As Told To

Veteran journalist and author Robert Sabbag joins the podcast to share the story behind the story of one of the greatest books ever written about drug smuggling—Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade, a classic example of collaborative memoir that helped to establish him as one of the most esteemed chroniclers of his generation. No less an authority on these matters than Hunter S. Thompson hailed Sabbag on the book's publication as "a whip-song writer," leading our guest to a long career as a "whip-song" contributor to Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, Playboy, New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, and other publications.

Along the way, he also found time to work as a true ghostwriter on a couple of notable business memoirs, and to write the books Smokescreen: A True Adventure, Too Tough to Die, and Down Around Midnight: A Memoir of Crash and Survival. Sabbag is the co-writer of the film "Witness Protection," based on his New York Times Magazine cover story "The Invisible Family," which was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture.

Join host Daniel Paisner as he visits with his longtime friend to discuss his classic debut effort—"one of the most dazzling and spectacular pieces of reporting I have ever read," according to the late screenwriter and novelist Nora Ephron. How Robert Sabbag got that story is must-listening for all writers…and readers.

Visit Robert Sabbag's website

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"William Novak had the career I hadn't even known I wanted," host Daniel Paisner says of this episode's guest, who for a time seemed to have his have his hand in every major celebrity autobiography on bookstore shelves.

Starting with the publication of the genre-defining best-seller Iacocca, by Lee Iacocca—the best-selling book of 1984 and 1985—Novak embarked on a string of collaborations on some of the biggest books of the next decade, including Earvin "Magic" Johnson's My Life, Nancy Reagan's My Turn, Lt. Colonel Oliver North's Under Fire, and Tip O'Neill's Man of the House. In fact, Novak was so busy during this period that he actually turned down the opportunity to work with both Ronald Reagan and Nelson Mandela—an astonishing turn for a writer who candidly admits he was a little out of his element when he got the Iacocca assignment, as he struggled to realize that his job was not to write about Iacocca, as a journalist might, but to help the former Chrysler chairman "write the book about himself, based on how he sees himself."

Join us on this episode of As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast as we visit with the writer who helped to bring the work of the ghostwriter out of the shadows and into the light.

Please support the sponsors who support our show.

• Misfits Market (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order
• Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount
• Libro.fm (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership
• Wizard Pins (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount

Joni Rodgers is known to readers and publishers as a novelist, ghostwriter and essayist with an eye for detail, an ear for language and a heart to match her subjects. She's collaborated on best-selling books with Don Lemon (This is the Fire), Kristin Chenoweth (A Little Bit Wicked), Swoosie Kurtz (Part Swan, Part Goose), Elizabeth Smart (Where There's Hope), Justin Bieber (First Step 2 Forever), Rue McClanahan (My First Five Husbands…and the Ones Who Got Away), and Ndaba Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela (Going to the Mountain), among others.

In January, 2022, she plans to reissue six books of her own, including the critically-acclaimed novels Crazy for Trying and Sugarland and the deeply personal (and, deeply funny) memoir about surviving cancer as a young mom, following a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 32—the best-selling Bald in the Land of Big Hair.

Joni's always known how to hold an audience: she grew up on stage, performing in a family bluegrass band called The Dakota Ramblers, and after studying theater in college she thought she'd make her way in the world as a performer—acting, playing music, and doing voice-over work. The cancer changed that—and so, she started writing.

"Ghostwriting combines the craft skills I've gained as a writer with the collaborative spirit of my theater roots," she writes on her website. "I use my Stanislavski training to capture the unique voice of my clients, structure compelling stories, and focus powerful messaging."

Together with her husband, the multi-media artist Gary Rodgers, she runs the Westport Lighthouse Writers Retreat, on the Pacific Coast, adjacent to Washington's Westport Light State Park.

Connect with Joni Rodgers:

• Official website
• Westport Lighthouse Writers Retreat
• Facebook
• Instagram

"Don't make it out, make it better."

That's a line from podcast guest D. Watkins, offered in the book trailer for his book of essays We Speak for Ourselves: A Word from Forgotten Black America, in which he gives voice to the voiceless and shines meaningful light on what it means to come of age in East Baltimore, in one of America's poorest black neighborhoods.

It's a line you might hear as well from D.'s NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, himself a product of an uncertain, unforgiving environment–the housing projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn, and Baltimore.

In the future Hall-of-Famer's just-published memoir, Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised: A Memoir of Survival and Hope, an immediate New York Times best-seller, D. helps his celebrated co-author share his story of finding a way out of no way at all, sounding the call for social justice and offering a guidepost for readers looking to pull success from struggle.

More than any other athlete's memoir in recent memory, the book offers a perfect pairing of author and subject, as D. brings his own perspective to Anthony's hard-won experience.

