Bill  wrote it! The entire thing. He conceptualized the content, organized the flow of information, and wrote every. Single. Word. He had the help of editors and a proofreader, invaluable inputs for any writer and he really appreciates their assistance, but fear not. He wrote the entire book. Besides, why would a publisher hire a nobody to write a book, then hire a ghost writer to do the actual work? In that regard, Bill is his own ghost writer! 

Bill gets awfully prickly when he hears this! Yes, someone, specifically a company (John Wiley & Sons) owns the For Dummies brand, so Bill did not "get around" the copyright. This is a real, authentic "For Dummies" book.  

Sigh. Yes!

Neither! Wiley approached Bill to write a book. Here's how the whole thing came together. Bill had an idea following a bad business meeting in 2003, that idea turned into a book (Venture Capital 101, see the link below), that  book was a minor viral hit before viral hit was a term, and years later (2008), that free book Bill gave away (as a PDF) ended up at Wiley. They contacted Bill to write LBOs For Dummies, Bill asked "who would buy such a book," Wiley said "the guys on Wall Street, you know, the ones who do those billion dollar deals," Bill said only 6 or so people do that kind of work and he didn't think he would be able to teach them anything, so Bill suggested Mergers & Acquisitions For Dummies as a better idea, "who would buy such a book?" Wiley asked, "Oh, I dunno," Bill said, "tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of business owners and executives, plus students, service providers, and people who have a screw loose and want to be investment bankers," but Wiley told him it was a bad idea and no one would buy that kind of a book. Discussions ceased. Two years later Wiley contacted Bill with a new idea, Mergers & Acquisitions For Dummies. "We thought of it, lowly writer, not you." they told him. Bill told them it was a swell idea and he wished he could have thought of it. A contract was signed in late summer 2010, Bill wrote the book during the last four months of the year, and the first edition was released in May 2011. Twelve long, grueling years later, in May 2023, the 2nd edition was released. 

Bill is very proud he got the opportunity to write the book. And not only one time, but twice. His inner tyrant, however, likes to remind him Wiley is constantly adding new titles, and the more titles they add, the harder thinking up new titles becomes, so the meeting that green lit his book probably went something like this: "So, whaddya got?" the Grand Pooh-Bah at Wiley asked. "Bupkis," assembled masses of supplicants intoned. "We've exhausted every single last good idea in the world." The Grand Pooh-Bah thought for a moment. "OK, here's what you do. Go through the pile of rejected ideas," The Grand Pooh-Bah ordered, "and pick the least worst idea." 

And thus was born Mergers & Acquisitions For Dummies! 

Bill is just a lowly ol' writer, he has no pull with his publisher. Besides, Wily is pretty clear that they do not want written books or even a book idea tossed over their proverbial transom. Instead, if you are interested in writing, submit your qualifications, and if/when they have a project that lines up with your skills and experience, maybe they'll contact you.

Sorry, as amazing as this sounds, Wiley is in the business of business. They expect to make money from selling books. You'll have to buy a copy.