Jason Schwartzman – Ghostwriter

Ahoy!

I'm Jason, the author of NO ONE YOU KNOW, an acclaimed nonfiction collection out in 2021 from Outpost19. I was a ghostwriter on a recent celebrity memoir out from Dutton and have also worked on 15 other nonfiction books.

My writing has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Narratively, BULL, River Teeth, X-R-A-Y, and many other places. I teach a nonfiction class, recently for Catapult ("The Art of Flash Nonfiction"), edit for a historic adventure magazine, and was selected for Medium's nonfiction author's program. As a long-time nonfiction specialist, I've worked with bison herders, hot air balloonists, herring scholars, military nurses, superintendents, TV executives, and business magnates, among other folks. I'm fascinated by stories and the unusual paths people take.

My style is inquisitive, encouraging, and focused. I aim to capture my client's voice with a high fidelity so it really feels like YOUR book. My process revolves around core interview time so we can generate the foundational material before I begin shaping, elevating, writing, and expanding. I encourage clients to email or record little thoughts, asides, and additions to bring deeper color and nuance. After a review of any other supplemental material, I present a sample chapter for discussion, followed by a full draft and 1-2 rounds of revision.

Above all, I aim to honor the vision of the project. I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to work closely together on what is invariably a profound and illuminating literary adventure. Along the way, I will strive to make the stories as dynamic as possible by carefully thinking about clarity, tone, voice, pacing, structure, argument, and character development, plus other relevant narrative and rhetorical elements. I savor the work of helping a book become the best version of itself before it emerges into the world.

Thanks for considering me! Always happy to answer questions. Fire away.

— Jason

P.S. Selected blurbs + testimonials:

“Jason is my most trusted editor. I actually keep all his ‘notes’ emails saved in a folder because they’re still useful to me months, even years, later. He’s my secret weapon for immediately feeling better and more confident about what I’m working on regardless of the genre or style of the piece.”

— Jessica Granger, Staff Writer, LA BREA, EXTRACTION

"In the great tradition of wayward oral historians, this compelling debut from a talented new author is a vivid and sentient portrait of everyday Americana and the nature of intimacy. An important collection, well-observed, stitched and told."

— Geoffrey Gray, NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling author of SKYJACK: THE HUNT FOR D.B. COOPER

"NO ONE YOU KNOW is sharply observational, atmospheric, with a clever surprise on every page. This debut is an understated and zoomed in account of what it means to be a person, and Jason is an exciting new voice to watch."

— Chloe Caldwell, author of WOMEN and I'LL TELL YOU IN PERSON

"Jason is electric."

— former Catapult student