(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Most of you who follow this blog are probably vaguely aware I’m writing a book about getting your book written. It’s designed to go with a class I’ll be teaching and I’m getting close to the end. I’ve figured out what’s wrong with the exercises and I know how I want to fix them although I haven’t done it yet.
After some soul searching I decided I have to include a chapter on marketing books, even though I don’t feel like I know much about getting books sold. So I drafted a chapter a month or two ago. Yech! I just …read more

I was surprised when Devon Ellington, who blogs at Ink in My Coffee, wrote a screed more or less against ghostwriting over at Deborah Ng Weekend Discussion. She wants the books she reads written by the author on the cover, even if that name is a pseudonym. She is, I gather, particularly leery of celebrities who use ghosts.
It’s interesting because as people discover I’m a ghostwriter I get a variety of reactions.

A surprising number of people have no idea that many books are ghostwritten.

A few, like Devon, find ghostwriting disconcerting and somehow cheating.

Some think it’s a …read more

When I’m ghostwriting, I no longer transcribe the interviews I do to gather the material from the author. The reason is simple – I work better from word files than I do from the audio. And I can’t charge my regular rate for transcribing. These days, I make it clear in my ghostwriting contracts that if there’s any transcribing to be done, the author will pay for it.
But this, I think, is more a matter of personal style – my own learning style perhaps. I know other ghosts who find transcribing well worth the time and effort.
So much of how …read more

I’m often asked how I actually do ghostwriting. How am I able to get into someone’s head enough to write in their voice and how do I get them to provide the information I need? I’ve been thinking about that today, probably because I’m writing a chapter for a client from a very bare outline.
First of all, we’re well into the book in questions. I’ve spent several hours with the client over the phone and I’ve written the bulk of the book which he loves. So I’ve internalized a lot of information, including:

His passion for the topic.

What …read more

I’ve just started rewriting/ghosting a new project. In this case, the client has provided me with several draft chapters. I’ve managed to work through the first four pages of Chapter 1, rewriting, clarifying, editing like mad. But the last two-hundred words or so, I’ve bogged down. You know the symptoms – playing solitaire, checking email every five minutes, doing the wash….
At first I thought it was just fatigue, so I printed the chapter, made a fresh cappuccino and moved away from the computer to do my reading and editing by hand.
Voila! There on page 3 is my problem. I’m …read more