Not long after Michael Levin graduated from Columbia Law School in 1985, he realized he didn't want to be a lawyer. “I worked briefly for two firms in Boston, got fired from the first, and got demoted and fired from the second because I didn't really belong or have my head in the game,” Levin says.
Levin had another passion: writing.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Meaning Company. Michael Levin.
By the time he was in his late 20s, Levin had sold three books to Simon & Schuster. Unfortunately, reaching agreement on a fourth deal proved difficult, and as Levin's former classmates became partners in New York firms, he struggled to pay the bills—until he met the man who would be his. mentor in business and life for the next three decades.
Levin's mentor brought him down to one Dunkin' Donuts in Boston and showed him how start a business that would help him cover his expenses while pursuing his craft. He suggested that Levin teach creative writing classes. “He said, 'I've worked with you creative people before, and you can't do your best work if you don't know how you're going to put food on the table or how you're going to pay the rent,'” Levin recalled.
So, in 1994, Levin gave his first writing lesson. The decision to teach would launch the next phase of Levin's writing career, where ghost writing and entrepreneurship went hand in hand. That was more than 35 years and 1,000 books ago.
entrepreneur sat down with New York Times best-selling author Levin, founder and CEO of The company of meaningto learn more about how he built two successful ghost writing firm throughout his decades-long career.
“I wrote down on a piece of paper what I was making at the time from ghostwriting versus what I was making from teaching and coaching.”
Levin taught his first classes in his yoga teacher's studio and then in a church basement. He also traveled to teach at UCLA several times a year. As more people took his courses, they began asking for consultations and then for Levin to write their books for them. Levin balanced his teaching, coaching and ghostwriting gigs for the next seven years.
Then, in 2002, Levin did some math. “One day I was at lunch and I wrote on a piece of paper what I was earning at that time from ghost writing versus what I was making from teaching and coaching,” he says. “And there was just no comparison. It was clear.”
Levin went into his own ghostwriting business. He received sales training and marketing instead, he attended the Disney Institute to learn customer service and “I learned the hard way, by being sued twice, how to get a good deal.” When a college student shadowed him for a day, he was so impressed that he hired her while she was still in school. She became the first writer to join Levin's BusinessGhost team.
As BusinessGhost expanded, Levin hired people to run the firm's publishing and financial operations, as well as an assistant. “Learn to delegate it's hard for entrepreneurs because everything we leave has some claw marks on it,” Levin says. “There are a lot of skills required to run a business. So, little by little, I won them over enough that they weren't a threat to my business. Let's put it this way. I'm not Bill Gates, but I'm good.”
“(I look back) and I have tears in my eyes because I realized how much I was being depleted by fear.”
Pricing because his business was one of Levin's greatest challenges. He recalls calling his mentor as he considered raising his consulting fee to $90 an hour. Who will pay that amount? He thought at the time. Levin admits that even a few years ago, he could have changed more about the value of his writing.
“(I look back) and I have tears in my eyes because I realized how much I was impoverishing myself with fear,” Levin says. “One of the things I learned marketing is that sellers overestimate the number of credible options buyers have. So when I was pricing, I wasn't pricing deals. I, for the most part, didn't compete with other writers. I was competing against myself.”
These days, Levin can charge more than $100,000 per book. Now, when he speaks in ghostwriting groups, he tells people to charge what they're worth because there are no hungry customers—just starving writers.
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“I've always been ashamed of the fact that I was writing ghosts, because it felt like buying clothes compared to the dream I had.
In 2012, Levin's business took a big hit when he came forward Shark tank.
Levin hadn't heard of the show before interviewing the executive producer for one of his client's books. “I had four young children at the time, so I'm not (up) on TV,” he explains. “And he's telling me about all these great businesses, and I feel so much less than. Because two guys on Capitol Hill are making pork gravy, and they're getting rich, and what am I doing? Typing.”
Then the producer turned the tables — and asked Levy if she'd consider applying for the show.
“I looked at him like he had two heads,” Levin recalls. “I said, 'No, there's nothing sexy about my business. I'm in a room typing.' And he said, 'I think it's very sexy and I want you to apply.'
That's what Levin did. That year, 30,000 people applied to continue Shark tank; 110 segments taped and 35 aired. Levin was one of them. He recalls the experience “as an intervention on national television”.
