Jan 8, 2020
Today I asked all the questions I
know you want the answers to about writing a book, or more
specifically, working with a ghost writer! My guest this week is
Joshua Lisec. Joshua is the world’s ONLY
award-winning, celebrity-recommended, #1 International Bestselling,
certified professional ghostwriter. Wow! He’s the founder of
The
Entrepreneur’s Wordsmith, LLC as well as a contributor
to Forbes, a TedEx speaker, and a two-time published novelist.
He’s taken his gift of writing and used it create change, impacting
so many people. I was so fascinated by today’s conversation and I
know you’re going to love learning more about Joshua and his
ghostwriting skills!
2:31 - The Joshua 101
- You heard a little of Joshua’s
accolades in the introduction. Not only is he a wildly successful
ghostwriter, he’s also been personally recommended by celebrities
for ghostwriting. They’ve also endorsed his books! His books have
sold tens of thousands of copies a month after the book’s
release!
- California State University (Long
Beach) is the only academically sponsored ghostwriting training
program in the world. Only about 50 people have completed this
course by not only completing the degree, but also demonstrating
professional proficiency as a ghostwriter. Joshua is the first and
only person in Ohio to complete the program.
- As a kid, Joshua loved reading The
Chronicles of Narnia series and The Space Trilogy, both by C.S.
Lewis. He was so inspired that he decided he wanted to become a
novelist. At just 20 years old, Joshua had a two-book deal with an
independent publishing house of Washington, D.C. Around this time,
he also started a freelance writing business.
- As he’s began promoting his
novels, some of his clients told him they loved his writing and
novels. They didn’t want to write a novel, but they did want to
share their stories with Joshua’s help.
- Joshua didn’t even know what
ghostwriting was at the time! He learned a bit more and agreed to
help. 40 books later, and he’s still helping people tell their
stories.
8:29 – How Does Ghostwriting
Work?
- There are many people who want to
get their stories out, but don’t know exactly what to say or are
inhibited by their own self-criticism or self-censorship. It can
even happen to people who’ve already written a book or
self-published.
- Just as entrepreneurs desire to
work on their business and not in their business, authors desire to
work on their book, not in their book. Their time and energy is
better focused on the impact they want their book to have rather
than agonizing over style and grammar as well.
- In order for a Joshua to
understand what’s going on in a person’s head, he starts with a
free manuscript strategy session. To start, this helps answer
whether a person should be writing a book at all. If the answer is
yes, the next step is to figure out what that person’s future
readers want. A ghostwriter literally helps an author figure out
what the book should be about if there’s a good idea
there.
- This first step is an iterative
process that goes on for about a month, and the goal is to figure
out what the book will cover, what it will deliver, and how it will
transform the readers it’s intended for. For several months, the
writer and ghostwriter will work on one chapter each week for
several months.
- Everything written is in the voice
of the author. Often a ghostwriter is better at pulling out what an
author is trying to say if they are the best version of themselves,
the uncensored version. It’s not just what they want to say, it’s
the best possible version of what they want to say.
- Once a rough manuscript is ready,
Joshua helps edit line-by-line, chapter-by-chapter in The Chicago
Manual of Style. They style considerations are what separates a
self-published book apart from a book on a bestseller
list.
15:37 – The Jay Conrad Levinson
Rule
- Jay Conrad Levinson wrote the
International bestseller, Guerilla Marketing. It was the
first book of its kind to help small business with low or no cost
advertising. When asked how much money the book made him, Levinson
said it was about 10 million dollars. The royalties over 30 years
only paid about $30,000, but the book opened a door to consulting,
speaking, products, services, upsells, masterminds, etc., that
accounted for the remaining 9.9 million dollars.
- Following the Jay Conrad Levinson
rule where people can gain from further resources that accompany
your book after they’ve read it is the only way to see a big return
on investment in the process of writing a book.
24:00 – Could Your Book Sell If You
Didn’t Market It?
- Have you ever thought about
writing a book? Would you have ever thought you need to know about
SEO when coming up with your book title? Joshua also equips authors
with resources (like Publisher
Rocket) to know how to title your book. It literally
tells you what book titles are profitable and which ones are not
profitable.
33:23 – Live Ghostwriting and
More
- Joshua also helps people who are
interested in writing a book on their own. You can write your own
book, but Joshua consults on how to structure material and then
reviews the work you’ve done or the changes you’ve made. It’s
almost like a live ghostwriting experience.
- Joshua has a similar program for
publishing by setting up an independent publishing business for
you, going through all the traditional processes of a normal
printing press AND it comes in audiobook form too!
Memorable Quotes:
10:20:
“Authors want to work on their book,
not in their book. Your job, your effort, your energy as the author
should really goes toward the impact you want your book to have,
that high level goal of the book, rather than whether an adverb
goes here or here in the sentence.”
20:42:
“Just like steppingstones across a
creek, you want the stones to be there before you start
walking.”
39:28: Getting To Know Our Guest
Find out what Joshua would eat if he
had to eat the same thing for dinner every night for the rest of
his life, a dream that he’s yet to achieve, and most importantly,
what it means to him to run a business with purpose.
ABOUT JOSHUA LISEC:
Every day Joshua Lisec helps authors
manifest the mission behind their voice. Joshua is the world's only
award-winning, celebrity-recommended #1 international bestselling
Certified Professional Ghostwriter. He is also a Forbes
Contributor ghostwriter, a TEDx speaker, and a two-time published
novelist. Since 2011, he has ghostwritten forty books for everyone
from household names with millions of followers to small town
preachers who want to share their testimony.
CONNECT WITH JOSHUA:
Thank you our sponsor for this episode of the
Business with Purpose Podcast: noissue!
noissue. is the online platform for designing and ordering custom,
sustainable packaging for your business or brand. With low minimum
order quantities, worldwide delivery in three weeks or less (for
free!!!), and a team of designers ready to help, noissue is making
customized packaging accessible for businesses of all shapes and
sizes. You can use the promo code purpose15 for 15% off your first
order!