Corporate History Book Olga Sverchkova

Corporate History Book:
Your Company’s Story, Told by the People Who Built ItThe story of your company, its founder or your family business, written in Russian, English or both.

A book about your company, its founder or your family business, written from the accounts of the people who built it. In English, Russian or both. A few lines about the company, your idea and your deadline are enough for a first message. There is no need to send documents yet.
Discuss your book

Discuss your project

Send me a message on WhatsApp or Telegram, whichever you prefer. Tell me what you have in mind. We’ll discuss your project in writing.

The story that won’t fit on an About Us page

Every company has an official history and the one the founder tells over dinner, never quite the same way twice: how the first contract was signed on a windowsill because there wasn’t a desk yet, how they decided who to keep on during a crisis, why the company has the name it has. A few people know that story first-hand; everyone else has heard it retold. Then the business passes to the next generation or reaches an anniversary, and it turns out that the only thing anyone wrote down was the accounts.A corporate history book tells how a business began and grew: who started it, which decisions worked, which didn’t, and who was there along the way. It isn’t a sales brochure or an annual report in a hard cover. It is a story for the family, team, partners and people who join later and want to understand how it all began.I write from people’s accounts, letters, photographs and the documents you choose to share. You work with me throughout, and I do the writing myself. We begin with a paid trial chapter so you can hear the voice of the book before commissioning the full manuscript.
Corporate History Book

Which story would you like to tell?

The founder’s story
How they began, what they decided and what they risked. Children or partners may commission it for an anniversary, or the founder may want to tell it in their own words while they remember the details.

The company’s history
The business itself becomes the main character, with people appearing where they changed its course. Decisions and turning points matter more than a sequence of biographies, though the story still depends on the people involved.

The history of a family business
The business is passing to the next generation. The family’s story and the company’s story sit side by side because they rarely come apart: the decision to open a second shop may have been made at the same kitchen table where the children’s schools were discussed.

The book can be in English, Russian or both. I write both versions myself, from the same material.

Who will write your company history?

I’m Olga Sverchkova, a writer and lawyer. I’ve been practising law in St Petersburg for more than twenty years, including criminal cases. That work taught me to listen closely, distinguish facts from interpretations and notice details that rarely appear in the first account.

Company books usually have several storytellers, and they remember things differently. The founder is sure the idea was theirs. The partner remembers a joint idea, and the accountant who has been there since day one remembers what it cost. When memories differ, we discuss the differences rather than quietly choosing the convenient version.

Before we begin, we agree who will take part in written interviews, which material can be used and who approves the manuscript for the company. One person needs to gather everyone’s comments and send a single response; otherwise revisions can turn into a record of disagreements.

I’m a recipient of the Golden Pen of Russia award and the author of a legal column whose title translates as A Lawyer to the Rescue. You can get to know my writing through the free prologue and first five chapters of Nobody Told Me About Tbilisi. Your book will sound different: it should preserve the voices and personalities of the people telling your company’s story.

How we work

We discuss your idea
Write to me about how long the company has been going, who or what the book is about, who it is for and when you need it. A list of the material you have is enough. You don’t need to know the genre or length yet; we work that out together. For English-language projects, all communication is in writing.
We begin with a trial chapter
Before you commission it, we discuss an indicative budget for the whole book. I send questions to the founder or whoever knows the story best, draw up a provisional outline and write a trial chapter of 8 to 10 pages about the founder. It lets you hear the voice of the book and see which periods it will cover, who else should contribute and what material is missing.
The trial chapter costs $300 (€280). If you commission the book, that amount is credited towards the first payment. Before I begin, we agree in writing on the chapter’s length, deadline and payment, and how the company may use it if you decide not to continue.
We agree on the full book
If you decide to continue, our agreement sets out the length, languages, stages, deadlines, fee, number of revision rounds, approval process and confidentiality. We also agree on the use of company documents, how names will appear and the transfer of exclusive rights to the text.
I work with the material you choose to share. We identify what may be quoted and what is only for background understanding. We discuss which information the company regards as confidential, how to write about employees, partners and family members, and which consents or permissions may be needed for personal information, letters and photographs.
I write, and we revise
I gather written accounts and documents and write chapter by chapter. The person approving the book for the company reads the draft, collects comments and sends one combined response. Only agreed text goes into the final manuscript. We discuss additional chapters, contributors or other changes to the work before I take them on.
You receive the finished text in one or both languages. Cover design, illustrations, layout, printing and publication are not included in writing the manuscript; if needed, we discuss their scope and cost separately. A legal review of the manuscript is also separate work, and it is worth allowing time for it in advance.

How much does a corporate history book cost?

For a sense of scale, a book of up to 120 pages in one language starts at $5,000 (€4,500), and a bilingual book starts at $7,500 (€6,750). The exact fee depends on the length, number of storytellers, languages and state of the archive: thirty years of neatly labelled folders and a box of uncaptioned photographs call for different amounts of work.We discuss an indicative budget before the trial chapter and record the final fee in the agreement for the full book once the length and material are clear. The fee covers the agreed writing work and revision rounds. The $300 (€280) trial chapter is credited towards the first payment if we continue.
Discuss your book

Discuss your project

Send me a message on WhatsApp or Telegram, whichever you prefer. Tell me what you have in mind. We’ll discuss your project in writing.

Author Olga Sverchkova

I’m a writer and a Russian lawyer with more than twenty years of legal practice in St Petersburg. I write about relationships, choices, memory, cities and everyday life.
Olga Sverchkova writer sta

Frequently asked questions

Without your consent, I won’t disclose our collaboration or include material from your book in my portfolio. We record the confidentiality of my involvement and the handling of documents in writing. I do not use stories of clients from my legal practice in my books or other writing, even without their names.

We agree on how names will appear before work begins. I can write without being named. I transfer the exclusive rights to the commissioned text to you on the terms of our agreement; authorship itself is not transferable under Russian law.

It depends on the length, number of storytellers and state of the archive. We discuss deadlines before each stage begins and record them in the agreement. The trial chapter helps us estimate the work on the full manuscript more accurately.

Put the date in your first message. Once we have discussed the project and completed the trial chapter, I can tell you whether the whole book can be ready or whether it makes more sense to begin with one part. I won’t promise a date before I know how much work is involved.

Yes. I live in Tbilisi and work remotely. For English-language projects, we communicate only in writing, so you can reply in your own time and keep a record of what we agree.

A family memoir centres on a person and their loved ones. A corporate history centres on the business, how it developed and the people who shaped it. Here, it is especially important to choose who gathers comments and approves the manuscript. For a book about yourself or your family, see the Memoir Ghostwriter page.

Tell me about your company

Write to me about how long the company has been going, whose story you want to preserve and when you need the book. I’ll reply with my first questions and suggest where to begin.
Discuss your book

Discuss your project

Send me a message on WhatsApp or Telegram, whichever you prefer. Tell me what you have in mind. We’ll discuss your project in writing.
If the story needs an article rather than a book, see Bylined Articles. All my writing services are on the Ghostwriting Services page.