We’re ghosts. We don’t take credit for the books we write. We don’t talk about our clients outside of our team. And we didn’t blog. Why would we blog? We can’t share any juicy details about our clientele and their successes (and misses). We can’t share our enthusiasm about a particular project. Our lips are sealed.

So why did we decide it was time to speak up? Three reasons:

1. Because books are more than just glorified business cards. Books change lives. Books build careers. And unless the entire planet explodes, books are forever. As ghostwriters, we’ve long practiced our fundamental belief that all books should be great books – dog-eared, must-read, life-altering, awesome books. That’s what we do. We write great books. And with this blog, we are calling on you to do the same

2. Because you deserve the straight scoop on what it takes to get published. Over the years we’ve bumped up against a lot of people who blow smoke and give hopeful authors with big dreams false information and encourage unrealistic expectations. We want you to know the truth. Can you write a bestseller and make a fortune? Sure you can. But let’s get real about what that takes, okay? (Hint: Monumental effort and heaps of luck.)

3. Because now is the time to create something amazing. The Internet, on-demand publishing and e-publishing has made it possible for indie publishers and self-published authors to launch great content, build a community of followers around that content and leverage their success to create remarkable careers.

There it is. Our 3-point mission for this blog. While we can’t name names or book titles, we can reveal how we write great books, what it takes to get your book published (by a traditional publisher or on your own) and how to build a rockin’ platform to market and sell your book. And we’ll keep you posted on the latest developments in publishing, too.

Onward.

AJ Harper
Book Lab Team Leader

“There is ecstasy in paying attention,” Anne Lamott wrote in her fabulous Bird by Bird. “If you start to look around, you start to see.”

I’ve noticed that the moment I start paying attention to something in particular—dragonflies, cultural avoidance of the topic of death, the presence of typos—it is everywhere. So when I’m searching, I am waiting to actually see. If I want to be shown, all I have to do is look.

We talk to brave people all the time who are ready to tell their stories, but are afraid they don’t actually have stories to tell. Of course they do. It’s our job to tease them out and make them sing, but our clients have a job to do too.

If you are searching for your story, your work now is, simply, to look around. Suspend the babble of your rational mind and give yourself over to the glory of detail without worrying what fits or makes sense or is consistent with your brand identity. Just gather it all in. Feasting on the telling details of your own story is kind of like turning into the reader of your own story. Read it for pleasure, not because you feel you have to.

Stories may have a beginning, middle and end, but the good ones rarely start right at the beginning. They erupt abruptly, in unguarded moments and at the most inconvenient or unexpected times. Your own story might start with your trip to the grocery store this morning, and the brief conversation you had in the waffle and juice aisle with the Vietnam Vet who reminded you of all the things you never said to your father. Who knows? Rather than worry about it, give yourself permission to discover it.

Zoë Bird
Lead Editor