How to find a ghostwriter: A comprehensive guide
In the spring of 2016, I flew to Chicago to carry out a ghostwriting project for a client in Cincinnati. However, not long after I arrived at O’Hare airport, I made the mistake of telling the Immigration official who asked me what my occupation was and I said I was a ‘ghostwriter’.
This didn’t go down well with Immigration, and for about an hour I was held in a rather uncongenial waiting room with many other people trying to get into the United States until I was informed by an unsmiling Immigration Officer that I was free to go on to my destination. I missed my connecting flight and had to spend the night at a hotel at Chicago airport.
Perhaps it was my fault for saying I was a ghostwriter, because after all, not everyone knows what that means and clearly, the Immigration officer didn’t.
What is ghostwriting? And how to find a ghostwriter?
There is nothing complicated, mysterious, or indeed sinister about ghostwriting. It’s simply a professional activity to help people write a book and get a book published when writing a book may not be something they can do themselves or indeed which they may be able to do themselves but don’t have the time to do so.
In the case of my US ghostwriting client, he very likely could have written the book himself but he ran a large business and also had a very demanding family and didn’t readily have time to tell his life story, which he ardently wanted to be told. A US-based writer and publisher who knew me recommended me, and so I got the job.
The Conrad Press ghostwriting services
The Conrad Press is a publisher and an international publisher, but we also offer a comprehensive ghostwriting service for all types of books including:
– Life stories
– Works of philosophy (general or political)
– Novels
– Business books
These business books typically also serve as self-help books, looking at the client’s experience as a businessperson and inspiring the reader to excel in their own area of business. These books are usually written in the first person and need to have a vigorous, powerful, thoughtful, and inspirational style. We also offer services for any other kind of non-fiction book or work of fiction, except for collections of poetry, which is a very personal art form that is difficult for a ghostwriter to contribute to.
The ghostwriting process
The nature of the ghostwriting relationship depends on what the client wants. Sometimes the client wants to be heavily involved in relaying details of the book’s content but wants the actual book to be written by the ghostwriter. Sometimes the client only has a vague idea of what they want the book to contain and relies heavily on the ghostwriter to provide suggestions and recommend approaches regarding content. How do you find the perfect ghostwriter for your subject matter?
Ghostwriting fiction
You might think ghostwriting fiction is something few ghostwriters can do, but I have ghostwritten two novels, one of which became a bestseller in Iran. Although neither my client nor I receive any income from the project due to the circumstances in Iran, it is still gratifying to know it was a bestseller in that country.
Our ghostwriters
The Conrad Press works with a variety of ghostwriters with different skills. If you’re interested in us ghostwriting a project, please let me know, and I will look at the project to see if it’s something I think I can do myself or find you a very reliable ghostwriter to work on it for you.
Our team:
– James Essinger – fiction, memoirs, business books
– Angela Rosindale – memoirs, business books, books set in the Middle East
– Gregory Motton – fiction, memoirs, screenplays, plays
– Joshua Stuart-Bennett – memoirs, business books
– James Taylor – fiction, memoirs
At The Conrad Press, our ghostwriting clients enjoy the great advantage that no Conrad Press ghostwriter will seek a shared authorial credit with the client unless the client specifically requests this. In other words, if you prefer, we can remain completely invisible and the book, when published, will be attributed to you and to you alone.
Full publication service
We also offer a full international publication service for your ghostwritten book. One of the problems for many writers using a ghostwriter is that even if the book is completed, they can’t be certain it will get published. But if you’re working with The Conrad Press, you can be sure that it will be published by us as a print book in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, as an eBook in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and as an eBook in the United States.
Collaboration and communication
The way that information is transferred from the client to the ghostwriter and vice versa will vary from one project to another. Some clients will have more time available than others, but the important thing is that there is a climate of goodwill and collaboration between the client and the writer. This is what The Conrad Press always nurtures.
Contact us
If you would like to know more about The Conrad Press ghostwriting services, please feel free to e-mail me, James Essinger, at publication@theconradpress.com. Write “ghostwriting” in the heading of the email and it will go straight to me.
James Essinger, Founder and Managing Director, The Conrad Press Ltd