How to Become a Private Investigator

Calling all writers, journalists, researchers, and seekers of truth! This is the guide you didn't know that you needed.

In How to Become a Private Investigator, journalist and licensed private investigator Mary Pilon strips away the Hollywood clichés and explains how real investigations work and how storytellers can thrive inside them. This guide offers a road map for the private-investigator world: the licensing maze, the necessary skills, the unexpected characters, and the strange satisfaction of helping people find clarity.

This guide is written for those as a bridge between a craft you may already have and curiosity about the PI world you might be entering. It's the handbook Mary wish that she had when she first started investigating...investigators. It covers:

• Is this job really for you?
• Why licensing matters?
• How to become a licensed private investigator, with a close-up look at California
• Surprising aspects of being a private investigator
• Money talk in starting an investigation business
• Recommended reading and resources

It's perfect for: writers, researchers, true-crime fans, career-pivoters, or anyone who can't resist a paper trail.

Grab your magnifying glass and get in touch with your Nancy Drew side.