“Have you ever written anything like my book?”
It’s one of the first questions prospective clients ask, and it’s a fair one. Most of what I’ve ghostwritten carries someone else’s name and can’t be shown. What I can do is describe the range, with case studies written carefully enough to protect the people involved. I’d be wary of any ghostwriter who answers that question with a list of named client books. A writer who’ll put someone else’s name in front of you will put yours in front of the next prospect.
What business and leadership books has Richard Lowe ghostwritten?
More than any other kind. They include a Fortune 50 executive’s book that became the credibility behind a $30 million venture capital raise, an entrepreneur’s book used to secure investor funding, a leadership guide by a former Air Force officer, books that set out a coaching methodology, and a retirement planning book. I also wrote a business novel about moving a company from waterfall to agile.
What technology books has Richard Lowe ghostwritten?
A writer who’ll put someone else’s name in front of you will put yours in front of the next prospect.
Books across most of the fields I worked in for 33 years. A Canadian tech entrepreneur’s book that landed him a TEDx talk. An executive’s digital transformation book that won a publisher. A book on Web3 and the metaverse, a book on AI that won its author awards, a blockchain guide for business leaders, a book on disinformation and media manipulation, and a For Dummies book. For a cybersecurity executive I also built a NIST 800-53 compliance framework.
What industry and franchise books has Richard Lowe ghostwritten?
Practical guidebooks for owners who needed to teach their system to others: a cleaning franchise guide, a dentistry franchise guide, and books for professionals in property management, finance and insurance. These books work as training manuals and as sales tools at the same time.
Owners underestimate what these books do for them. A franchise system that lives only in the founder’s head gets passed along by word of mouth, and it slips a little every time it changes hands.
What memoirs has Richard Lowe ghostwritten?
Some of the most important work I’ve done. A survivor’s memoir of hope and healing. A world-renowned brain surgeon’s memoir of a lifetime in neuroscience. The legacy memoir of a 92-year-old hotel pioneer. One of my first books was the memoir of an Afghan politician who fled regime change. I’ve also written memoirs of athletes and coaches, of grief, divorce and recovery, and of fathers and daughters. My article on memoir ghostwriting explains how those books are made.
Memoirs are the books I guard most carefully on a page like this. A memoir client hands over the parts of a life that never make it into a résumé, and a writer who trades on that for marketing doesn’t deserve the next client.
What fiction has Richard Lowe ghostwritten?
More than people expect. Doris Barker‘s Gators in the Soup, a novel built from a lifetime of her handwritten dreams. A young adult novel about AI and internet safety that began as a child’s drawing. Synopses for an anime series. And a platinum-selling rock star’s science fiction sequel, a collaboration that paused before it was finished.
What won’t Richard Lowe ghostwrite?
Screenplays. That’s a different craft. Revenge memoirs, because a book written to punish someone backfires on its author. Books on spec for a share of future royalties. And, once, a retired FBI informant’s book naming the Mafia figures he’d informed on, at what would have been the biggest fee of my career. I’d turn every one of those down again. A revenge memoir hurts its author more than its target, and a spec deal asks the writer to bet months of work on someone else’s marketing.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Business and leadership | Books behind a venture capital raise and investor funding, a leadership guide, coaching methodology, retirement planning, an agile business novel |
| Technology | Digital transformation, Web3 and the metaverse, AI, blockchain, disinformation, a For Dummies book |
| Industry and franchise | Cleaning and dentistry franchise guides; property management, finance and insurance books |
| Memoir | A survivor, a brain surgeon, a 92-year-old hotel pioneer, an Afghan politician, athletes and coaches |
| Fiction | A novel built from handwritten dreams, a young adult novel on AI and internet safety, anime synopses, a science fiction sequel |
| Declined | Screenplays, revenge memoirs, books on spec for future royalties |
My take
Range scares some prospects, and it shouldn’t. The subjects swing from franchise manuals to a brain surgeon’s memoir while the method stays put. Interviews, structure and the client’s own voice carry every one of those books. What I turn down tells you more than what I take. I won’t write a revenge memoir or work on spec, and I once walked away from the biggest fee of my career. Pick a ghostwriter by how they work and what they refuse.
How can one ghostwriter cover such a wide range?
Because the method is the same whatever the subject.
The client supplies the expertise and the stories; I supply the interviews, the structure and the writing. Thirty-three years in enterprise technology help with technical books. 113+ books of my own help with everything else. The case studies are all collected on the ghostwriting case studies page.
If your book isn’t on this list, that’s rarely a problem. The Book Discovery Intensive is the quickest way to find out whether I’m the right writer for it, and my ghostwriting services cover the full book. What frustrates me is how many people talk themselves out of a good book because they can’t find one like it on anyone’s list. A book nobody else has written is the one with the best chance of standing out when it’s published.
Curious how the process would work for your own book? The Ghostwriting Advantage is my guide to getting your book written for you, drawn from 54+ ghostwritten books.
