Eilis Olson (Ghostwriter)

Eilis Olson is a ghostwriter. 

No, she doesn’t send emails to spirits that may or may not exist within the walls of expansive castles.

But she does live in California.

Redding, to be exact, a city with a population of over 1.5 million.

“It’s almost as far north as you can go,” she says of her hometown.

“Redding is pretty much like any other place in California, but it also has a small city feel.”

I’ve never heard of Redding, but I like the way it spells when I type the name into my keyboard. 

Curious, I ask Olson what kind of personality she had when she was growing up on the west coast. 

“I feel like this is the kind of thing where I phone a friend and ask them what I am like,” she says, laughter soon following.

Olson then goes on to say that family values permeated her childhood, and that those core philosophies have followed her into adulthood.  

“I have a great family and friends, and I have always leaned into that,” says Olson, an ambitious and self-described overthinker who originally went to college in the Bay Area to study accounting. 

Upon graduating, Olson spent several years running numbers, but eventually her artistic side, and her love of writing, took precedence over pragmatism.  

“I took the usual English courses in high school and college,” she notes.

Actually, in college, one of her professors encouraged her to pursue a double major in English, but the Redding native admits she didn’t think a liberal arts degree would enable her to advance professionally.

“I knew that I did not want to become an English teacher,” she says, meaning there wasn’t a clear path for her to leverage her degree to generate income.

So she counted numbers and had a steady income, but she couldn’t ignore her love for prose.

Searching for ways to monetize her writing skills, she found a course, but the calculated and analytical Olson delayed betting on herself. 

“It took me a year to pull the trigger on buying that course,” she mentions.

“Did I say I was an overthinker?”

Well, the rest is history.

Olson is now a figurative ghost, penning novels for business owners and entrepreneurs who are otherwise too busy to devote 12-18 months to developing a book. 

“Essentially, a ghostwriter is someone who helps you write your book,” Olson says, adding that the entire process is very collaborative, and that she partners exclusively with those dealing in non-fiction (think self-help, memoirs, etc.).   

“I’m helping you find the right words to tell your story to the world.”

In that sense, chemistry between Olson and her clients is important, but building that rapport takes time, and Olson is in no rush to have prospective clients ink an agreement. 

“Collectively, we have to establish trust,” she says. 

“We don’t need to have personalities that perfectly complement each other, but we do have to be willing to work with each other.”

That’s because bringing a book from one’s imagination into a finished project can take anywhere from 4-6 months, a period which consists of edits, feedback, and several calls to ensure the final product is outstanding. 

“As a client, you have to be willing to put some time in with me, but it’s a lot less time than if you were to go and write the book yourself,” Olson notes. 

This speaks to Olson’s expertise and ability to streamline writing a book.

Ordinarily, first-time writers can expect to spend several hundred hours on a draft, but with a skilled ghostwriter like Olson, busy professionals can skip the line by outsourcing to an expert who can capture their clients’ story. 

“The final product will be written in your voice, and it will be what you want,”Olson emphasizes. 

For reference, obtaining Olson’s services is not necessarily budget-friendly. 

Most projects cost $25,000-$30,000.

“That is for a standard 60,000-word book,” Olson says, then mentioning that some projects have run her clients more, depending on the complexity of the book. 

Some will scoff at Olson’s prices, citing the advent of AI as one reason why they should work with a computer instead of a professional, but if you’re serious about creating a book that is both compelling and engaging, and resonates with your target market, Olson cautions against enlisting the help of ChatGPT. 

“AI is getting better, but it’s not at the point where it can write a book that is going to boost your credibility,” she explains. 

“It [AI] can write a blog, kind of, but it can’t write a book.”

Adds Olson:

“Even if you’re not a writer, I believe you can still do a better job writing your book than AI can.”

Olson then says that AI is to writers what calculators are to accountants, and while calculators can add and subtract numbers, they can’t give one an assessment in the same way that a competent accountant can. 

Therefore, working with a ghostwriter should be seen as an investment. 

“I always recommend working with a professional because it’s not about just putting words on a page and slapping a nice cover on there,” Olson says. 

“Your book is representative of your brand, so you want a work of art that appropriately captures your voice and can allow readers to understand and relate with what you have to say.”

NDAs and confidentiality agreements prevent Olson from sharing her rolodex, but her past clients are satisfied, and more notably, elated. 

“Really excited,” Olson says when asked to describe their emotions once their book is finally finished. 

“There is nothing like seeing your story come to life.”

Looking ahead, Olson will likely write her own book, but for now, her focus is completely on her clients and growing her ghostwriting business. 

“I love meeting and writing about individuals who have amazing stories that help and inspire other people,” she says. 

“Finding more people like that, that’s where my focus is at the moment.”

To schedule a free consultation, send an email to: eilisolsonagency@gmail.com QS

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