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1 Interesting Ghostwriting Secret: Expertise Not Needed

By Lee Barnathan / March 18, 2024
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Recently, I took on a new ghostwriting client. A Pennsylvania-based personal injury lawyer hired me to ghostwrite some chapters into an already existing book about depositions. In our early conversations, I asked him if the writing will be technical and legal, since the target audience is attorneys. “No,” he said, “it needs to be written…

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1 Frustrating Ghostwriting Secret: Hurry Up and Wait

By Lee Barnathan / February 12, 2024
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Before ghostwriting, I was a sportswriter, and one lesson I quickly learned was hurry up and wait. When I covered any college or professional game, there was a mandatory cooling-off period afterwards when the press had to wait before gaining access to the teams. This often extended to before the game, too. I remember covering…

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Why a Heart Defect was a Ghostwriter’s 1st Compelling Story

By Lee Barnathan / December 26, 2023
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Fifth of an occasional series about stories and ideas worth telling. A heart defect is not inherently compelling. As a ghostwriter, if someone pitched me to ghostwrite a story about a guy who overcame a heart defect, I’d first ask, “What else is there to the story?” and if there was nothing, I’d turn it…

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Why Journalists Make Great Ghostwriters

By Lee Barnathan / September 18, 2023
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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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Ghostwriting a Marketing Plan Inside a Book Proposal

By Lee Barnathan / July 24, 2023
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When ghostwriting a book, I am sometimes asked to also write the book proposal. I remember the first time I was asked to do this. I had no idea, so I did my research. A book proposal is a plan to convince either an agent or a publisher that your manuscript should become a book.…

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“Clicking” With Your Ghostwriter

By Lee Barnathan / June 19, 2023
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I’ve written that partnering with a ghostwriter is great when your story is too important to leave to someone who isn’t professionally trained. It’s also extremely important to partner with a ghostwriter who gets you. Colloquially, I mean, hire a ghostwriter who clicks with you.  But what does “click with” mean? Historically, it’s from the…

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