Ghostwriter
I've ghosted 29 nonfiction books spanning memoir, business, legacy, and big-idea thought leadership.
From a former FBI cyber-security agent and advisor to Pope Francis, to the founder of a national healthcare initiative, an abstract painter and former $10,000/night escort for Saudi Arabian royalty, and a sports-franchise owner and philathropist.
I’ve also worked closely with a wide range of professionals beyond those projects, including principals at one of the nation’s leading advertising agencies, a top mortgage broker, an insurance professional, and individuals seeking to preserve deeply personal life stories under extraordinary circumstances — including a memoir completed for a woman facing terminal spinal cancer with only months to live.
I’ve helped seven authors secure literary agents and traditional publishing deals, and one of my ghostwritten books led its author to sign with a major Hollywood agency and secure a television showrunner — a past president of the Producers Guild of America — within weeks of completion.
I write in your voice—but like you sound when you're at your best.
Clients come to me when their ideas are strong but their words fall short.
Or when they don't have the time or bandwidth to write a book.
Or because they don't know where to start, or where to end, or how to choose what stories to include.
I listen deeply, write clearly, and make the process feel like an intentional, enjoyable conversation. Whether you're building a personal brand or leaving behind a legacy piece, I’ll help you shape it with empathy, clarity, and impact.
I bring 20+ years of experience in traditionally and self-published ghostwriting, editing, book proposal and query development, and can advise, coach, or handle self-publishing from idea to finished product. You'll get a collaborator who’s intuitive, fast, and deeply committed to making your story resonate with your audience.
Client Results
"Joey did not have much exposure to law enforcement before we first met. After a couple years listening to my stories and helping me put this book together, he now has the equivalent of a doctorate in policing. This book would not have been finished if it weren't for Joey and his skills.”
~ John Iannarelli, former FBI Special Agent, head of Arizona Cyber Security,
advisor to Pope Francis, FBI national spokesperson
One client, an owner of two professional sports franchises, discovered my work after seeing a prototype coffee-table book I ghostwrote for a bespoke fashion stylist featuring professionally photographed celebrities and athletes. A lifelong photography collector, he later told me the project's visual quality, narrative voice, and production value immediately convinced him he wanted to work with me.
"Anyone who worked on a project with this level of excellence, I need to work with," he said. After I completed the manuscript, he immediately asked me to write his next book and pitched the concept during that same meeting.
“My heartfelt thanks go to my talented ghostwriter, Joey Robert Parks, without whose expertise this idea would not have found its place on the pages [of “Lost in Time: Our Forgotten and Vanishing Knowledge”].
~ Jack R. Bialik, veteran engineer and CTO with a career spanning
broadband technology, systems engineering, and national security programs
A professional ghostwriter hired me to write multiple contracted book projects from scratch under intense publishing deadlines with their traditional publisher — trusting me to deliver work she could confidently submit under her own name.
“You captured the essence of who I am as a woman and where I’m headed with my career.”
~ A successful abstract painter who asked my help with her partially written memoir and the desire to be published traditionally, I completed her book and taught her to find a literary agent. She signed with an agent and publisher in less than a year.
“This is tremendous, Joey. You’ve made me sound as I actually am. I’ve very pleased with your work.”
~ A nationally respected, bipartisan former senator and Senate president who hired me to write his autobiography after I wrote a two-page sample capturing his authentic voice based solely on our initial conversations.
My first ghostwriting client, Diane, asked me to coach her in writing a children’s book. Shortly before we began, she was diagnosed with terminal spinal cancer with only six months to live. She asked me to coach her to write her memoir instead. As her health declined, I proposed that I write the book in her voice so the story could still be completed in time. Much later, I discovered there was already a word for what I was doing for her: ghostwriting.
Selected Ghostwriting & Editorial Projects
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National lawmaker behind a major U.S. healthcare initiative — memoir (NDA).
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Founder of a national consumer-advocacy organization — business memoir (NDA).
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Owner of professional sports franchises — innovation and business entrepreneur memoir (NDA).
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$10K-per-night escort for Saudi Arabian royalty turned international artist — transformational memoir (NDA).
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Gay Hollywood actor/producer — memoir (NDA).
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Simon & Schuster: a series of faith-based titles (8 volumes on the Saints) — nonfiction (NDA).
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Simon & Schuster: Three holiday novellas, not part of a series, published seperately for different holidays. — fiction (NDA).
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All works above and dozens more include developmental and line edits for photobooks, ghostwriting and credited how-to's, work manuals, novels, short stories, poetry, children’s titles, screenplays, stage plays, magazine articles, and journalism.
