My first ghostwriting client was a ten-year-old kid.
When people ask me how I became a ghostwriter, I tell them that I got my start writing for non-native English-speaking executives in Brussels. But that's not quite true ...
My first ghostwriting job ever came much earlier—and I didn't even realize that what I was doing constituted ghostwriting at the time. After completing my undergraduate degree at McGill university, I got a gig as an editorial intern at a Montreal-based children's book publisher. One of the projects I worked on was the book pictured here, Let's Clear the Air: Ten Reasons Not to Start Smoking, which included written contributions from pre-teens about why they were choosing to never smoke cigarettes.
My job was to interview the kids and, based on those conversations, write up their contributions, each one reflecting the child's unique point of view, voice, and tone. In short: what a ghostwriter does. Some excerpts:
"Cigarettes stink!"
"Ewww, smoking is gross!"
"Yuck."
That book was published in 2007, and I still have a copy of it on my bookshelf today. It sits alongside the many other manuscripts I've worked on since—an anomaly among the business books I typically write for entrepreneurs and executives. It wasn't until I flipped through it again recently that I realized, "Hey, this was my first ghostwriting project, ever!"
Was it the best work I ever wrote? Nope. Did it win any awards? Nope. But it was without a doubt an interesting experience—and as my first ghostwriting job, it holds a special spot in my heart now.
Do you have a project from early in your career that you still look back on fondly?
Thank you for reading my blog! This is a space where I share personal thoughts — an opportunity for self-expression that has nothing to do with my professional writing. None of the thoughts or opinions expressed in this blog should be construed as anything but my own, nor should they be affiliated with any company or person I contract with or write for as a ghostwriter.
NOW that that's done... I'd love to hear from you about this blog post in the comments!
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