Ghostwriters face a marketing conundrum unique to the industry: How do you market your services when you can’t talk about previous clients?

Many authors demand that their ghostwriters sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and/or confidentiality clause that prevents them from talking about their work together.

This means that some of the most capable and qualified ghosts may be the least known in the industry. In fact, the more prominent your client, the less likely you may be to get permission to reveal your involvement in their project.

Fortunately, that is slowly changing as celebrities, athletes, and experts increasingly realize that there is no shame in admitting you hired a professional to work with you on your book. There is no shame in admitting you have an attorney on speed dial, so why is there any embarrassment around retaining publishing support?

More authors are becoming willing to talk about their ghostwriters and even to give them cover credit – publicly acknowledging that they had a writing partner.

However, there are still many authors who have opted to keep their ghostwriter relationship private. And that means that ghostwriters have to find ways to demonstrate their skills and experience without pointing to past client projects.

It can be challenging.

But it’s not impossible.

There are several creative solutions for talking about books and clients without naming them, and for proving your skill. Here are a few potential approaches:

Write Your Own Book

Several Association of Ghostwriters (AOG) members have taken this approach – crafting their own books to use as writing samples. While this is time-consuming and potentially costly, leveraging your expertise on a particular topic proves you have the ability to write a book-length work. Some ghostwriters pen memoirs, for example, to help prospects get to know them as individuals.

Demonstrating you can write a book is important because not all magazine writers, bloggers, white paper authors, and speechwriters can write 50,000+ words.

Or you can write a book on a topic you know is of interest to your target audience and use it as a marketing tool. For example, if your target client is a physician, you could write your own book on a challenge that doctors face. Similarly, if your ideal client is a fine artist, you could write a book that addresses the challenges that artists face. This kills two birds with one stone by demonstrating your ability to write a book as well as your knowledge on a topic near and dear to their heart.

Other writers became ghostwriters after having already established their reputations as successful authors, so they have books with their names on the cover to point to as writing samples. (My very first book, titled Successful Fine Art Marketing, was written for my dad, who was a fine artist, for example.)

The samples that you create or share with prospects should reflect the types of projects you want to attract. Meaning, if you want to write more leadership books, don’t show prospects several technology guides or cookbooks — they won’t help your case.

Identify Third Parties Who Can Verify Your Claims

Even if your client does not want you to reveal their book is ghostwritten, there are other professionals involved in the writing and publishing processes who may be willing to back up your assertions. This could include:

• Publishers
• Agents
• Editors
• Graphic designers
• Printers

Anyone who was involved with the book can serve as a reference and confirm the information you shared.

No, they can’t reveal your client’s name or the book’s title either, but they can confirm you ghostwrote a book last year for a leading management consulting firm on a new technology tool, or for a high school principal on an education-related book.

Talk Around the Book’s Title

What I mean is, think of ways to describe the book without naming names.

As long as you don’t use your author’s name or the book’s title, in most cases, you won’t violate any NDAs (though I’m not an attorney, so if you’re unsure, consult one).

Some of the ways many ghostwriters do this are by describing the book based on:

• The general topic
• The author’s industry
• The author’s title
• The author’s type of organization
• The author’s honorifics or accomplishments

For example, saying that you “Ghostwrote bestselling memoir for Olympian” is likely to be fine, given that there are thousands of Olympians and perhaps hundreds who have written their memoirs. No one would be able to uncover the title with that tidbit of information.

Or, your revelation that you “Created a self-help guide for life coaches with industry leader” is really broad, as is a project described as “Collaborated on thought leadership title for high-tech executive.” There are too many of those to count, so you wouldn’t be sharing too much.

If you’re nervous, however, run your project’s description by your client to confirm they’re okay with it.

Request Testimonials

Even when clients may not be willing to allow you to rave about their book project, they may be willing to go on the record about your skills and professionalism — without specifically referring to you as their ghostwriter.

For example, they could write a brief statement (or you could, for their review and approval) about your work process, what they liked most about working with you, what makes you a superior writer, or about the results they have received thanks to their book – all without identifying you as a ghost.

They can write a positive review without many specifics. Make sure you get written permission to use it wherever you plan to, such as on your website, on social media profiles, and in marketing materials. Keep all of your options open when it comes to leveraging that testimonial.

Plan Ahead for the Future

Although past clients may not have wanted you to reveal your involvement in their book projects, consider asking future clients for permission to share some information in advance.

For example, could you share an excerpt of the book with prospects, as a writing sample?

Would they be willing to serve as a reference for you, perhaps only with serious prospects, after you confirm permission to share their contact information?

You don’t necessarily have to ask for permission to feature their name and book title on your résumé, but you could get their commitment to name you in the acknowledgments section of the book. Many ghostwriting agencies now have that stipulation as a standard contract clause. If they don’t want to label you as their ghostwriter, they can use “editor,” “partner,” or “collaborator.”

The tide is starting to turn about secrecy in ghostwriting, but until you have express permission to talk about your work with an author client, don’t. Use the tactics above to convey that you’re experienced without naming names.