An editor-at-large for Salon, D.'s work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone, among other publications. He is the author of the New York Times best-sellers The Cook Up: A Crack Rock Memoir and The Beast Side: Living and Dying While Black in America.

Connect with D. Watkins:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Website

Laura Zigman is one of our leading voices in contemporary fiction. She's the author of five novels, including her genre-defining debut, Animal Husbandry, which enjoyed a second life on the screen as the Hugh Jackman/Ashley Judd starrer "Someone Like You," as well as her most recent novel, Separation Anxiety, which is currently being developed as a limited television series featuring the actress Julianne Nicholson.

Laura's novels are known for their wit and insight, as she shines compelling light on women and families on the edge, but many of her most faithful readers are probably unaware of her work as a collaborator—most notably with the comedian Eddie Izzard, Texas state senator Wendy Davis, and matchmaker Patti Novak.

Over the years, she's leaned on her ghostwriting assignments as a way to fill the spaces between novels—and, to sharpen her instincts as a writer as she seeks ideas and inspiration for her fiction. In this episode of As Told To, she tells host Daniel Paisner that she sees herself as storyteller, whether she's helping to craft someone else's story or working in service of her own.

"It's a very delicate dance," she says of the tug-and-pull that often surfaces between collaborator and subject. "You have to learn how to handle people. You have to give it back to them sometimes. You have to find that balance between being in service to them and their story and pushing back a little."

Here's where you can find Laura online:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Website

"Each author is different, and each book a puzzle we figure out together," Lisa Dickey writes, of her work as a collaborator.

In the course of her career as one of publishing's most sought-after ghostwriters, Lisa has put together over 20 such puzzles, alongside a rich and varied list of high-profile clients, including first lady Jill Biden (Where the Light Enters); Illinois senator and Iraqi war veteran Tammy Duckworth (Every Day is a Gift); Cissy Houston (Remembering Whitney); and Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi (The Time of My Life).

She has also written books with California Governor Gavin Newsom; legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock; and former Hearst Magazines president Cathie Black, among others.

"I'm a storyteller at heart," Lisa writes, "and I feel incredibly lucky to have helped some of the most intriguing, accomplished and eminent people in the world tell their stories."

She's not kidding about the "storyteller at heart" piece of the puzzle, because in addition to her collaborative work Lisa is also a "brilliant, real and readable" writer in her own right—at least according to no less an authority on such matters as former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, weighing in on Lisa's Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys Across a Changing Russia, a look at the lives and beliefs of contemporary Russians, based on interviews she conducted with the same subjects over the span of 20 years.

Here's Lisa on how learning to speak Russian has informed her work as a writer: "When you start thinking about how [you are] going to express yourself in this other language, you start to really understand how language is put together… and how the native language that you speak affects the way that you think and the way that you express yourself."

Lisa's feel for language finds its way into her collaborative work as well, as she translates the innermost thoughts of her subjects onto the page in such a way that their stories ring true.

Check her out on stage at the Moth Grand Slam.

Facebook: @lisadickeyauthor

Twitter: @lisawritesbooks

Website: http://lisadickey.com/

Sportswriter, collaborator, editor, publisher…Steve Kettmann has just about covered the publishing waterfront. Perhaps his biggest success on the ghostwriting front was his 2005 collaboration with outsized baseball slugger Jose Canseco, Juiced, which made headlines immediately upon publication for its revelations on the widespread use of anabolic steroids in our national pastime and became a #1 New York Times best-seller.

After nearly a decade as a sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle, highlighted by several years as a beat writer covering the Oakland A's, it seems only natural that many of Kettmann's books have centered in and around baseball—including an uncredited collaboration with another of the game's most controversial figures, Pete Rose (Play Hungry), as well as his own One Day at Fenway, chronicling a single game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, and Baseball Maverick, an examination of the life and career of the noted front-office visionary Sandy Alderson.

Kettmann has also written extensively about politics, including collaborations with former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (What A Party!) and the late Robert Byrd, long-time U.S. Senator from West Virginia (Letter to a New President), among others.

In recent years, Kettmann has turned his talents to editing, compiling a headline-making collection of essays on the aftermath of the Trump presidency (Now What?: The Voters Have Spoken – Essays on Life After Trump); and, a heart-breaking and heart-lifting compilation of reminiscences inspired by the sudden death of his great friend Pedro Gomez, the ESPN reporter and one of the game's greatest ambassadors (Remember Who You Are: What Pedro Gomez Showed Us About Baseball and Life). Both books were published by Wellstone Books, the small, independent publishing arm of the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods, a writer's retreat in northern California founded by Kettmann and Sarah Ringler in 2012.

Over the course of his long and varied career, Kettmann has reported from twenty countries on five continents, for publications including the New York Times, New York Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, the Washington Monthly, GQ, and Wired.com.