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“I've always been ashamed of who I was ghost writing because to me it felt like buying clothes, compared to the dream of pitching a novel in New York a year, which ended after the third novel,” Levin explains. “I sold a few more later, (but) not for a very livable. . So it was embarrassing.”
Although the business was not scaled enough for Sharks to invest, the judges praised him for doing “what 0.001% of all writers have ever done, which is to make a living from writing”.
Levin's episode aired every 10 weeks for years. The phone kept ringing, transforming Levin's business and his understanding of himself as one entrepreneur. Ultimately, BusinessGhost grew to a size that was difficult to manage while devoting considerable time to its writing. At the end of the day, Levin is happiest describing a book or interviewing a client, not analyzing one P&L statementhe says.
“People no longer care who published your book. It's no longer part of the buying criteria.”
Levin sold BusinessGhost in 2018 and went on to launch The Meaning Company, which writes, publishes and markets books “for the most distinctive, quality-led individuals, families and businesses on five continents”. Levin is not interested in publishing as many books as possible. He wants to focus on quality over quantity, positioning the firm as “the Ritz-Carlton of ghostwriting.”
These days, traditional publishing of non-fiction works is difficult for authors who are not known to a large audience. Typically, traditional publishing deals are reserved for high profile people like Prince Harry or Michelle Obama, Levin explains. Most of Levin's customers aren't necessarily interested in selling as many books as possible; they see independent publication as a means of influence rather than an income stream.
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“I used to do about a book a year with New York publishers, and today, I just don't want to bother,” says Levin. “Me independent publicationyou can publish the book in 60 days. It's over. You can do a second edition a month later. You control everything. You keep your IP. And your book has the same position on Amazon as a book published by Random House. People no longer care who published your book. It is no longer part of the purchase criteria if it ever was.”
“The ability to hear what the person is almost saying is not something that HE can do yet.”
Last year, Levin hired a company to provide guidance Marking. In speaking with past clients, the company determined that Levin is particularly adept at identifying what is most meaningful in people's careers and lives and then focusing the books on that. The company suggested Levin go to market that way and write a book focusing on his work—so he renamed his business The Meaning Company and wrote Making Sense of Your Life: Writing a Book About What Matters Most to You.
The publishing landscape has changed significantly over the decades, and it it's the last frontier. As it stands, however, Levin isn't worried about technology's potential to disrupt the ghostwriting business. Although he admits that AI is essentially “wiping out” lower-end ghostwriting services that don't attract customers who prioritize a premium product, AI can't do what he and other quality-obsessed writers do: listen to what someone does not say and listen. what they are almost verbalizing, or wish they could.
“I might be talking to a client for an hour-long interview, and we're about 35 minutes into it, and all of a sudden the client says something, (and I'm like), 'Whoa, ah, ah, wait a minute, what did you say? ?'” Levin explains. “I've written so many books in so many verticals that I know what people in that field are saying, and I know that I've just heard something that no one else is saying. So now we're going to turn the chapter and make the chapter about that idea, or we're going to make the whole book about that idea. The ability to hear what the person is almost saying is not something AI can do yet.
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For anyone interested in starting one the ghostwriting business of them, Levin suggests finding someone who wants to publish a book. Complete their project for a lower fee to get a blur and photos for your website, then raise your prices significantly.
“People tend to assume that if you charge a lot, it must be worth it,” Levin explains. “Because otherwise, no one else would pay for it. There was a guy in my yoga class where I got space to start my own business, and he was very rich and he said, 'My attitude is why should I pay anymore a little?” So don't compete for the prize — compete on quality.”
“Watching smart people think is like watching great athletes or musicians.”
Levin is also about to launch a writing course called The best winning author systemwhich teaches people how to organize, write, edit, publish, market and earn money their books of business. He says it can also be a resource for writers hoping to break into the ghostwriting field.
“Writing is a strange way to make a living,” says Levin. “It's not like you go somewhere where there are nine other people, or you meet someone on a flight, and they're also a lawyer or an accountant or whatever. But I call it the greatest graduate school in the world because the people who are the best in their fields are paying me to watch them think, and watching smart people think is like watching great athletes or musicians.