Ghostwriting: A Guide to Writing in the Background

Working in one of Creative Nonfiction's interesting careers

Rick Martinez and Benjamin Sledge are two writers using their creative nonfiction chops to tell other people’s stories. Ghostwriting can be a profitable career path—perhaps one of the more profitable paths for writers—but is also incredibly challenging.

Both Rick and Benjamin are successful writers with their own strong writing voices—they’ve published books and many articles. But they’ve found a way to tap into the voices of their clients and help others share their ideas with the world.

I asked them to talk with us about what it takes to be a ghostwriter and what they wished they’d known before starting out.

Hearing their very different journeys, it’s clear there’s more than one path into a Creative Nonfiction writing career.

Benjamin Sledge’s ghostwriting journey emerged after proving his own creative nonfiction skills: viral essays, literary awards for his memoir, and a writing competition win.

“Initially, I did a lot of developmental editing,” he says, “but some manuscripts were, well, pretty terrible. That led to conversations about writing entire books or manuscripts from scratch.”

Rick Martinez always considered himself a writer, but it took the world shutting down during COVID for him to realize his true passion was ghostwriting and he wishes he’d started sooner.

“For a long time, I held back,” says Rick, “wondering if I was "good enough." But when the opportunity came, I rose to the occasion. If you love writing, you can do the same.”

Here are Benjamin and Rick sharing their experiences:

Getting Started in Ghostwriting