My first experiences as a ghostwriter came during my tenure as executive editor of The Life@Work Journal, when I collaborated with our founding partners on some of their articles.
That led to work on a few short book projects with them. And when their ghostwriter on a larger book bailed on them, I stepped in and helped finish that project.
It was nearly a decade later, however, when I really dove into this line of work. I had migrated back to the newspaper business, this time as a city editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, but decided to go out on my own. About that time a friend from my Life@Work days called and said he had a client who needed help with a book.
The client was a first-time author with a very small budget. This would be my first soup-to-nuts ghostwriting project with someone I didn’t already know, so I couldn’t command a big fee. It was a match made in literary heaven.
That book became a New York Times bestseller. The author launched a successful speaking, coaching, and consulting career, and in the process he helped me land more ghostwriting gigs. I’ve now collaborated on more than 40 books, mostly in the business and leadership genre but also several memoirs and a few that are geared toward faith-based audiences.
The great thing about this work is that it allows me to learn from smart people and help them share their messages with readers who can benefit from what they have to say. That’s my calling. Living it out all these years has been a true blessing.
For more on my writing background, check out the About page. I also touch on my background in some of my blogs, including these two: