EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Joshua Lisec Talks Being The Right's Most Well-Known Ghostwriter

Joshua Lisec is one of the most hard-hitting culture war voices on X, advocating for Christianity, right-wing values, and a return to traditionalism. For the better part of two decades, he’s hustled hard working as a ghostwriter for a lot of media figures you might already be following.

Fandom Pulse placed his book with Jack Posobiec, Unhumans, as one of ten books people should arm themselves with reading if they want to get educated for the culture war, as we advocate literacy as one of the most important tools needed to save western civilization in our current crisis.

Lisec took time out of his incredibly busy schedule as a writer, political commentator, and father to speak with Fandom Pulse, doing this interview via voice in his car with children’s voices in the background making for quite an intimate look into what it’s like to be him.

Fandom Pulse (FP): Your profile has you as “the ghostwriter” implying you’ve written books for several different prominent people. Is that how you got your start, and how did you move to increasingly having your name on the cover of the books instead of as a hidden contributor?

Lisec: I got into ghostwriting completely by accident.

When I was a youngster, my ambition was to become a published novelist, and I cleared that ambition at age 20, before turning 21. I got myself a tiny little book deal with an independent press publisher for my first novel, which turned into a second novel.

As I'm—in 2011 through 2013—promoting my upcoming novel in preorder, I’m also promoting my first and second novels. It's of the interesting happens.

Two people who had read my novel, much older than I, said, "Joshua, I wanted to write a book longer than you'd been alive. Can you help me out here?"

And I said, "Okay, fine, sure, I'll help you with your book.” And I have been saying, "Okay, fine, sure, I'll help you with your book” ever since.

At the time that your article will be published, I will have finished ghostwriting my 100th full-length general trade nonfiction book. It's even more for the novels that I have done and the nonfiction books I’ve co-authored.

I've been doing this for 14 years, ghostwriting, and I've worked with a lot of people who are well known, to such an extent that it's common now that when a new client reaches out to me, they present me a book and say, “Joshua, I would love to write this book for my industry.” It turns out I wrote that book for that previous author’s book for the industry.

I realized that, due to GPT 2.0, I noticed it in an article in The Guardian or maybe it was in The Atlantic. It was one of these publications I read in 2017, an article that showed the work of GPT2, and I knew that ghostwriting was toast and that the future of ghostwriting would be authorship. I realized that people wouldn't want to hire me because they wanted a ghostwriter, and I was the favorite of the ones they interviewed, they would want Joshua Lisec to write their book. That's why I could become a public figure.

Recently, Scott Adams announced he’s got a nasty form of cancer. You’ve been leading the charge for honoring him lately. What does Scott Adams mean to you both as a creator and personally?

Scott Adams has been a treasure of a client. I worked with him on his books. Reframe Your Brain was one heck of an experience because I was able to fit that into my schedule during my favorite time of day and night to work, which is working from 1 a.m. to 4 am and doing developmental editing and restructuring, and giving these sort of strategic comments on the reader’s experience and all manner of things.

I’ve shared a lot about my, let's say, relationship with him, as there was a time when I suffered a great loss in my life, and he was the very first person I reached out to. Of course, he immediately responded and offered me support. He's my internet Dad, and he's that for millions of people. He's somebody who people keep telling me are big shoes for me to fill, but I don't think I'll be an internet dad like Scott, maybe, I joke, you know, I'm your, older worldwide on her, or maybe your uncle Netscape.

Most notable in recent days has been your teaming with Jack Posobiec. How did you become such good friends and collaborators?