4.  Trust and Confidence

Next to money, trust is often the biggest obstacle to moving forward.  The biggest issue that many principals have is trust.  They are about to open up the vault and they are scared.  Many principals are powerful, wealthy, or famous.  Many are security conscious.  A ghostwriter can be threatening.  Can they trust you not to reveal their secrets, not to steal, and otherwise betray them? 

The most important way to reassure them that you are trustworthy is to be trustworthy and scrupulously professional.  Your integrity and reputation must be impeccable.  I am usually asked to sign confidentiality agreements.  I sign them.  I respect them.  Discretion is key.  I don’t talk about my other clients.  Sometimes they ask me to show them copies of books I have ghostwritten.  Usually that’s no problem, but in a couple of cases, I promised my principal that I would never take credit for the book, even with prospective clients.  When they hear that, the prospective clients seem to get it.  If I’m that discrete with other clients, maybe I’ll be discrete with them, too.   

Another common source of anxiety among principals is whether the ghostwriter will inject his or her own opinions into the book.  This was a major consideration for Pfizer, which hired me to assist CEO Hank McKinnell with a book about his vision for healthcare.  They apparently had interviewed a number of ghostwriters who were very articulate in what they believed should be McKinnell’s healthcare platform.  When the selection committee asked me about this point, this is what I said.  “I do have a vision about healthcare, and when I want to express those ideas, I’ll write a book and put my own name on it.  I’m not going to burden Hank McKinnell’s vision with my own.”  I got the project.