Catherine Hapka is one of the most prolific authors you may not know you know. Writing over 100 books as herself, and as a ghostwriter from the S.A.S.S. series to Nancy Drew, Star Power, HTTYD and more, she graciously took the time to answer my questions about her start, what makes a ghostwriter, and what’s coming next.

1. When did you begin writing, and what drew you to children’s books in particular? 

I can’t remember ever NOT writing; I wrote little stories and plays as a child, and started several epic novels as a teenager. I also read everything I could get my hands on.

After studying English lit in college, I landed my first adult job as an editorial assistant in the children’s department of Bantam Books in New York. At that time we published lots of monthly mass market series, including Sweet Valley, Choose Your Own Adventure, The Saddle Club, and others.

A few years later after I’d left that job, the creator of The Saddle Club, the wonderful and generous Bonnie Bryant (who had been writing all the books herself to that point — on a monthly publishing schedule!), decided to bring in some ghostwriters to help out. She knew I knew the series, that I was interested in horses, and that I aspired to be a writer, so she gave me a shot at writing one of the first ghostwritten titles, which soon turned into many more. The rest was history!

As a teenager and in college I was convinced I’d end up writing literary novels and short stories. So while I always loved kids’ books, I guess you could say I ended up writing them somewhat by chance. However, kids’ books are so varied and fun that now I can’t imagine doing anything else!

2. On your website you state you ghostwrite for IPs, and the like. What is the process for that?

As mentioned above, I started out doing IP (though we didn’t call it that back when I started). In addition to writing for The Saddle Club for many years, I also contributed to various other popular series including Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Sweet Valley, and various YA romance series.

My second job as an editor was at Disney Press, so I was later able to write for Disney (and still do!) as well as various other licensors. I’ve done everything from board books to movie novelizations to YA crossover titles based on popular TV shows (including Lost and Alias). 

The business has changed over the years. Most of those then-popular series are long gone, so the IP landscape has shifted quite a bit. Also, six years as an editor gave me lots of great industry contacts that helped me get started.

In addition to the sorts of IP work I’ve been discussing (which are sometimes ghostwritten and sometimes include an author credit), I’ve also been lucky enough to help several celebrities bring their book ideas to life. For instance, I co-wrote a YA series called The A Circuit with Georgina Bloomberg, the accomplished show jumper and daughter of the former mayor of NYC. Georgina was happy to share author credit on her books, though I’ve also worked on others that were true ghostwriting gigs so I obviously can’t name those here! 

One of my current projects also falls into the celebrity collab category — more on that in response to a later question! 

3. Are there guidelines for writing stories based on IPs or is it dependent on the brand?

It’s absolutely dependent not only on the brand, but also on the specific project. Sometimes you’re writing to a strict outline, sometimes you’re expected to generate original story ideas based on the IP, often it’s somewhere in between. But again, as I mention above, the main guideline is that you have to give the licensor what they want and need. That’s the whole job, really. 

4. What would say are some of the most important skills you need if one wants to get into ghost-writing? 

Anyone thinking about trying their hand at IP or ghostwriting has to be able to put their heart and soul into each project, making it the best they can, while ALSO remembering that someone else has the final word on what will work (or not) for that property. You have to be able to take criticism without taking it personally, you have to be able to write fast, and you have to be willing to revise as much as the IP owner considers necessary. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I love the challenge!

But I’m not sure I have any useful advice for people trying to break into that part of the industry, except that it’s always important to be professional and easy to work with; kids’ publishing is a VERY small industry, and word of mouth can make or break you.

Additionally, in the practical sense, the route I took isn’t fully available anymore (and most people aren’t going to be able to drop everything and move to NYC to make contacts and gain experience by working in publishing first in any case!).

There are often people on social media giving this sort of advice with much more recent experiences, though I’ll add the caveat that you should check to see what those people have actually published before taking what they say to heart — while I’ve absolutely seen very successful IP writers be quite generous in offering their insights on SM, I’ve also seen people who haven’t done much yet presenting themselves as “experts” with the inside scoop. Caveat emptor!

Once you’ve landed that initial IP job, however, I can certainly offer advice on the skills you’ll need to succeed. You have to be able to write fast (usually) as IP most often operates on tight schedules. You have to be able to take direction, revise quickly, and leave your ego out of it. You need to find a way to understand and love (or at least respect) the world of the IP (even if you’d never even heard of it before), while also remembering that someone else has the last word on whether you “got it right.”  

5. You write for the very young to the young adult, do you have to get into a different mindset when you write for different demographics or has it become second nature? 

Yes, and yes! There’s definitely a different mindset for each age group, and often even for various genres within an age group. But it does become second nature after a while. If I’m shifting between wildly disparate projects, it can sometimes help to read a few pages of a book written for that age group or genre before getting started for the day. 

In fact, that ties in to my go-to advice for any aspiring writer: read lots and lots of the kind of stuff you want to write. This goes not only for IP/ghostwriting, but for original fiction writing as well. 

6. You’ve written over 100 books, do you write multiple books at a time? What is your schedule? 

I usually do have multiple projects going at any one time (at least when things are going well — publishing can be very feast-or-famine at times). I don’t really have a strict schedule, though I probably should. 

7. How did you begin your collaboration with Ellen Vandenberg? 

I’ve been friends with Ellen since we were in our early twenties, when we both worked at Bantam Books (in different departments. We stayed friends over the years and eventually decided to start  collaborating on a couple of ideas we’d been talking about… and the rest is history!

We live in different places these days, so we’re only able to get together in person a few times per year. We do most of our writing over the phone, and have published multiple titles that way. We’ve got something new and fun in the works right now, though it’s too soon to talk about it yet.

8. I know, it’s like choosing a child, but is there one brand or series you enjoy writing for more than the others?

Oh wow, that is a tough question! It’s usually whatever I’m working on currently. Every project has its own challenges and rewards! 

9. Any news you’d like to share?

My latest big news involves another celebrity collaboration. I’m lucky enough to be working with the fabulously talented and accomplished Millicent Simmonds, star of A Quiet Place and many other things.

Growing up as a Deaf kid who loved to read, she had trouble finding books that spoke to her experience, and wanted to use her platform to bring Deaf representation to kids’ books. The result is Emery Ever After, which will be published next year by Philomel. It’s a middle grade novel with a spunky heroine, some acting, some romance, some American Sign Language, and lots of humor, fun, and friendship. I hope everyone will love Emery as much as Millicent and I do!

I also have a few other things in the works, though nothing I can talk about yet. But stay tuned!

You can learn more about Catherine, and her work on her website: https://www.catherinehapka.com/ and on all relevant social media.