Ghost Writing

The trouble with ghostwriting is that if you've done enough of it, you tend to forget the clients and publications you've done it for. For example, I once wrote about imaging algorithms and hardware for a company called Imaging Technology, Inc. (ITI). The article was for publication in a magazine called Computer Graphics World, which I believe no longer exists. Since I never kept a tear sheet, it took me months (okay, maybe years) to remember the name of that publication.

I also recall writing a speech on supercomputer memory architectures for presentation at an engineering conference around 1986. I don't recall the name of the engineer I wrote it for (he was a lead engineer at Alliant Computer) or the name of the conference, though I recall that it impressed me at the time. So far as I know, neither ITI nor Alliant Computer are going concerns today.

So when I say that I am presenting "selected examples" of my work, I really mean that my memory does much of the selecting. As I compile these resume pages, I am constantly astounded at the clients, projects, and articles I had forgotten. With that in mind, here are a few clients for whom I have ghost-written magazine articles, speeches, or white papers. I have also agreed to write books and book chapters.

Selected ghost-writing clients:

·        Telesoft, Inc. (article on Ada compiler technology, published in Computer Design)

·        Lisp Machines, Inc. (LMI)

·        Alliant Computer Systems (among many other things, I wrote an article on multi-language compiler technology published in Government Computer News)

·        Concurrent Computer Corporation (white paper on real-time processing)

·        Alsys, Inc. (annual report copy, but I think of it as ghost writing, since it's signed by someone else)

Lists do get boring, so I'll stop there. (Alas, one downside of ghost writing is that many clients for whom you've ghost-written want to keep it a secret.) The main point is that I've written a lot of stuff under other people's names. Most of it has been for technical publication in one form or another (I'm including speeches presented at conferences as a form of publication).

My main talent as a ghost writer is flexibility. Not only can I write about a wide variety of topics including—but not limited to—the technical, but I have proven the ability to pick up the preferred style of almost any publication and submit an article that is ready for print. Therefore, editors love my work, and my clients are happy because it's easy to get their story published.