Member Spotlight: Tim Cooke

How did you land your first book ghostwriting project?

The short answer: An expert author was commissioned to write a book about Princess Diana’s fashion they didn’t want to write, so they asked me to write it for them, in their voice … and very quickly. I churned out about 35,000 words in about four days (!) and when the book came out no-one was any the wiser about who had written it.

The longer answer: Over more than three decades as a publishing professional, I wrote more than 7 million words for publication. Starting at Time-Life Books, then moving into illustrated nonfiction for schools and libraries, and also for art publishers, I learned how to write about almost any subject in almost any voice for a range of target readers.

My Princess Di experience didn’t turn me on to the royal family (or change how I dress), but it did turn me on to the possibilities of ghostwriting. I signed with an agency in Texas and soon realized that the best author fit for me was professionals who wanted to write books for other reasons than having bestsellers. After that agency went bust, I formed Cooke the Book and started ghostwriting for myself.

What has been your secret to building a steady stream of ghostwriting clients?

Ah. This is the $64,000 question. I post tediously regularly on LinkedIn, and even though the algorithm seems to ensure that most of my viewers are fellow ghosts who are never likely to hire me, I get a steady flow of DMs that sometimes lead to commissions. I also have a website (www.cookethebook.com) that gets a lot of praise – not for my contribution, but for the young guy who built the site for me.

My most important source of clients, however, is referrals. It’s not enough just to do a good job for your authors; you have to actively ask them to suggest you to anyone else who might want to write a book. I send regular mailouts to everyone I’ve ever worked with or talked to about a possible collaboration, and while there’s a lot wastage, those emails can nudge people into action. Some people are prompted to write a second book – or a third in one case – while others decide to take the plunge maybe three or four years later after we first spoke.

To paraphrase what Marcia said in a recent AOG newsletter: You only stop reaching out to a prospect when they write their book with someone else … or when you read an obituary.

What do you wish clients understood about the ghostwriting process?

I wish they understood that a ghostwriter has little to do with whether or not a book is a bestseller. That’s down to the author’s content, the market, and the amount of marketing and promotion they’re prepared to do (or pay for). All I can do is make the best book out of what they give me to help them achieve what they want to achieve with their book.

And that good ghostwriters are expensive … because they’re, er, good.

How would you describe your favorite type of project and client?

I like clients whose ambition is not to write a bestseller or make a fortune from book sales (see above). I particularly like clients who see beyond themselves to helping their readers: the surgeon who writes a book for their patients, the lawyer who wants to advise law students on their career choices, the coaches whose approach can help C-suites turn their businesses around.

My favorite type of project is one that combines what I’d loosely term “thought leadership” with details of an individual’s life and career: what they’ve done, how, and most importantly why. I tend to avoid “look at me, aren’t I great” memoirs … but I have to confess that those authors are sometimes the most fun to deal with.

What are the best parts of this career?

The best part bar none is that I get to meet fascinating people from around the world who have accomplished things that make my jaw hit the floor – and I get to help them appreciate and express their achievements in a way they often haven’t done themselves. A handful have become friends.

Something people seem reluctant to talk about is how lucrative ghostwriting can be if you find the right market. That’s something I hope new and developing ghostwriters bear in mind while they’re trying to get their careers off the ground. It’s worth sticking with it. I spent most of my career in a low-rent end of publishing, where you can only earn a decent living by learning to write well and write fast. As an experienced ghostwriter working for professionals, I charge relatively high prices. That excludes a lot of prospects … but my business model is based on having only a handful of clients a year.

Then there are the usual benefits of working for yourself. I enjoy setting my own schedule (today, I’ve had a long – very long – lunchbreak to watch cricket on TV, so I’ll work later this evening) and I like the freedom not to take on projects I think I won’t enjoy.

How can people reach you?

They can write me at tim@cookethebook.com or they can visit the website (www.cookethebook.com) to book a chat. I also post regularly on https://www.linkedin.com/in/timcookeghostwriter