When Client Work Goes Wrong | Alice Sullivan

I don’t know about you, but many times I’ve had this experience when listening to interviews on podcasts: I love what the guest is talking about, and it’s cool to hear about all their wins and successes. But then I relate what they are saying to my own experiences, which by comparison don’t seem so successful.

There’s a clear reason we feel this way sometimes when listening to interviews. It’s because in public settings, people generally only share their wins, their successes, the things that make them look good.

Everybody has good AND challenging times in their business. But we don’t often hear about the challenging times.

That’s why we’re turning the tables a bit today. My good friend and fellow ghostwriter, Alice Sullivan, actually suggested the topic of this episode. We had talked before about how we handled it when client work goes wrong for various reasons. She thought it would be fun to make an episode about it, and I completely agreed.

So in that spirit, what you’re about to hear is two ghostwriters sharing crazy stories about what happens when things go off the rails with clients, and how we have handled it.

These situations include clients who take a long time to pay (or don’t pay at all), getting fired from jobs, dealing with a client’s personal crisis, clients who hate what you’ve written, how to deal with tricky situations with publishers, and much more.

Just to be clear, in my experience these kinds of crazy situations have been pretty rare. Most the clients I’ve worked with have been amazing and delightful, and it was a pleasure to work on their books.

But just like in real life, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. I hope this episode will not only be a fun listen, but will also give you some strategies for handling future tricky situations with clients.

Before we get into the conversation, let me tell you a bit about Alice Sullivan.

She is a #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling ghostwriter, New York Times bestselling editor (11 times over), collaborator, and speaker. A natural-born storyteller, she has written nearly 70 books and edited over 1,300 titles since 2001.

In addition to her NYT and WSJ bestsellers, other books have achieved Amazon bestseller status and won several awards, such as Readers’ Favorite, Living Now Book Award, and Nashville’s Best Local Children’s Book Award.

Alice has written for Forbes, Hay House, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Abingdon Press, Made for Grace Publishing, and many more publishers and outlets.

Alice specializes in memoir, self-help, personal growth, and leadership because she loves personal stories and practical advice. Her favorite projects challenge her point of view, expand her knowledge, and add meaning to her life.

Alice is not just a consummate storyteller and writer. She's also one of the most kind and down-to-earth people I know. Make sure to connect with her at https://alicesullivan.com.