United Ghostwriters

Is self publishing worth it?

July 31, 2019July 31, 2019
by Teena Lyons

One of the first discussions I have with any author I work with is: what next? Not as in, what is the next book, although I often do go on to do more than one book with individual authors. But what next, how will they publish the book? This is invariably the cue for me to explain the pros and cons of traditional versus self publishing. In the early days of my ghosting career, credibility was the focus of the ensuing discussion. Traditional publishing was deemed to be the seal of approval that this was a ‘proper book’. That smart

July 23, 2019July 23, 2019
by ChrisWest

We’re a diverse bunch at United Ghostwriters. Several of our members write crime fiction. So I’m going to do a blog on the subject. A convincing, likeable detective is one answer. A tour round the world of current crime fiction will reveal a bewildering selection of sleuths. Policemen, of course – my favourites are the team from Ed McBain’s 87th precinct – but if you prefer you can have your murder solved by Jane Austen or a cat. Must the detective be likeable? I think the answer is ‘yes’. They can be flawed, of course, as we all are. They

July 15, 2019July 15, 2019
by ChrisWest

I wouldn’t want to change my profession, but there are days when it does get frustrating. I’m currently working on reviving four crime novels I wrote back in the 1990s, for republication. Most of the time this is a delightful experience – I really get into them again. Every now and then, however, it can be thoroughly dispiriting. Re-reading them, it’s clear that one of the four books is weaker than the others. Particular passages shout ‘not good enough!’ at me. In some, I give the reader too much information – the great crime writers give nothing away they don’t

July 9, 2019July 9, 2019
by Emma Murray

Our guest blogger this week is the wonderful Gillian Stern. Gillian is a ghostwriter – mostly of memoir – commissioned by Penguin, Hodder, Orion, Bloomsbury and W&N, among others. I have a new secret. I think about him all the time. I imagine his thoughts and responses. When I am not with him I talk to him in my mind. I record our conversations and listen to his voice before I go to sleep, at the gym, on the bus. I read his messages to me and the ones on social media and then I read into them. He has

July 2, 2019July 2, 2019
by Emma Murray

Our guest blogger this week, the inimitable Ben Jeapes, has had several fine novels professionally published under his own name, and has ghostwritten many more – sometimes a single book, sometimes a whole series – on behalf of various clients. www.benjeapes.com Terry Pratchett once hinted that bookshops holding celebrity author signings shouldn’t pass comment if the author spends an inordinate amount of time reading their own book as: “It may be the first time they’ve seen it.” Is anyone really surprised to learn that celebrities might not have penned their own novel? In the process of becoming well-known they will

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