United Ghostwriters

Interview styles and the temple of Zoom

July 10, 2020July 10, 2020
by Martin Toseland

I’m just finishing the first draft of a book I’ve been working on since January. To get to this stage, the author and I have had to improvise slightly. Pre-lockdown we followed normal procedure, meeting in Starbucks in Westfield Stratford City (the glamour), a standard London-hour commute for both of us; post-lockdown we switched to a meeting place called ‘Zoom’ which turned out to be a doddle to get to. Now, as I add the final notes and comments to the draft, I’m taking the first tentative steps with a new author. We’re setting up dates and times for interviews

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020
by Ginny Carter

Life is topsy turvy right now. Even though the world is slowly starting to open up, we don’t know how our summer is going to pan out, when we’ll next be able to see our far-flung friends and family, and – for some of us – what will happen to our livelihoods in the long-term. Some business owners have seen the bottom fall out of their work bookings, with in-person events cancelled and face-to-face meetings an impossibility. Zoom can be a brilliant substitute, but not for every eventuality. As a result, many people are talking about how hard it is

June 10, 2020June 10, 2020
by Teena Lyons

One million years ago, when lockdown first started, many people vowed to write that book they’d always intended to write. There is a possibility that some of those people have now reached a stage where that creative energy has waned a little. Or, perhaps, the whole book thing has entirely ground to a halt. For this reason, I thought it might be helpful to offer a troubleshooting guide to help new authors ‘fix’ the problem and complete their pledge. So, come with me. Let’s lift up the hood, and check for the following issues: Writer’s block Writer’s block is often

June 4, 2020June 5, 2020
by ShannonKyle

How do you measure the success of a book? While everyone would love their book to be a bestseller, ultimately the success of a book is a subjective matter for both a ghostwriter and their author. When I asked the other United Ghostwriters what they believed made a book a successful, the question elicited many surprising responses. For Gillian Stern, who has just delivered a manuscript for Hodder, success means forming an intense professional intimacy with her client. ‘That way the book results in an accessible, yet layered and powerful read,’ she explains. This makes perfect sense, because if a

May 25, 2020May 25, 2020
by Simon Rae

Everybody has their lockdown story. Mine, much to my surprise, is more eventful than I could have anticipated. Inspired by a BBC competition for a short television play showing how people were coping with lockdown, I collaborated with a friend on a piece about two writers who are working on a script together using Skype. They’re having difficulties, firstly with Skype, then with each other’s track changes and differing perspectives on their characters (‘Nigel’s gay? Where did that come from?’). The relationship turns fractious, and as one is a Liverpool fan and the other a Chelsea supporter, the path from

Our Blog

Interview styles and the temple of Zoom

How can you write a book at the moment?

Troubleshooting for authors: when the words don’t flow

How do you measure the success of a book?

Lockdown Chronicle