I’ve completed 54+ ghostwriting projects and published 113+ books of my own.
My first project was my grandfather’s memoir, working from his journals about being captured on Corregidor during World War II and marched through Manila by Japanese forces. He spent three years and four months in POW camps. For more, see lessons from my first ghostwriting project.
Turning his firsthand accounts into a narrative taught me the two things that define every ghostwriting project since: the story belongs to the person who lived it, and the ghostwriter‘s job is to make that story as powerful on the page as it was in life.
That was the beginning. Since then I have ghostwritten for a Fortune 50 technology executive whose book raised $30 million in venture capital and launched a speaking career. A brain surgeon whose memoir required rebuilding clinical experiences as narrative scenes. A financial strategist whose book became the tool she hands to every new prospect instead of explaining her methodology from scratch. A Canadian tech entrepreneur whose book led to TEDx invitations and international business expansion.
A 92-year-old resort developer who organized his memoir around the hotels he built and sold limited hardcover editions through luxury properties.
Every project is different. Every voice is different. That’s the craft.
What is the history of Ghostwriting?
Ghostwriting isn’t a modern invention. For more, see collaborative writing. Royal scribes in the 5th century wrote material for monarchs who claimed the work as their own. For more, see persuasive writing. The function was identical to what ghostwriters do today: capture someone’s ideas and authority in written form, with the credited name belonging to the person whose ideas they are.
The term “ghostwriter” was popularized in 1921 by Christy Walsh, a sports agent who arranged for professional writers to produce newspaper columns under the names of famous athletes. Walsh was blunt about it: “Don’t insult the intelligence of the public by claiming these men write their own stuff.”
For most of its history, ghostwriting operated in secrecy. The assumption was that admitting to using a ghostwriter would somehow diminish the credited author. That assumption has largely evaporated. Today, publishing, business, politics, and entertainment openly acknowledge ghostwriting. Ghostwriters routinely write memoirs, business books, speeches, and thought leadership content, and nobody considers it unusual.
Ghostwriting moved from royal scribes and secret sports columns to an openly acknowledged profession.
What hasn’t changed is the core requirement: the ghostwriter must disappear into the client’s voice so completely that the reader never suspects another writer was involved. The word “ghost” is in the name for a reason.
Watch: What Does a Ghostwriter Do?, Book Launchers
What Ghostwriting Requires
The skill that separates ghostwriting from other forms of writing is voice capture. I don’t write in my voice when I’m ghostwriting. I write in the client’s voice. That means extensive interviews before a word is drafted, studying how they speak, what phrases they use, how they structure their thoughts, what they emphasize and what they skip over.
Across 54+ projects, no two clients have sounded alike.
The Fortune 50 executive communicates in structured, strategic frameworks. The brain surgeon thinks in clinical precision layered over deep empathy. The resort developer tells stories the way a man who has lived ninety-two years tells stories: with detail, humor, and the confidence of someone who has seen enough to know what matters.
Capturing each of those voices requires listening more than writing. The interviews are where the book comes from. The writing is where it takes shape. The revision is where the client reads it and says, “That sounds like me.” That moment is how I know the work is right.
Beyond voice, ghostwriting requires project management across months of sustained effort. Research, outlining, drafting, revision cycles, client feedback, and final polish. A typical project runs four to eight months. During that time, the ghostwriter is managing the creative work, the client relationship, and the structural integrity of a manuscript that may run 50,000 to 80,000 words.
The Author-Ghostwriter Relationship
The relationship between author and ghostwriter is built on trust. The client is handing over their ideas, their experiences, and sometimes their most personal stories to someone who will shape them into a book that carries the client’s name. That requires confidence that the ghostwriter will handle the material with integrity.
I operate under a code of conduct that covers confidentiality, ownership, and professional standards. The client owns the work completely. Copyright transfers to them. Confidentiality is maintained unless the client chooses otherwise. Several clients have credited me in acknowledgments or spoken publicly about working together, but that’s always the client’s choice, never the ghostwriter’s request.
Communication throughout the project is constant. We discuss structure before drafting begins. The client reviews chapters as they’re completed. I incorporate feedback in real time. By the time the manuscript is complete, the client has been involved at every stage and the final product reflects their vision.
| Element | What the page says |
|---|---|
| Core skill | Voice capture: writing in the client’s voice, not the ghostwriter’s |
| Starting point | Extensive interviews before a word is drafted |
| Work stages | Research, outlining, drafting, revision cycles, client feedback, final polish |
| Typical length | Four to eight months |
| Manuscript size | 50,000 to 80,000 words |
| Ownership | The client owns the work completely; copyright transfers to them |
| Confidentiality | Maintained unless the client chooses otherwise |
| Credit | Acknowledgment is always the client’s choice |
The best projects feel like collaboration. The client brings the expertise, the experience, and the story. I bring the craft, the structure, and the ability to turn spoken ideas into written narrative. For more on how to hire a ghostwriter, hear Richard on The Chris Voss Show. When both sides do their part, the result is a book that neither could have produced alone.
Why Ghostwriters Stay Invisible
People sometimes ask whether I mind that my name isn’t on the books I write. The invisibility is the point. A client hires a ghostwriter because they want the book to be theirs. Their name, their voice, their authority. If the ghostwriter’s presence is detectable, the ghostwriter has failed.
The satisfaction comes from the outcomes. When a client’s book raises $30 million in venture capital, that’s a result I helped produce. When a client’s book gets adopted as a university textbook, I know the quality of the writing contributed to that outcome. When Gerry Mecca, a CIO from PepsiCo and Tropicana and Dr Pepper Snapple, posts a public LinkedIn testimonial about our coaching work together, that’s recognition enough.
The work speaks through the client’s success. That’s how ghostwriting is supposed to function. National Ghostwriters Week is the one time we acknowledge that the invisible hands exist. Then we go back to being invisible, and that’s where we belong.
National Ghostwriters Week Dates
Mark your calendar. National Ghostwriters Week is March 1st through 7th every year.
- 2025: National Ghostwriters Week begins Saturday, March 1.
- 2026: National Ghostwriters Week begins Sunday, March 1.
- 2027: National Ghostwriters Week begins Monday, March 1.
- 2028: National Ghostwriters Week begins Wednesday, March 1.
- 2029: National Ghostwriters Week begins Thursday, March 1.
If you have a book you want written, start with a conversation. If you want to write it yourself with professional guidance, book coaching is available. Either way, the story starts with a conversation about what you want the book to do.
National Ghostwriters Week FAQ
- Baseball's first agent was also its best legend maker, MLB.com
- The Business of Being the Babe, Society for American Baseball Research
