Throughout our “Ghostwriting Confidential” series, we’ve addressed several prevailing misconceptions among first-time authors, from the cost of ghostwriters’ work to why it’s so hard to get an agent and when hybrid publishing is the right way forward. In this latest installation of Straight Talk for New Authors, we’re addressing the range of additional costs that ..read more

Gathering of the Ghosts to Return Bigger & Better November 10–11 in NYC Registration opens today with a limited numberof Super Early Bird tickets available We are thrilled to announce that the Gathering of the Ghosts — the first-ever national conference for the ghostwriting profession — is returning to New York City by popular demand with an extended two-day program in November and with a ..read more

As February winds swirl, do you dream of seeding a garden of plump tomatoes, fresh salad greens, and chili peppers? It turns out that many first-time gardeners and first-time authors make a similar mistake. After months or even years of imagining their book, or their garden, they jump in. They work like crazy, cultivating the soil ..read more

HOW BIG MEDIA IS CASHING IN ON THE NEWSLETTER BOOM These days, it’s impossible to scroll through your socials or open your email and not find a freshly minted Substack on offer from just about anyone: your friend, a coworker, your dog walker. But when it comes to the elite C-suite corporate class, as The ..read more

NEW SURVEY SHOWS GHOSTWRITERS HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE IN DEMAND — OR BETTER COMPENSATED The central theme of the inaugural Gathering of the Ghosts we co-hosted in January was how our profession was coming out of the shadows and into its own as a valued and valuable part of the publishing industry. But because the ..read more

WHAT’S THE ROI OF WRITING A BUSINESS BOOK?WE SURVEYED 300+ AUTHORS TO FIND OUT  We work with countless business and thought leadership book authors who all ask the same question: what kind of return on my investment can I expect from this project? To answer those queries, we realized we needed actual data — not ..read more

NEW BOOK SHOWS HOW WE CAN ALL LEARNFROM OBAMA’S SPECIAL SPEAKING SAUCE As one of President Obama’s longest-serving speechwriters, our friend Terry Szuplat received a master class in connecting with and inspiring an audience. But even with that unique experience, he left the White House feeling the same discomfort with speaking in public that so ..read more

A TALE OF TWO TRENDS FOR THE WRITING PROFESSION Much like the media and publishing industries we are symbiotically connected to, the writing profession has undergone its own existential upheaval over the last several years — in our case what might be called a Dickensian disruption. To many established journalists and authors, it seems like ..read more

OUR FINAL INSTALLATION IN THE SERIES IS HERE Throughout our “Ghostwriting Confidential” series, we’ve addressed several prevailing misconceptions among first-time authors, from the cost of ghostwriters’ work to why it’s so hard to get an agent and when hybrid publishing is the right way forward. In this final installation of Straight Talk for New Authors, we’re addressing one of the ..read more

We started the year with a bang — or, more precisely, with the Gathering of the Ghosts, with nearly 200 ghosts convening for a day of conversation, education, and celebration of our evolving and expanding profession. The forum was intended to bring the profession ‘out of the shadows,’ and this included the presentation of the inaugural Andy ..read more