Guest Post: When Ghostwriters Need Each Other

Ghostpreneuers help ghostwriters step out of the shadows
By John Kador

If being a writer is a lonely occupation, consider the fate of the poor ghostwriter. Not only do ghostwriters toil alone, they don’t even get to tell people what they’re toiling on. When the book is published, someone else gets the credit, stands up at the bookstore readings, and sits down to sign books for adoring friends and fans.

The only satisfaction for the poor ghostwriter is that ghostwriting makes them a little less poor. It’s a living that definitely has its moments, but attaboys or accolades from readers are not among them. Isolation prevails. Even finding fellow ghostwriters to network with is hard to come by.

Enter “Ghostpreneurs” a support group for ghostwriters that has boosted my professional practice. The group was started three years ago by Derek Lewis, a business ghostwriter based in Baton Rouge, LA. Each month, six highly successful ghosts call in to share tips and leads, describe best practices, and help professionalize the craft. The title of the group is a mashup of “ghostwriter” and “entrepreneur,” a nod to the fact that ghostwriters are, first and foremost, in business for themselves.

Water-Cooler Conversations

The six members of Ghostpreneurs meet by teleconference every month for 75 minutes. After everybody checks in with a quick update on the last month, we focus on a theme to improve our game. We usually talk shop. After all, the business of ghostwriting is how we choose to support our families. So there is generally a lot of conversation about setting fees, marketing, structuring contracts, and qualifying prospective clients.

Often we have a guest speaker talk about some aspect of the work of ghosting. In recent months, we heard from an attorney on intellectual property law, a social media expert, a branding expert, and even an accountant on the best way to handle billing and taxes.

When a member is stuck, the group never fails to surface out-of-the-box ideas. For example, one member confided to the group that even with a steady flow of potential clients, the ghost was unable to get prospects to sign. Someone in the group suggested the ghost consider hiring a coach with the narrow task of getting better at closing sales. Within weeks of working with the coach, the ghost had closed three new book projects.

A Ghost Support Group

Sally Collings, a ghostwriter based in Palo Alto, CA, focuses on memoirs and life stories. Sally worked for HarperCollins and was editorial director for Amber Books before going out on her own in 2006 and founding Red Hill Publishing. “Being part of this group has been enormously valuable to me in so many ways,” Sally says. “Over the past couple of years, its members have become my pseudo-colleagues: people I can gripe to, celebrate with, and commiserate with. Our monthly calls are my water-cooler conversations.”

It's helped me, too. Sometimes, I’m stumped by how to work with a testy client; the group helps me figure out how to stay professional. When I’m looking for a fresh perspective, it seems like someone has a suggestion that helps me.

I met Derek Lewis, the founder of the group, at a rare conference for ghostwriters. It’s so rare, in fact, that the conference has yet to be repeated. Ghostwriters attended from all over the U.S., England, and Australia. As the conference was winding down, Derek suggested a few of us continue the conversation about professional matters and that’s how Ghostpreneurs was born.

“I wanted to set up a monthly conference with some of my fellow ghostwriters for a purely selfish reason,” Derek concedes. “I wanted to learn from the best for free. More than two years later, I'm still learning.”

Most of all, I’m reminded I’m not alone.

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John Kador is a business author and ghostwriter based in Winfield, PA. His website is www.jkador.com

Guest post: Why I'm Proud to Be a Ghostwriter

Today's guest post comes from prolific writer and ghostwriter John Kador, author of more than 20 books, whose tagline is: "I write faster than any writer who writes better, and I write better than any writer who writes faster." This piece originally ran on his blog.

Why I'm Proud to Be a Ghostwriter

Ghostwriting comes with a load of baggage. I can predict the questions that come at me when people learn that I’m a professional ghostwriter. Occasionally the questions come out of genuine curiosity, but more often than not I pick up a certain judgment, as if the practice were deceptive.

Most people have a very personal relationship with reading, and the idea of a ghostwriter does not easily fit into the picture they have sometimes constructed. Most readers develop an idealized relationship with the author, or the person they think is the author, so who am I, this interloper, and what am I doing in the middle of their fantasy?

I get it.  Writing is an intimate act. The craft of ghostwriting does present certain ethical difficulties, but no more than any other profession. Here are some of the most common questions I get and my responses.

So what does a ghostwriter do?

Think of me as a catalyst. A catalyst is an agent without which a reaction or a process is impossible. I help authors find their voice, identify the unified vision their subject requires, and, to varying degrees, help them with the editorial process. I encourage my clients to think of me as a writing partner. Every ghostwriting assignment is unique. Sometimes the author writes the first draft and I edit, and sometimes it’s the reverse: I write the first draft based on recorded transcripts and they edit. Sometimes we start at the beginning and sometimes we start at the end. Sometimes I start with an outline. In every case, the author has the last word.

Isn’t it deceptive for someone to put their name on a book they didn’t write?

But the author did write it, in every way that’s important. The subject was the author’s, the content came from the author, the stories flowed out of the author’s life, the author is responsible–morally and legally–for every word. The author gets to promote the book and reap the benefit of every sale, feel the sting of every criticism, and experience the pain of every book that bookstores return because readers don’t want them. In the all-important relationships–good and bad–between the author and readers, the ghostwriter is, rightly, irrelevant.

How can I trust what I'm reading if it wasn’t written by the credited author?

Ultimately, the content of the book has to merit your trust. Yes, the credibility of the author is important, but what do you really know about the author anyway?

But is it fair that your client gets all the credit? Don’t you want some acknowledgement?

As to the first question, it’s perfectly fair; it’s his or her book. If there’s credit to be had, I’m totally okay with my client running with it to the bank. The more successful the book, the better for everyone, including me. As for acknowledgements, I don’t require anything more than my fee. The reality is that most authors are generous with credit in the book's acknowledgements, as well as with recommendations to other people who are looking for editorial or writing assistance. Finally, anytime I want a book credit, I can write my own book.

Why would you write a book for someone else when you can write a book under your own name?

Economics. It’s hard for an author to support a family on book royalties (the author’s share of book sales). I’m a writer of nonfiction books. I can think of only a couple of nonfiction authors who can do so. Jim Collins (Good to Great) may be one. Certainly there are wonderfully successful writers such as Tom Peters or Seth Godin who probably do okay, but they write their books as thought leadership ancillary to the businesses where they make their real income, typically consulting, speaking, or training. From a business standpoint, ghostwriting at my level pays very well, and furthermore it’s predictable. Some of my books go on to sell well, but others don’t, and there’s no way to know. The only thing for sure when I write my own books is that I get paid only when people buy them. That’s a hard way to support a family.

What percentage of nonfiction books involve ghostwriters?

A majority. Virtually 100 percent of celebrity books and business books written by CEOs involve ghostwriters. The former typically don’t have the discipline; the latter don’t have the time.

Have you ever turned down a ghostwriting assignment?

Plenty of times. These days I decline more opportunities than I accept. Sometimes the subject doesn’t interest me, or the chemistry between me and author isn’t right. While I think that every author deserves a chance to be published, I don’t necessarily have to be involved. If I can’t learn something new from the book or the author, I’ll generally pass.

Is there anything about ghostwriting you are skeptical about?

I’m not totally comfortable with fiction writers using ghostwriters. And yes, it’s more common than you might want to think about.