“How do you tell someone else’s story, but make it authentic?”

That’s the question at the heart of this episode of As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast, which is really a repurposed, repackaged edition of a recent episode of Missing Pages, the critically-acclaimed investigative podcast hosted by renowned literary critic Bethanne Patrick—known to readers across social media as “The Book Maven.”

Bethanne and her production team at The Podglomerate, a leading producer of original podcasts, pull back the curtain on the lucrative culture of non-fiction ghostwriting, and offer a compelling take on the art and practice of writing in collaboration, and the role “literary chameleons” have come to play in the telling of high-profile tales. Along the way, Bethanne looks at the evolution of the practice, and interviews ghostwriting veterans like Jon Sternfeld and Dan Gerstein, both former As Told To guests, as well as cookbook author J.J. Goode. She also spends some time chatting with As Told To host Daniel Paisner, who weighs in with a hard-won insight or two. 

This special crossover edition of As Told To is being presented with the permission of the Podglomerate team, and Bethanne Patrick, and is intended to further the conversation among writers and creatives who continue to write and create in service of someone else’s voice or vision. 

Also listen to Part II of the two-part Missing Pages exploration of the ghostwriting trade: “Ghostwriting: Fiction – Will the Real Tom Clancy Please Stand Up?” 

Learn more about Bethanne Patrick and Missing Pages:

• Bethanne Patrick’s website
• Bethanne’s memoir, Life B: Overcoming Double Depression
• Missing Pages
• The Podglomerate 
• The Podglomerate Twitter
• The Podglomerate Facebook

Please support the sponsors who support our show:

• Daniel Paisner’s Balloon Dog 
• Daniel Paisner’s SHOW: The Making and Unmaking of a Network Television Pilot
• Unforgiving: Lessons from the Fall by Lindsey Jacobellis
• Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount
• Libro.fm (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership
• Film Freaks Forever! podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton
• A Mighty Blaze podcast
• The Writer’s Bone Podcast Network
• Misfits Market (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order 
• Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount
• Wizard Pins (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount

Most Recent Episodes

January 13, 2025

Episode 80: Benjamin Dreyer

“You’d be amazed at how far you can get in life having no idea what the subjunctive mood is,” writes Benjamin Dreyer, retired managing editor and copy chief of the Random House division of...

Listen · 1:13:37

December 30, 2024

Second Printing: Peter Asher and David Jacks

This episode originally aired June 20, 2023 First-time author David Jacks, a veteran video editor and music supervisor, ran into legendary music producer Peter Asher at a Santa Monica taco joint in...

Listen · 1:21:57

December 16, 2024

Episode 79: Seth Rogoff Returns

Here at the podcast factory, we’re thrilled to welcome back novelist, translator, collaborator and cultural critic Seth Rogoff to talk about his new novel—a thrilling and unsettling coda to Franz...

Listen · 1:14:08

Load More Episodes

Daniel Paisner Daniel Paisner - author, collaborator, podcaster

Daniel Paisner is an author, collaborator and podcaster. He is the author or co-author of over 80 books, including four novels and numerous works of non-fiction, and he is the ghostwriter behind 17 NYT best-sellers, written in collaboration with such celebrated personalities as Whoopi Goldberg, Serena Williams and Denzel Washington. He is the host of the podcast “AS TOLD TO: The Ghostwriting Podcast,” a production of the Writers Bone Podcast Network, which features conversations with his fellow ghostwriters, as well as songwriters, speechwriters, screenwriters and other artists who work in service of someone else’s voice or vision.