Kelly Mack McCoy
Author/Ghostwriter
Kelly Mack McCoy, author and ghostwriter, turned a lifelong love of storytelling into a career dedicated to helping others share their purpose through words. After the loss of a co-author and friend inspired him to finish his first novel, he went on to write and coach with empathy, drawing on his emotional intelligence and personal journey of resilience. In this interview, Kelly reflects on the lessons that shaped his writing, the impact of his debut book, and his perspective on the rise of AI in publishing.
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What inspired you to pursue your current career path?
From a very young age, I loved strolling through the aisles of bookstores and picking up random books to read. Sometimes, I would be awed by the brilliant prose and think I could never write like that. But then I would pick up another book that was not as well-written and think, if he can write like that and somehow get his book on a shelf in a bookstore, I can too.
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Who or what influenced your professional direction most?
When my company went bankrupt in the Great Recession of 2008, I had more time to focus on my writing. John Floyd Mills, a member of my writers group and a former San Antonio Light newspaper writer, approached me about co-authoring a series of novels about a trucker and his adventures on the road. The sudden, unexpected death of John Floyd Mills was what motivated me to pick up the trucker-turned-pastor-turned-trucker project on my own and see it through to publication.
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How do you define success in your current position?
The deck seemed to be stacked against me at birth. Life is not fair. However, I’ve learned that even if someone comes from what may appear to others as a privileged background, they’ve likely faced their own difficult times. No one escapes that in this life. Success for me comes when I help someone to discover and live their purpose through my coaching, writing, and ghostwriting.
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Which skills have been most valuable to your success?
Dr. John W. Lovitt, creator and CEO of The Family Wellness Institute, said I have one of the highest levels of emotional intelligence he’s seen. That’s quite an honor coming from an expert in the field. I’ve learned that having empathy for others as they travel their own unique journey is the key to my success in coaching and ghostwriting.
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What trends are shaping your industry right now?
The most significant trend in my industry and many others can be summed up in two letters. Of course, I’m referring to the letters A and I. AI has revolutionized the publishing industry. However, the quality of AI-written material is so poor that I don’t foresee it replacing human writers anytime in the near future, if ever.
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What accomplishment are you most proud of?
It was such an honor for me when the accolades and awards began pouring in after the publication of my first book. Even more important than the awards was the feedback from readers who said their lives had been changed by reading what I had written.
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What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Your story matters. Go out and live life the way God intended for you to live it. Please don’t let your story die with you. God made you the way you are for a reason. You have much wisdom to share with the rest of us.
