Third in an occasional series about ideas and stories that are worth telling. I get pitched story ideas all the time. Many come from people who have overcome some great adversity in their lives and feel a desire to share it with the world. Sometimes, the story doesn’t interest me, and since I don’t want…
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This is the second of an occasional series of stories I worked on that are worth telling. According to study.com, there have been more than 20,000 books written about the Holocaust. It is a sensitive topic from personal and historic standpoints, and a ghostwriter has to make sure that if he or she is going…
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Back in 2002, The New York Times came out with a survey that said 81% of people feel they have a book in them. The article’s author, Joseph Epstein, tried hard to discourage people from writing those books, and one reason he gave was that “so many third-rate books are published nowadays.” Epstein was right…
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The reason I love ghostwriting so much is because it’s the most rewarding—financially and emotionally—work I’ve ever done. I can’t adequately describe how wonderful it is to see the smiles and hear the sobs of joy in between “thank yous” from a client who has wanted to write a book and never thought it possible…
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Last week, I received a phone call and an email inquiry from a man looking for a ghostwriter. He is 93 years old and doesn’t have a lot of time to get his memoir out of his head and onto the page, so he wants to move quickly. He didn’t balk when I told him…
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I’ve read some online reports that say ghostwriters remain relevant and in demand. The main reason can be explained in one word: Content. Everybody needs it. And it is seemingly everywhere all the time. It’s positively ubiquitous. I entered “types of content” into my search engine. Twenty-four different types came up. Seventeen of them require…
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For me, ghostwriting is a most rewarding job. The work I do in telling somebody’s in-depth, compelling story — and then getting paid thousands of dollars to do it — is emotionally and financially gratifying. But like every other job out there, there are downsides. Here are some I have discovered. Scheduling conflicts — There’s…
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There is a poem I remember reading in a prayer book: What does it really mean to “hear”? The person who attends a concert with a mind on business, Hears — but does not really hear. The person who walks amid the songs of birds And thinks only of what will be served for…
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Nobody starts out wanting to be a ghostwriter. Something happens along the way that makes them want to pursue that vocation. For me, it came in stages. First, I was a journalist. I wrote for two Los Angeles daily newspapers, in the sports departments, and I discovered a gift for getting people to open up…
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There must be a high degree of trust between ghostwriter and client. Each must recognize and respect the other’s talents. Like with a marriage, the relationship between ghostwriter and client has ups and downs, pitfalls and pleasures, risks and rewards. Either partner can throw things out of whack. Clients might typically try to take advantage…
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