Bill Steigerwald

Bill Steigerwald – Ghostwriter

Veteran journalist/book author/ghostwriter with solid but tender editorial skills will make your words and story sing.

Overview

I'm a veteran print journalist with a strong narrative touch who's looking for interesting and challenging freelance/ghostwriting opportunities anywhere on the globe. After writing thousands of articles and opinion columns for the Los Angeles Times and two Pittsburgh dailies from 1979 to 2009, I've published two highly readable nonfiction books of my own. 'Dogging Steinbeck' (2013) made international news by exposing the fictions and lies John Steinbeck put into his iconic 1962 "nonfiction" best-seller 'Travels With Charley.' My 2017 Lyons Press book '30 Days a Black Man' retells the historic but forgotten true story of an undercover journalism mission into the Jim Crow South in 1948 by a white reporter pretending to be black. Since 2015 I've ghostwritten a nationally syndicated column for a well-known conservative political figure. I've also helped two business executives write their autobiographies and wrote a book-for-hire for a major natural gas exploration and development company. I can write a book proposal that will impress your agent or improve your writing without destroying your voice or point of view. I'm a careful, fact-loving generalist who knows how to take highly specialized or esoteric information and make it appealing and interesting to the average reader.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Economics History Law Political Science & Current Affairs Transportation
Languages
English (US)

Work experience

Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, book author, freelancer

Mar, 1979 — Mar, 2009 (about 30 years)

After a brief stint with CBS Television's Docudrama Department in Los Angeles in 1979, I worked in the LA Times' Calendar arts and entertainment section in the 1980s as a copy editor, letters editor, freelance writer, columnist and second-string TV reviewer. During the 1990s I was a Sunday feature writer, reporter and weekly columnist in my hometown at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. During the 2000s I was an associate editor, weekly opinion columnist, book-page editor and letters editor at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. My weekly Q-and-A interviews with the likes of George McGovern, Milton Friedman, Jane Jacobs and other important, brilliant or newsworthy Americans were nationally syndicated in the 2000s. I've freelanced for major newspapers like the Washington Post and New York Post as well as Reason magazine, the Moscow Times and Men's Health. No Pulitzer yet, but no lawsuits either. The New York Times editorial page praised me and my journalism for my Steinbeck findings in 2011. So did travel author Paul Theroux and renowned Dutch journalist Geert Mak.

Portfolio

In 1948 most white people in the North had no idea how unjust and unequal daily life was for the 10 million African Americans living in the South. But that suddenly changed after Ray Sprigle, a famous white journalist from Pittsburgh, went undercover and lived... read more
"Steinbeck falsified his trip. I am delighted that you went deep into this.” -- Paul Theroux, Author of “Deep South" and "The Tao of Travel""No book gave me more of a kick this year than Bill Steigerwald's investigative travelogue 'Dogging Steinbeck.'" -- Nick... read more

Bill has 4 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Roger M.

Roger M.

Feb, 2023

Bill has been fantastic. He has made my work in progress much more concise, precise, and readable. He is very professional and a great communicator as you would expect from a professional writer with decades of experience. There's no waiting around for him to get to the tasks at hand. You send him your material and he quickly returns with inciteful edits and suggestions. Now it's up to you...
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Lorin L.

Lorin L.

Aug, 2021

Bill was honest and friendly when he provided a professional assessment of my writing. He lowered the price when he discovered that I need to do more work.
Bill S.
Thanks, Lorin. It was a pleasure working with you.
Maria K.

Maria K.

Sep, 2020

There was a misunderstanding as to the work needed to be done.
Bill S.
With her one-star review, Maria unfairly represents our collaboration, creating the impression that I was hard to work with and that I didn't know what I was doing. I'd hate to have her 'review' af...
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Erin A.

Erin A.

Sep, 2019

Bill provides high quality, well researched work. I look forward to working with him again.
Bill S.
Thanks Erin. Glad it worked out.

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