One of the most beautiful scenes I’ve witnessed was my Oaxacan coworkers perched in stone fruit trees, playing the blossom-covered branches like harps. Sunbeams escaped through gray clouds and lit the softest edges of pink blossoms as they rained down atop new spring grass.

I was up in a tree too, plucking new blossoms and leaving the right ones to turn into juicy, sun-kissed peaches. We needed to move quickly but with intention, thinking about the space between the blossoms and the sunlight that would reach them.

Months later, the peaches were ready for sale at the farm stand. Folks buying the peaches didn’t know that we had labored in the early, cold, rainy winter hours to prune the trees. They didn’t get to listen to my coworkers whistling old Mexican tunes, thinning thousands of blossoms with the grace earned from decades of expertise. Yet, the customers still got to enjoy the fruit’s world-stopping sweetness.

Should you write your book or have a ghostwriter write it for you?

It’s a question of whether you want to grow the peach or if you want to buy it at the farm stand.

Think about this question in three parts:

Desire

• Do you want to wake up in the cold, early, winter hours to prune the orchard? If you’re curious about the long, messy and rewarding process of writing a book, go for it!
• If thinking about researching and writing the first draft of a chapter makes you yawn, work with a ghostwriter.

Skills

• Do you know which branches to cut and which blossoms to thin? If you can structure your ideas into a cohesive outline and write compelling chapters full of pithy, interesting paragraphs, you’re ready to write your book.
• If you are an idea person who loves reading but hasn’t written much, find a ghostwriter. Developing your skills takes desire and the next facet, time.

Time

• Do you want to walk the orchard rows, setting gopher traps, and emptying them every couple of days, year round? It’s gratifying to protect the trees but it requires vigilance and consistency.
• Writing a book means devoting time to researching, writing, editing and rewriting. If you’d like to know how much time it would take you to write a book, time yourself for a practice chapter.
• DIY test: A typical non-fiction business book is around 50,000 words. If you have 17 chapters, each chapter is around 3,000 words. Time how long it takes to research, write, edit and fix the chapter. Multiply that by 17 to estimate the time commitment needed to write your book.
• For the first five people who send me their practice chapter, I will give you edits and feedback FOR FREE! This will help you figure out how much time it will take you to go through the editing and rewriting process.
• My email is roxanne.c.darrow@gmail.com
• If you didn’t read the practice I gave you above because it looked boring and/or scary, hire a ghostwriter.

So, you want to grow the peach. Your reward is when you bite into it, the juices of all the sweat, seasons, pain and singing fill your palate. It’s a taste through time and space.

A book coach can guide your writing journey. As the Chinese proverb says, “A farmer’s best fertilizer is their shadow.” A book coach keeps your shadow in the right places at the right times.

It is also 100% okay to buy the peach.

You’ll experience its pleasure and create your own memories, perhaps peach shortcake after a BBQ with friends. It’s okay if you don’t have the desire, skills or time to write a book. Ghostwriters deliver your unique book, fresh to your inbox.

Whether you grow the peach or buy one at the farm stand, you’re in the peach business. Welcome to the party! May your efforts be meaningful and ever fruitful.

I specialize in ghostwriting these non-fiction genres: business, diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility (DEIA), self-help, history, travel and cookbooks.

I also guide folks in writing their own books.

This is called developmental editing or book coaching. I recently coached a self-help author to complete their manuscript for Hachette, one of the Big Five publishers.

What are you leaning towards? Growing the peach or buying one?