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How 1 Ethical Ghostwriter Collaborates

By Lee Barnathan / July 7, 2025
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In my newspaper journalism days, I learned that reporters must collaborate and cannot do their jobs in a vacuum. There was a great deal of collaboration throughout the process: I would talk to somebody who had a story idea, I would consult an editor to get permission to work on it (or the editor would…

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How I Became 1 Terrific Ghostwriter

By Lee Barnathan / June 30, 2025
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I have yet to meet the person who says, “My lifelong dream is to be a ghostwriter.” That wasn’t me, either. But like an early love lesson I learned as a child: You don’t look for it, it finds you. My new career path began with COVID. At the time, I was a freelance writer…

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7 Parts to a Memorable Memoir

By Lee Barnathan / June 23, 2025
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A memorable memoir goes beyond simply recounting events; it explores the emotional journey, universal themes, and the author’s unique voice and perspective. It resonates with readers by articulating something about being human and using personal experiences to demonstrate universal truths. Here’s a more detailed look at what makes a memoir memorable: Compelling Story. It all…

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7 Sure Fire Ghostwriter Questions

By Lee Barnathan / June 16, 2025
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Last week, I wrote about four questions every ghostwriter should ask a prospect. Read it here. One could argue that those are the four most important questions because they should be asked first, but that doesn’t mean the next seven aren’t important, too. What format should the book take? As I’ve written previously, there are…

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4 Questions Great Ghostwriters Ask

By Lee Barnathan / June 9, 2025
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Anyone who ghostwrites memoirs understands how involved the process is and the need to ask questions. There has to be between six months and a year’s worth of communication between the ghostwriter and the client. The ghostwriter can’t write the story without the client’s input because the ghostwriter doesn’t know the story. The client, in…

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Ghostwriting in New York

The 10 Parts of Every Great Memoir

By Lee Barnathan / June 2, 2025
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I ghostwrite three types of nonfiction books: Memoirs, business books, and expository essays. Of these, people most often contact me wanting help writing a memoir. This doesn’t surprise me. Memoirs are among the most popular adult nonfiction books. On Amazon alone, there are more than 30,500 memoir titles. What used to be reserved for famous…

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3 Specialized Skills in Great Ghostwriting

By Lee Barnathan / May 12, 2025
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About a year ago, I wrote about a reason ghostwriting can be expensive: Time is money. Read all about it here. There is another reason, however. Ghostwriting is definitely a specialized skill. Not everybody can do it, Just like critical thinking, public speaking, problem solving, leadership, driving, cooking with charcoal, predicting the weather, and taking…

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4 Critical Book Editing Options

By Lee Barnathan / March 31, 2025
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A recent newsletter I received from Ally Machate, who runs a editing and marketing firm, mentioned three costly mistakes authors make when publishing. The first mistake is rushing to publish without proper editing. “Skipping professional editing might save time (and money in the short term),” she writes, “but it often lead to … negative reviews.”…

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Why a Woman Con Artist is 1 Great Story

By Lee Barnathan / March 24, 2025
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Ninth in an occasional series about compelling stories and ideas worth telling. Have you ever been in a relationship with a con artist? Did you lose a lot of money? Did you try to get him or her back, against your better judgment? Did that con artist try to kill you? Did you survive and…

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Critical Thinking is 1 Critical Skill in Book Editing

By Lee Barnathan / March 10, 2025
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I have long believed that critical thinking is a skill that is lost among much of the population. People who can think critically can evaluate information and decide if it’s true, false, necessary, or unnecessary. They can take that information and make better judgments and hold well-informed opinions. That seems to be disappearing in society,…

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