Seven Tips on Ghostwriting

September 11, 2024 by Harvey

In today’s Journal

* Quote of the Day
* The Writing
* Seven Tips on Ghostwriting
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quote of the Day

“When writing and making up stuff isn’t fun, there is a basic rule… You are doing it wrong.” Dean Wesley Smith

The Writing

I didn’t get much done on the novel yesterday. Switching routines in the middle of my personal internet outage and all that. Anyway, the novel will wrap in another day or two.

In the meantime, my poor performance today ALMOST pulled my average down below 3000 wpd. But not quite. (See? Average is what matters.)

Hopefully I’ll get into some kind of routine today or tomorrow, though today I’ll spend who knows how many hours in Sierra Vista.

Taking my truck to the shop to get a non-essential problem repaired so that stupid little Check Engine light will stop nagging me.

I’ve already diagnosed the problem (some emissions sensor), but it isn’t something I can repair myself. And I really don’t want to talk emissions (please). Not while countries around the world are dumping TONS of pollutants into the air every second or so.

Anyway, maybe no TNDJ for the next day or two while I’m getting this new routine going. Will sure be glad when things get back to normal next week.

Seven Tips on Ghostwriting

a guest post by Dan Baldwin

I have ghostwritten more than 100 books. Someone else’s name is on the cover, but my name’s on the check.

The basic motivation for ghostwriting is to earn money, and a good writer who can find the voice of other people can do quite well at it. In addition to earning good money, there is great satisfaction in ghostwriting projects that will help clients tell their stories and share their knowledge and experience.

Although unacknowledged, your labor will help people improve their lives, enhance their economic positions, create a happier lifestyle, and in general improve the world.

Your work can continue contributing to society for years and even decades. I see books I wrote back in the nineties on the shelves in bookstores today.

Another benefit is the ghostwriter’s incredible opportunity for learning. I’ve attended very expensive lectures and seminars on sales and motivation free because I was ghostwriting the speaker’s book.

I remember one seminar priced at $5000 for the weekend. Not only did I get to attend that free, but I got paid for it!

I’ve learned how pine mulch is used in Louisiana, how oil companies pay off pirates in the middle of the ocean, how an attorney sued Fidel Castro in the World Court, how a poor girl from the Deep South became one of the first Black Playboy Bunnies and became a power player in that organization, and what it’s like to interview presidents, mobsters and movie stars—all from ghosting someone’s life story.

Ghostwriting is an incredibly rewarding occupation. Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject.

Tip #1—You’re Not the Author; You Only Write the Book.

Keep your ego out of the project. That goes for your desires to win the Golden Ghost Award for Best Acknowledgement, your personal opinions or cause du jour, or what you think your author really ought to say. It’s his (or her) book. Keep it that way.

Tip #2—KISS Your Author.

Keep It Simple, Stupid. Most books are written at the eighth-grade level. Why? Because just about everybody in America has at least graduated from the eighth grade. Everybody gets the message (or at least can read the message) when you write at that level.

Tip #3—Make Sure the Price is Right.

What is the right price for a ghostwriting project? I’ll answer with another question.

How hungry are you?

The amount of writing, research, client hand-holding, and expenses will vary from project to project. Get a handle on as much of that as possible before quoting a price.

Know how much you need to earn from a given job and start at a figure above that. Life as a ghostwriter is a life of negotiating. Have a rate or a fee in mind, but don’t hesitate to adjust according to the level of rumbling in your stomach.

Tip #3a—If you hear the phrase, “I’m pretty famous for my memos around here, heh-heh”—double your fee.

Tip #4—Your Client Must Know He Is Part of the Project.

I had a potential client tell me, “Just go to the Internet and you can get everything you need.”

My response was, “Well, then what do I need you for?”

Fortunately, the potential client was a friend who took my response in the right frame of mind. The writer carries the heavier burden in terms of work, but the project must be a cooperative effort. It’s his book; he has to earn that name on the cover.

Tip #5—You Don’t Have to Believe What Your Client Believes.

But know where you have to draw the line.

Provided you remember that you are the writer not the author, a Republican can ghostwrite for a Democrat. A Christian can write for an infidel. A “My Country Right or Wrong” guy can ghostwrite for a “Peace at Any Price” guy.

When you take on a ghostwriting project, you are hiring out. Once you accept the job, you can be loyal to your client without being loyal to his cause. “But am I helping a cause I despise by writing this book?”

Maybe. But somebody will write the book.

Consider the amount of knowledge you will gain from such an experience and how that knowledge might shape your own efforts in expressing the other side of the coin.

Tip #6—Understand That at Some Point Things Will Go South.

Something inevitably comes up to extend the agreed-on deadline, foul the research efforts, or get between you and that final payment.
Provided the client doesn’t abuse the privilege, put up with as much as you can, finish the job, and earn something worth its weight in gold: a good referral.

I have on rare occasions walked away from a job, but I did so in a way that maintained a level of respect, courtesy, and integrity.

I have also finished and been fully paid by clients I will never work with again. One of your best ghostwriting resources is a mental file labeled I Will Never Do THAT Again.

Tip #7—Clients Should Pay as They Go.

As Dr. Laura said about promises of marriage made on a lonely back road in the steamy back seat of a sedan, “Unless you have a ring and a date, you don’t have squat.” I think I got that quote fairly right—certainly the meaning.

Your client must be invested in the project or it’s not in his mind a real project.

Invest is the key word. Get an up-front payment and then stagger payments on a pay-as-we-go basis. Once a client has money on the line, he’s more inclined to get to the finish line of the work.

So if you want to be a ghostwriter, go for it. Just follow a few basic business rules so that the experience isn’t a scary one.

*

Thanks, Dan.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

Need legit book reviews?

The Numbers

The Journal……………………………… 1200

Writing of Blackwell Ops 28: Ariana Ramos

Day 4…… 3941 words. To date…… 9389 (Sep1)
Day 5…… 2734 words. To date…… 12123
Day 6…… 2584 words. To date…… 14707
Day 7…… 3711 words. To date…… 18418
Day 8…… 3668 words. To date…… 22086
Day 9…… 0613 words. To date…… 22699
Day 10…. 2568 words. To date…… 25267
Day 11…. 3325 words. To date…… 28592
Day 12…. 2127 words. To date…… 30719
Day 13…. 1092 words. To date…… 31811

Fiction for September…………………….. 30072
Fiction for 2024………………………….… 632020
Fiction since October 1…………………… 813860
Nonfiction for September………………… 11980
Nonfiction for 2024………………………… 286820
2024 consumable words………………….. 797625

Average Fiction WPD (September)……… 3007

2024 Novels to Date……………………… 12
2024 Novellas to Date……………………. 0
2024 Short Stories to Date………………. 5
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 94
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………. 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………. 242
Short story collections……………………. 29

Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer, but please try this at home. You can do it. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing are lies. They will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.

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