What's the ghostwriting process like?
Working with a ghostwriter can feel mysterious. When I begin with a new ghostwriting client, we first establish the parameters of what you're looking for:
Do you already have an agent and/or publisher?
Are you planning to seek out a traditional publisher?
Are you planning to self-publish or hybrid publish?
Are you planning to seek out a publisher first, and if that doesn't work, then move to self-publishing?
Depending on that answer, you need different things. Most of the work I take on comes to me through literary agents and editors I've worked with before. Often, the book is already sold to a publisher and I'm working based on an existing book proposal or summary. Then we can skip ahead. But if it isn't sold yet...
If your hope is to find a traditional publisher, you need a book proposal before you need a full manuscript. The proposal is a document that describes your book to capture the interest of literary agents and editors. It can be customized based on your strengths, but it normally contains:
An overview
A detailed table of contents
Your bio and your ghostwriter's bio
A summary of who the target market is and why they'll buy your book
Details about your publicity plans and your platform (things like social media, print or TV interviews you've done before, podcasts, speaking engagements, and promised endorsements)
A timeline of when we can finish the book and what we envision its word count to be
An analysis of competing books and why your book is different
Sample material
This process normally takes about six to eight weeks and several phone calls: We talk on the phone at length so I can gather up all the information I need, which usually starts with some big-picture "everything and the kitchen sink" stuff-- you throw it all at me, then I help you whittle it down and get it focused.
After this, I go off to my ghostwriter land and write up the summary and table of contents first to make sure we're on the same page. If you approve that, I move on to the rest of the material and submit it for your approval when I'm done. There is usually a round of editing afterwards, in which we fill in details and you tell me if anything doesn't feel right. Then it goes out on submission.
Once a book is sold, we have a kick-off call with the editor to go over direction, then we go back to phone interviews again, usually once or twice a week in the beginning until I have enough to write out at least the broad strokes of the book. This is also when you can send me anything else that's relevant: I've worked from journal entries, past interviews, business reports, news stories, interviews with friends and family, police reports, TED Talks, medical journals, whatever adds depth and flavor to your book.
When I'm into the writing process and I need more information, I will either e-mail/text if they're just brief questions, or set up more calls as needed if it feels like I need deeper info.
If you're planning to self-publish, we can skip the full book proposal and just write a summary and detailed table of contents before I dive in.
I will always show you the first chapter before I move on to the rest of the book, again to make sure I'm nailing your voice and that it feels just the way you want it. After that point, you'll see the manuscript again at the halfway mark and at the end. I don't submit one chapter at a time for feedback because it slows the process down tremendously if we're trying to edit as we go.
My ghostwriting contract includes up to two rounds of revisions. I want you to be happy and to feel good about promoting it.
If you're traditionally publishing, you'll then submit the manuscript to your editor, and I'll stick with you for all the phases through publication: developmental editing, copyediting, proofreading, and marketing, including writing book jacket copy if needed.
Do we have to travel and meet in person? No. If you're local or traveling to New York and it feels important, we can arrange a meeting in the beginning, or we can meet over Zoom, but the vast majority of my work is done by phone while I pace around my office and drink extraordinary amounts of tea. I record and transcribe all interviews.
I do not accept clients who don't feel like a good fit: neither one of us is going to have any fun at this if we're struggling to connect. And really, it should be a good time. A lot of work, but at the end of the process, we should like each other a whole bunch and feel proud of what we created.
I look for books that feel like they'll have a positive impact on readers. Whether that's a celebrity memoir for fans, a gritty memoir meant to inspire, a self-help or health book that could improve people's lives, a thought leadership book to help people achieve more... that's how I like to spend my writing time, and it's why I've been a ghostwriter for so much of my career.
