Ghostwriting

I take others' ideas and turn them into full-length, nonfiction, and professional books.

Producing a quality text takes considerable time, money, and effort. I should know: I've written a bunch of them. (Chop shops can churn out books quickly and inexpensively, but their results invariably disappoint. Ditto for generative AI tools like ChatGPT.)

Starting in 2022, I began ghostwriting nonfiction books for a select number of clients. The projects have gone well, and I intend to continue providing the service.

Common Client Characteristics

There's no formula for a successful writing partnership, but each of my clients has:

• Been deeply knowledgeable about a specific area.
• Understood the financial and time commitments involved. Regarding the latter, timely communication is critical. Yes, emergencies happen. Still, in the ghostwriting work that I've done over my career, nothing good has ever come from going dark for months at a time.
• Recognized the importance of a book's design. Ugly books deter prospective readers. (There. I said it.)
• Held true to their word. On a ghostwriting project a few years back, my client kept moving the goalposts. It did not end well. (By the same token, I suspect that builders and architects voice their displeasure after they've laid concrete for a Colonial, but the house now needs to be a California ranch.)
• Used best-of-breed collaboration tools. You'd never manage any type of project via e-mail, and books are no exception to this rule. If you wouldn't deign to use Calendly or a similar tool to schedule time, then we're not going to get along well.
• Considered different publishing methods: traditional, hybrid, and self. (Yes, this is a critical early conversation. Ignore it at your peril.)
• Genuinely appreciated what I bring to the table and treated me with respect. (I'm not interested in working with abusive or inconsiderate people.)
• Been reasonable with their sales expectations. Very few books cross the vaunted 10,000-copy Rubicon. More than that, professional, well-written books can yield other benefits in the form of increased visibility, speaking gigs, higher rates, new opportunities, and the like.
• Been able to occasionally laugh. A little levity now and again can go a long way.

Types of Books

Note that I'm not qualified to write many genres, including:

• Memoirs.
• Fiction.
• Screenplays.

Any writer who claims to be able to write anything well is arrogant, delusional, dishonest, or all three.

Next Steps

If this sounds good, let's chat.