Ghostwriting in Sicily

No, my story is nothing like that of Tom Clancy. My publisher hiring people to write in my style? There are quite a few reasons why that couldn’t happen. But hiring me to write?

Yes, I’m available and experienced with a successful ghostwriting project under my belt.

The person who engaged me was a US Track and Field athlete with an interesting story to tell.

Ghostwriting

There are several types of assignment. Literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, memoirs, magazine articles, or other written material.

Authors like Tom Clancy and James Patterson have such demand for their works that they hire teams of writers to write for them.

Besides being one of the most prolific writers in history, he holds the Guinness World Record for the largest number of books by a single author on The New York Times bestseller list. - ghostwritersandco.com

Memoir ghostwriters often pride themselves in "disappearing" when impersonating others since such disappearance signals the quality of their craftsmanship.

I didn't disappear, I was credited as Editor.

How did it come about?

Several years ago I spent a couple of winters on my boat in Sicily, in a place called Marina de Ragusa. Happy times and lots of fun.

The days were all writing and the evenings were about pizzas and Nero d’Avola red wine — and chocolate ice cream for others.

I’d just finished writing ‘Sicilian Channel’ and it was in the shop (yes that’s a link to my shop).

Finances were a bit tight (nothing new there) and I was doing some commercial writing, finding my gigs through eLance as it then was (now part of Upwork).

Once a week I’d cycle up to Santa Croce Camarina for a cellphone topup and pass the bordello on the way, without stopping.

How did I find the assignment?

Every day I trawled eLance for gigs. And then one day I saw an invitation to bid for a ghostwriting gig.

I composed my bid letter, relying on the fact that I’d written a few books and done some commercial writing. One of the books was a biography - Susan's Brother. I also knew how to write bids having done ot professionally, and that’s an important part of the process.

But you don't have to be a professional bid writer. Bids? Just figure out what the other party really wants and build the bid around that. There are some techniques that can strengthen a bid and there are ways of asking for further information from the prospective customer that can help you rise above the other bidders.

If you have ideas for such inclusions when you bid, then it will strengthen your hand. Of course, you take the chance that you don’t win the bid and that your idea is fed to the winning bidder. But you didn’t win it anyway.

It was a flat fee job and no commission. I can’t remember how much it was either, but it wasn’t a lot. I wanted the experience and the name/job in my portfolio.

And the outcome?

It took a few weeks of work and came out at 172 pages, I don’t recall how many words. When I wrote the book I found some relevant data and created some fancy graphics to accompany the text.

I was credited inside as Editor at my suggestion.

The book was favourably reviewed by Kirkus Reviews (I already said I’m not on a commission deal).

So, you see, there are some great gigs out there if you can find them.

And me?

I’m still waiting for the invitation to write the next James Bond novel, just as William Boyd wrote ‘Solo’.

Now that’s another kind of ghostwriting, when the writer — Ian Fleming — is dead and a well-known author gets asked to take on the franchise characters and write another novel, with full credit.

Yes, but seriously, I am available!

I've also written a biography:

And drunk a few bottles. Nero d’Avola? I’d recommend it. No affiliation, other than loving it.

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This story was first published in Medium on 18 March 2022 [edited]