Confessions of a serial ghostwriter
I am a ghostwriter of more than 12 books and author of more than 12 books too (ebooks included). Today we get into behind the scenes confessions of a ghostwriter who works with busy CXOs directly.
Before we begin, this is the auto suggestion from my email tool for today’s subject :)))
Anyway, let’s begin.
But before we do, here is a little deep dive into who I am and what I do:
I am a CA, now a full-time writer. I write columns for publications and ghostwrite books for CXOs. I have ghostwritten 12-14 books so far, several of which have gone on to become bestsellers.
Why are others not bestsellers?
How is a bestseller even made?
What is the biggest mistake an author makes?
Also, a lot of behind-the-scenes confessions that you are going to love.
First things first, I am not going to be sharing gossip about my clients, “you know what once what he/she did to me…” Nope. That is never the agenda here.
The agenda is to share some inside tropes into my life and career that I believe would be helpful in your life too, even if your life and career and entirely different from mine.
Let’s go, ladies and gentlemen!!!
The number one thing I must do as a ghostwriter is speed. People who write books along with their main job usually take a year. So since I do this as a full-time profession, I must get it done quickly.
Speed comes from focus. Focus comes from blandly being unavailable on Instagram, X, doing very little things on LinkedIn, and most importantly, working in uninterrupted blocks of time.
Focus also comes from concentrating most meetings into one or two days, so that I have the rest 3 days to myself writing. Because on days there is a meeting, you have to centre your entire day around that meeting.
A bestseller has two components to it: A good book + great marketing. By bestseller, I mean something that stays on the bestseller list for several weeks. It is very easy to put a book on bestseller list at the time of its launch, mostly by unethical ways. Unfortunately a lot of people do that. The real game is to be sustainably bestselling, which only a few books achieve.
You will be even surprised to know that there are some really excellent books out there in the market that never reached the bestseller status, yet are building a wonderful customer base of their own.
Bestseller, thus, is a very poor criterion to pick up a book as a reader. I have picked up tens of “bestsellers” that were yikes. I have also come across books that were not bestsellers but deserved to be. Marketing and product, though help each other, but at some place are also mutually exclusive.
The biggest mistake any author makes is that they can pay their way to marketing. It is like paying your way to raising your kids. No matter how many tasks you outsource, the task of raising your kid has to be done by you. So is the marketing of the book. No matter if you are picked by the best publisher or are self-publishing, it is always and always your responsibility to market your book.
No self-publishing package is worth the value. Self-publishing is free or at best in less than four digits of pricing. Run away from everything else. I am pro self-publishing, but anti self-publishing packages.
Having a following certainly helps in the initial sales of books. But every single day I come across great books (that are also long term bestsellers) from authors that do not have an iota of social presence. The world gives you evidence of what you are looking for.
At this stage in my career, I get a fair idea of how a book is going to turn out in the writing stage itself. I was once speaking to a client of mine who was on the call from the airport, unable to dig time in her office hours due to extensive travel. It was our third consecutive call where she was on the road. But the eloquence, the clarity, the depth of content that came out of her mouth when we were interacting made me ultraconfident that the book is going to be magnanimous. The book is something that ebbs and flows in her day in and day out. She is passionate about it and can speak about it for hours without thinking. THAT, my friend, is the biggest sign of a great book.
I have also come across instances where the author is forcing themselves to “write more content” to cover a wider audience. That is the most fatal mistake. Your audience is the smallest, viable audience. If you focus on just them, they are going spread your word on your behalf. If your product (book) is for everyone, it is for no one.
One of the biggest lessons for me is to draw fences around my time. I will do 200% to make the book excellent, but I will always walk away from a publisher conversation the author is having. I don’t join zoom calls with the publisher, nor do I read the client’s publishing contracts. Not my business. Not for my time. I respect the fact that the author is going to give me credit in their book, but my time and commitment is to ghostwriting, not the publisher conversations. Time is my biggest ally, and I have to be very certain on what I am going to be generous on (writing an excellent book) and what is an absolute no-no.
My job is not just a ghostwriter. It is a miniature version of the grand job that is often hidden. So technically my job is also to extract stories, anecdotes, life lessons, content from CXOs who have it subconsciously in their mind, but not at the surface. When I was in my first year in college (and in hostel), my roommate (who was in her final year) dedicated a song to me, “…tere maasoom sawaalon se pareshaan hu main.” I used to ask her a LOT of questions about how everything worked, in the hostel, in that city, in this new world. Now I extrapolate this to life and as I ask endless questions to my clients, they often say, “Talking to you I end up sharing things I had totally forgotten about.” Life has its own unique way of coming full circles.
I am also a consultant on how everything around a book functions. And fun fact, I have to share every suggestion as if it is the client’s suggestion, even though it was not :) In another context, at this moment I only share consultation on what is the part on writing a book. There are 100 branches of consultation that come from it, and I stay quiet. You put money on the table and then you get my opinions. And yes, all you people judging me, you’d be applauding for me if I was a man.
Everyone has a unique journey, even in similar professions. I think what really works for me is clarity of heart and intent. I would do nothing other than writing books, and that passion as well as clean heart undoubtedly translates itself into great work. There are 10,000 opportunities for me to cut corners and deliver shabby work to the client. But my work is my signature. I get to go to bed with myself every night. There is no room for betrayal in that relationship.
Lastly, I say this often that nothing is going to fulfil you if you leave your inner self unfulfilled. And if you tend to your inner self daily, it will guide you home. True for writing. True for books. True for everything you do and don’t do.
Hope you had fun reading this, as I had fun writing this too :)
The picture above is a good spin on what Women’s Day would look like too.
Chalo chalo, have fun, have a great weekend.
Nishtha Gehija
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How to Deal with Heartbreak: A book almost everyone needs but no one gives you right in your hand. If you don’t need this, get this for a friend you know certainly needs it.
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