Secrets of Ghostwriting and Cybersecurity: The Ghostwriter Who Speaks Fluent Nerd
Featuring Richard Lowe
Updated May 2026 to reflect current data.
The short version
- ► Richard is a rare kind of ghostwriter, one who actually understands cybersecurity, having run security and compliance for a major retailer for two decades.
- ► As he puts it, most ghostwriters speak fluent liberal arts. He speaks fluent nerd. That’s why technical and security founders trust him with their books.
- ► His security credentials are real: technical editor on a well-known cybersecurity book, and author of his own guide to family cybersecurity.
- ► For a security or technology expert, that fluency means the finished book is accurate, not dumbed-down or quietly wrong.
- ► The same background produces practical advice for any author: protect your work, your accounts, and your devices.
Richard Lowe, The Writing King, sits at an unusual intersection: a professional ghostwriter who spent a full career in technology and cybersecurity. That combination is the thread of this conversation, why a writer who genuinely understands security is so valuable to the founders and experts trying to explain it.
It’s a side of the business most authors never think about until they hire a ghostwriter who gets the technical details wrong.
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In this episode
A ghostwriter who speaks fluent nerd
Richard’s line on this is the cleanest summary of his edge: most ghostwriters come from journalism or English literature backgrounds and speak fluent liberal arts, while he speaks fluent nerd. That isn’t a throwaway joke. When a cybersecurity founder or a technology executive wants a book, the usual ghostwriter has to have every concept explained and still tends to flatten or garble it. Richard already knows the territory. That’s why he built ghostwriting for security and technology experts into a real specialty.
Most ghostwriters speak fluent liberal arts; Richard speaks fluent nerd, which keeps technical books accurate.
Two decades inside enterprise security
The fluency comes from doing the work. Across 33 years in technology, Richard served as Director of Computer Operations and Technical Services for a major retailer, where cybersecurity, disaster recovery, and the discipline of security policy and compliance were his responsibility, not a topic he read about. That means when a client talks about threats, controls, or incident response, he’s hearing it as someone who has actually defended a large environment.
On the cybersecurity bookshelf
The credentials show up in print, too. Richard served as a technical editor on a well-known cybersecurity book, helping make sure the security material was right, and he wrote his own guide to cybersecurity for families and home users, translating the same enterprise discipline into advice ordinary people can follow. For an author writing in this space, that track record is the difference between a book that experts respect and one they quietly dismiss.
| Credential | Detail |
|---|---|
| Career in technology | 33 years |
| Enterprise role | Director of Computer Operations and Technical Services for a major retailer |
| Responsibilities | Cybersecurity, disaster recovery, security policy and compliance |
| Technical editor | A well-known cybersecurity book |
| Own book | A guide to cybersecurity for families and home users |
Security advice for authors
The background also makes Richard a useful person to ask about protecting your own work. A manuscript is months or years of effort, and authors are surprisingly careless with it, so the basics matter: real backups, strong account security, and sensible device and phone security for the tools you write on. Losing the file, or the accounts around it, is an avoidable disaster.
Find Richard Lowe at TheWritingKing.com.
Common questions from this conversation
Transcript updated
Updated May 2026 to reflect current information about Richard Lowe’s work. The substance, voice, and conversational character of the original recording are preserved.
Editorial updates applied:
- Career background clarified: Richard ran cybersecurity, disaster recovery, and compliance as Director of Computer Operations at Trader Joe’s, across 33 years in enterprise IT
- Episode summary and topic overview prepared from the original video
- Section headers added to organize topics
- Internal links added to referenced services and resources
Original video embedded above. The underlying conversation remains intact.
Richard Lowe, The Writing King
Related Episodes
Other conversations on related themes from Richard’s podcast appearances.
Episode
From Computer Operations to Dozens of Novels: A Reinvention as Novelist and Ghostwriter
Richard with Aaron Apollo Camp: the arc from running computer operations at Trader Joe’s to a second career as a working author.
Episode
The Craft and Business of Ghostwriting: Taxes, Recordings, and Getting Paid Right
Richard with Massiel: taxes and incorporation, recording interviews to avoid disputes, and getting paid for revisions.
Episode
Beyond the Manuscript: Publishing, Marketing, and the Business of a Book
Richard on the Consulting Spotlight: the wall of marketing, why covers and first pages decide sales, and choosing a publishing channel.
Ready to discuss your book?
If your book lives in a technical or security space, bring it to a private consultation with a ghostwriter who speaks the language.
No pitch. No pressure.
