Author-entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo has revealed the secret behind his bestselling ghostwriters. Warikoo's LinkedIn post came after CA-turned-writer Nishtha Gehija announced that she wrote her second book, Get Epic Shit Done, “in less than 3 months” while working full-time.
Undeterred, Wariko responded with a cheeky roll: “Nishta is lying. Not only did she write my second book. She also wrote my first book! ” Turns out, the writer behind the scenes is also responsible for Warikoo's breakout bestseller, Do Epic Shit.
The candid confession created a social media buzz, with the installment shedding light on the difficult work ghostwriters do to bring ideas to life.
“The creator of the book shares their thoughts, experiences and stories. This could be through personal interviews, as in Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, or following the designer's life, such as Prince Harry's autobiography,” he explained.
For his books, Gehija pulled together his vast library of videos, blog posts and content.
“Nishta and I used to have Zoom calls, where she would ask questions (pretending to be a student), and I would answer (as a teacher),” Variko revealed. Calls were recorded, transcribed, and then transcribed into a structured manuscript. “Imagine going through thousands of pieces of content, making sense of them, and then compiling them into a book. An incredibly difficult task, she performed admirably,” he added.
The process was far from a hidden arrangement. Warikoo shared a photo of the welcome page of his second book he has written, “Nishta, actually wrote this book. We spent three months on multiple zoom calls. He emphasized that ghostwriting was a professional collaboration, and in his case a paid assignment.
When a LinkedIn user questioned why he calls himself an “author” even though he hasn't written his books, Warikoo answered candidly: “Author seemed the easiest for me to suggest that I publish books. If you can think of a better description, let me know and I'll happily change.
“Can't believe I described ghostwriting as a career to LinkedIn,” he wrote.
“All my future books will be written by someone else,” he joked.