10 May 2022 | From the friendly caves of Pixie Hollow.
IBM CEO Leo Gerstner famously stated:
“I wrote this book without the aid of a coauthor or a ghostwriter (which is why it’s a good bet this is going to be my last book; I had no idea it would be so hard to do).”
Gerstner wrote the book Who Says Elephants Can't Dance. He's never written anything by himself since.
While writing books is a great way to get your brand, your work, your ideas, your theories, your (insert business thing here) out there, every single person who recommends it forgets one thing.
It's really hard work.
It's not just getting 70,000+ words on paper, though that takes effort.
It's identifying whether or not you've got anything to say.
It's sequencing the material correctly.
It's figuring out why the bloody thing doesn't work once you've done it.
It's understanding the places and roles for characterisation, story arcs, character arcs (if any), how to write dialogue without boring the crap out of your reader.
For example, I'm writing a memoir for someone at the moment. We are almost 12 months into the process.
We haven't written much yet. We've done a lot of interviews, research, discussion.
The author is still discovering things about her life, still digging up photos.
I'm still having to prompt her to remember, imagine, think. And her book is currently sequenced in 15 beats for a story type that I have just realised has to change!
So who has used a coauthor/ghostwriter?
- Stephen R. Covey for his infamous title 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
- Jack Welch's memoir Jack: Straight from the Cut
- Lee Iacocca used one for Where have all the leaders gone?
- Donald Trump worked with Tony Schwartz on his fantastic work The Art of the Deal
- Richard Branson used one for his keystone work Losing my Virginity
- Chris Gardner worked with one for his amazing work The Pursuit of Happyness
Each of these people realised that their key skill isn't writing books. So they brought someone in to help them turn their ideas into bestsellers.
This is the prime difference between small business owners and founders (and CEOs) of great companies:
People who think they want to do it all themselves tend to stay in the small pond.
People who realise that working with others helps them hit their goals faster do more big things more often.
The question is: Which one are you?
Right now I have just two openings for ghostwriting clients from 1 July. Here's the deal:
- It's expensive
- You have to be willing to get dirty, to think, to feel
- You have to be willing to bare everything about your life or business or methods or whatever it is
- You have to remember it's a collaboration, not an abdication.
If you have dreams of being a keynote speaker, a bestseller, or just someone (or some business) with a real and meaningful legacy, it could be for you.
You can find out with a discovery call.
Leticia 'more like Casper than Slimer' Mooney
Please let me know what I can do for you.
Leticia Mooney is a consultant with decades of experience writing with and for people like you. Her company Brutal Pixie casts the kind of spells your customers love. Its services are oracles (communication strategy, CCX, audits, investigations, quality assurance), metamorphoses (training, mentoring, coaching, wargaming), and your stories in magick hands (ghostwriting, content writing, editorial support). Leticia is also
the mother of an intelligent, engaging, and curious boy, who is named after a character created by J.R.R Tolkien.
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Brutal Pixie Pty Ltd works worldwide.
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