Newsletter 9 August 2023: Passion distraction; Banned books spread; AI spawns travel drivel.
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Newsletter 9 August 2023: Passion distraction; Banned books spread; AI spawns travel drivel.

How to grow a great career by not following your passion, private equity and AI roil publishing, plus 3 people to follow, 3 great reads, and plug nuts Don’t follow your passion “Follow your passion” is terrible advice. Your career develops over years and decades. As you live through it, you have to make a living. People…

In the shoes of another: reflections on editing and ghostwriting
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In the shoes of another: reflections on editing and ghostwriting

I am very selective about ghostwriting clients and very open to a broad range of editing clients. Part of the reason is that a ghostwriting commitment means living in your skin for six or nine months, while an editing commitment means living in your manuscript for two or three weeks. But it’s not just the…

Designing a custom book (ghost)writing collaboration process

Designing a custom book (ghost)writing collaboration process

Any nonfiction book with more than one contributor needs a carefully designed collaboration process. Not all tools are appropriate for all authors. So before you begin, plan how you’re going to move from ideation to research to drafts to completion and how everyone will contribute or approve content all along the way. To demonstrate how…

Hiring a ghostwriter? Pick a published author, not a rookie.

Hiring a ghostwriter? Pick a published author, not a rookie.

A friend reached out for advice yesterday. “How much should I charge to ghostwrite a business book?” he asked. I was surprised, because I knew he hadn’t written a book before. My first thought was, “You’re still a rookie author. So you and your potential client are going to be doing some very expensive learning…

How long does it take to ghostwrite a book? That’s up to you.

How long does it take to ghostwrite a book? That’s up to you.

Even if you hire a ghostwriter to write a book for you, you’ll still need to put in plenty of time on the book. You can outsource the writing, but it’s still a collaboration. And your involvement, more than anything else, determines the speed of the project. I have ghostwritten two books. The cost was…