"I have a lot of passion for telling stories through collaborative writing," Kettmann says—and in this episode of "As Told To" that passion comes through loud and clear, as he joins us to discuss what it means to capture the juice and essence of a celebrated subject and a life purposefully (and, in some cases, scandalously) lived.

Steve Kettmann: Twitter | Instagram

This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm and Writer's Bone.

Veteran journalist and collaborator David Rensin is the author or co-author of dozens of books, and a longtime contributor to Playboy, where he conducted hundreds of celebrity interviews for the magazine.

As a ghostwriter, he has written numerous books in collaboration with leading show business personalities like noted film and television producer Bernie Brillstein (Where Did I Go Right?), as well as unsung heroes like former Olympian Louis Zamperini, whose World War II survival saga Devil at My Heels introduced readers to an epic tale of courage and survival that was later popularized in the film "Unbroken."

David's written a bunch of books on his own, too—including All For a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora, which the author himself pegs as "the greatest surf story never told."

He's also written books on the legendary William Morris mailroom—and, with his friend Bill Zehme, The Bob Book, an unlikely tribute to the name Bob and to the many famous and not-so-famous men who carry it.

"To me, each book is like falling in love," David tells host Daniel Paisner, as he shares insights and anecdotes from his collaborative work with such celebrated personalities as Tim Allen (Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man), Chris Rock (Rock This!), Garry Shandling (Confessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host), Jeff Foxworthy (No Shirt, No Shoes…No Problem!).

We're delighted to share this free-wheeling conversation with the masterful celebrity interviewer and story-teller David Rensin in this episode of As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast, in which he shares stories he's dined out on for years—and a few he's never told before.

David Rensin: Website | Facebook | Instagram

Today's episode is sponsored by Libro.fm.

Michelle Burford is having a moment. As the co-author of six New York Times best-sellers, including the #1 best-selling Just as I Am, written with the legendary actress Cicely Tyson and published just days before Ms. Tyson's death in January at the age of 96, she has established herself as one of the leading collaborators in publishing. She actually prefers the term "story architect" to describe her work, over familiar handles like "ghostwriter" or "collaborator", but her work transcends labels or categorization. Michelle's books shine intimate light on the life and work of her celebrity subjects, as she pushes them to reflect on the choices they've made, the legacies they've built, and the challenges still to come. She asks hard questions and digs for buried truths.

In addition to her work with Ms. Tyson, Michelle has also collaborated on the New York Times best-sellers Courage to Soar, with the game-changing Olympic gymnast Simon Biles; More Myself, with the Grammy Award-winning artist Alicia Keys; and, Finding Me, Michelle Knight's harrowing account of her decade-long ordeal following her abduction by Ariel Castro, who later kidnapped and held two other women with her at his Cleveland home.

"I still find it a really big thrill to peek over into the life of someone like Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, or Michelle Knight and have a part in putting that on the page for readers," Burford tells host Daniel Paisner. "A lot of what I do, and what we do as a group of collaborators, is shut up and allow our clients to tell the version of the story they most want us to know."

Join us on As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast, as the abundantly talented Michelle Burford tells us the version of her story she most wants us to know.

Michelle Burford: Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram

Today's episode is sponsored by Libro.fm.

Welcome to As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast, where we take a look at the work behind many of the autobiographies and memoirs that dominate our best-seller lists. Artists, athletes, politicians, business and thought leaders, change agents of various sizes and stripes…a lot of them rely on the talents of some of our guests to help them tell their stories, and we believe there's something to be learned about the art and craft of writing when it is practiced in collaboration.

Podcast host Daniel Paisner is a veteran ghostwriter, with more than 70 books to his credit, including 17 New York Times best-sellers. He is the "voice" of Serena Williams, Steve Aoki, Daymond John, John Kasich, Whoopi Goldberg, Denzel Washington, Ray Lewis, Ron Darling, Gilbert Gottfried, and dozens of other name-above-the-title celebrities. He has also collaborated with ordinary individuals who have done or seen or experienced something extraordinary. He has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, ESPN: The Magazine and on National Public Radio. New York magazine once called him "the world's most prolific ghost," which may or may not have been a compliment.

Join Daniel as he visits with his fellow collaborators as they talk about their time in the trenches with some of the world's biggest celebrities—and what it means to devote yourself to the telling of someone else's story. Our books are read by millions, and yet we work behind-the-scenes, often in anonymity, so perhaps it's time to share a little something of ourselves in these conversations.

Yes, everybody's got a story to tell, and here at As Told To, we mean to shine a little bit of light on how a great many of those stories find their way into print—and how it is that collaborative work can help to nourish a writing life.

Episodes 1 & 2 air on Sept. 7!