I ghosted my first book in 2003. After almost twenty years working for various publishers, I went freelance in 2001, as a developmental editor, to help authors develop their ideas into interesting, readable books. Then a colleague asked if I wanted to write a book with Jenny Craig, the founder of the eponymous weight-loss chain. Since I had edited and published dozens of books on business leaders and entrepreneurs, ghostwriting didn’t seem much of a stretch: as I had coached hundreds of authors on how to flesh out their topics, I often felt as though I were co-authoring by directing how each book flowed and what information it provided.

Jenny had started to write her life story for her daughters and grandchildren when a literary agent asked if she would write a book about how she started and grew her business. She was interested, but for a commercial business book, she would need help.

That’s where I came in. The hitch was the deadline: the publisher gave me only a month to write the book. A month! It was already August, and the publisher wanted the book done by January because the number one New Year’s resolution people make is to lose weight. Even though this wasn’t a weight-loss book, a Jenny Craig business book was close enough to capitalize on that interest. So I agreed to write 250 pages in a month.

I interviewed Jenny over the phone, three days a week for an hour at a time, so she could tell me how she started and grew her business. I tape-recorded the calls, listened to the tapes, and transcribed what I needed to see what holes there still were in the story.

I worked about twenty hours a day. Many nights I worked until 4:00 a.m., slept for four hours, and got up at 8:00 a.m. to start another day. Ironically, I gained ten pounds writing that book. Each evening, I cooked healthful dinners (think chicken and broccoli), but by midnight, I was hungry for another meal. And the concept of “meal” takes on a completely different definition at 12:00 a.m.—more like a pint of ice cream or a bag of potato chips.

I finished Jenny’s book on schedule, and both she and the publisher were happy with it.

But I still haven’t lost those ten pounds.