What do F. Scott Fitzgerald and Maxwell Perkins, the Farrelly brothers, Tom and Dick Smothers, and Damon and Pythias, have in common? Two heads are quite often better than one. The Business Book Ghostwriters learned their craft together at Wadsworth Publishing Company in the 1970s. Few editors go on to become authors in their own right, but Jack and Roger did. They wrote books with their names on the covers. They wrote books with their author-clients’ names on the covers. For the next thirty-some years, it was write, write, write. Edit, edit, edit. Fun, fun, fun as pencils gave way to red felt-tip pens to word processing with auto-correct. We’re still having fun. Jack and Roger contract individually with their author-clients, but they read, edit and confer with one another throughout writing projects. That means you get double-barreled expertise. Think two, two, two mints in one. Both of us love writing and editing and helping authors see their books in print. It’s deep: Jack once said, “I love the smell of printer’s ink in the morning.” Roger once told an author-client, “If you think writing is a pain, try reading a book by someone who can’t write.” We don’t mean to bore you, but sometimes people want to know our credentials. If you’re one of those people, please read on. The Business Book Ghostwriters are Jack B. Rochester and Roger S. Peterson, who have known each other and worked together in every aspect of book publishing for nearly 40 years. Collectively, Jack and Roger have developed and published more than 110 business, professional and reference, trade books, and college texts.

The Business Book Ghostwriters are:

Jack B. Rochester, East Coast Editor

The publication party for my first book, The Naked Computer, was one of the very best nights of my life. Over a hundred friends, fans, members of the fifth estate, and the book’s editor from New York, turned out for a champagne gala at Boston’s Museum of Science to meet my co-author, John Gantz, and me, play computer games, and get their autographed copy. Reviews appeared in The New York Times and USA Today; we did Boston TV shows and nationwide radio and newspapers.The Naked Computer was a wild, wacky treasure trove of stories about people, companies and events in the computer industry, told with the tongue firmly in cheek. It became a best seller because it was fun, interesting, and different, and it literally made my career as an author and writer. Within a year I was asked to ghost-write a book for a computer consultant, which became a classic in IT turnaround management. An award-winning, bestselling college textbook and a dozen more books followed.

It all made sense. I’d been an editor for both trade books and texts. A journalist, then an author. I knew how things worked on both sides of the desk, a level of expertise I share with my colleague Roger but few other ghostwriters. After nearly forty years helping authors, I’ve learned a lot about content creation, developmental editing, and writing. I can help you write the book you know you need to set your career on fire.

My colleague Roger and I specialize in writing business books. I was a business books editor in management, marketing, finance, business communication and information technology. I know business, and I know how to help an author develop a unique and compelling narrative in nearly any business subject area. What I’ve done for over 60 other authors I can do for you.

Roger S. Peterson, Left Coast Editor

Just five years after graduating from college in St. Paul, a year of teaching, and two years banging on a typewriter in the Navy, I was helping Ph.Ds—experts in subjects in which I was not—write textbooks. Oh, the stories I could tell.

Thus were spent ten years in college textbook publishing, during which I was an acquisitions editor and published 45 books in psychology and education. I worked with Jack Rochester—the guy wearing the Chinese skullcap on this page—who followed me into the same Oregon sales territory. We shared a house overlooking the Pacific in Half Moon Bay, California. We had little free time as editors, constantly on airplanes and trolling university campuses for author prospects. Even when at our house, we sat in one or the other’s cramped office and talked books and authors and publishing. In those days, we had pictures of far-flung girlfriends on our desks. Now we have pictures of far-flung grandkids. Mine are cuter.

Subsequent decades found me in San Francisco ad agencies, then at two computer companies as a marketing communications manager. A guest editorial in The Sacramento Bee on the demise of good business writing led to interviews in The New York Times and amusing coverage on “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.” I learned Andy Warhol was right.

Whether teacher, editor, author, or ghostwriter, it’s all been about motivation, encouragement, frequent hand-holding, and diplomatic reminders of deadlines…often late at night when authors, unable to sleep, called us.

Learning something new can be both fun and frustrating. If you work with Jack or me, we will help you sleep better at night and have more fun during the day. Keep in mind that your goal is a book with your name on the cover.

We’ll help you write the book you know you need.