out there that may never get told unless somebody helps shape them."

After years of building a career telling his own stories, Everett De Morier has found unexpected fulfillment in helping others tell theirs.