“So did you write this yourself?”
The question comes at a book signing, on a podcast, over drinks at a conference, sometimes from a colleague who’s thinking about a book of their own. Authors dread that moment more than almost anything else about ghostwriting, and most have never decided what they’ll say, so when it comes, they freeze, or they say something they regret.
I think most of that dread is wasted. My clients bring the stories, the expertise and the judgment about what belongs in the book, and I bring the craft of getting it onto the page. An author who understands that split can answer the question in one calm sentence. The ones who get into trouble have half convinced themselves they’re hiding something shameful.
Settle on your answer now, before anyone asks. For whether anyone will find out at all, and what they’ll think if they do, see what people think when they find out.
What’s the best answer when someone asks if you wrote your book?
A short, true one that doesn’t apologize. Any of these works:
- ► “I worked with a professional writer. The ideas and the stories are mine.”
- ► “It took a team, like most books.”
- ► “I talked it out over a lot of interviews, and a writer helped me shape it.”
- ► “Every word is something I said or approved. I just didn’t type all of them.”
Each is honest, and each puts the weight where it belongs: on your experience. Nobody else could have supplied that part.
Do you have to say you used a ghostwriter?
I think most of that dread is wasted.
No. Disclosure is your decision. A professional ghostwriter keeps the arrangement confidential from the first conversation and never names a client without permission. A few of my clients have taken their books to traditional publishers with my involvement kept quiet. That was their call to make. If you want discretion when you announce your book, call your ghostwriter your book coach. Most of my clients do, and since the label implies coaching, it gives nothing away. It also means I can respond publicly, cheer the project on and reinforce your message.
What you shouldn’t do is deny it outright. A flat “I wrote every word myself” is the one answer that can come back to bite you.
What if someone asks on a podcast or in an interview?
Treat it like any other question about your process, and answer it the same way every time. Hosts who ask are usually just curious about how books get made. “I worked with a writer through a long series of interviews” is a perfectly good answer on air, and it often leads to a better conversation about the stories themselves. If you’ve decided to be open, you can name the process in more detail. If not, keep it at that.
The authors I worry about on podcasts are the ones who rehearsed every story in the book and never thought about how the book got made. The process question catches them flat, and a flustered non-answer on a recording sounds far worse than the plain truth would have.
What if a colleague asks because they want a book too?
That’s the most common reason people ask, and it’s a compliment. Among executives and professionals, “did you write it yourself?” is often shorthand for “how did you get it done, and could I?” You can answer the process question without naming anyone: interviews, a few months, chapters to review. If you’re happy to share your ghostwriter’s name, fine. Most ghostwriters appreciate referrals, but ask first if your agreement says anything about it.
Should you credit your ghostwriter in the book?
It’s your choice, and either way is respectable. Some authors thank “my collaborator” in the acknowledgments without a name, some name the writer, and some say nothing. Andre Agassi thanked J.R. Moehringer in Open, and readers thought more of the book for it. Decide before publication, so the answer in the book matches the answer you give in person.
What should you never say?
A specific claim that isn’t true: “I wrote it over a weekend,” “I did it all myself,” “I don’t know what a ghostwriter is.” Those are the answers that turn a non-issue into a story. The same goes for dismissing your ghostwriter’s work if they’re ever named. You don’t need to credit them, but you don’t need to diminish them either.
A flat denial is the one answer I’d talk any client out of. The ghostwriter keeps the arrangement confidential, so the lie belongs to the author alone, and if it comes apart it drags down every true story in the book along with the author’s credibility.
My take
Pick one true answer before launch and use it everywhere. “I worked with a professional writer” is plenty. Never claim you wrote every word yourself. Your ghostwriter keeps the arrangement confidential, so a lie is yours alone, and if it comes apart it takes every true story in the book down with it. Credit them or don’t. Both are fine, and a denial isn’t.
What are people really asking?
Whether the book is yours. Whether the stories happened, the expertise is real, and you stand behind every claim in it. If those are true, the book is yours, and you can say so without hesitation. My article on whether using a ghostwriter is cheating covers why.
Nobody should treat hiring a ghostwriter like a confession. Executives use speechwriters and scientists use editors, and nobody expects them to apologize for it. If the stories and the expertise are yours, say so plainly and get back to talking about them, since that’s the conversation you wrote the book to start.
If you’re still at the stage of deciding whether to work with a ghostwriter, the Book Discovery Intensive lets you see how the collaboration works before you commit, and when you’re ready for the full book, my ghostwriting services take it from there.
Professional help on your book is nothing to hide. My book The Ghostwriting Advantage explains how to get your book written for you and why so many authors do.
Frequently Asked Questions
- This Tennis Life, Lapham’s Quarterly
- Andre Agassi: what the critics say about ‘Open’, The Christian Science Monitor
