Ten Tips to Find Ghostwriting Clients

In Today's Journal

* Ten Tips to Find Ghostwriting Clients
* The Writing
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Ten Tips to Find Ghostwriting Clients

a guest post by Dan Baldwin

Clients for ghostwriters are everywhere, so the challenge isn’t finding clients. The challenge is finding clients who are ready to write right now, and that’s a task that requires a bit of research and a lot of legwork.

Everybody has a book within them. Many of those folks want to see that book in print, but don’t know how to turn ideas into print.

You do.

Again, how does a ghostwriter find these people?

Every writer is different and has a unique personality. Every community is different and requires a tailored approach. The following tips are idea starters for building a client list. Adapt some or all to your individual needs and skills and to the communities you want to serve as a ghostwriter.

1. Un-localize.

I have ghostwriting clients from California to Florida. Telephone, e-mail, texting and so on has redefined “local” for writers. Your reach is as broad as you want to stretch.

2. Find people who already have potential clients.

Advertising agencies and public relations and marketing firms already have people and organizations in need of writers. These agencies already have staff copywriters or freelance copywriters on hand. Generally speaking, those writers aren’t equipped (or don’t know they’re equipped) to write book-length materials.

Look up the agencies in your personal trade area and develop a short ‘n sweet introductory letter. The letter should state that you are

1. a ghostwriter seeking clients,

2. your qualifications for writing books, and

3. substantiation of item number two.

We call this “proof,” such as a list of books you’ve written. If you haven’t written any books (yet), list writing awards, credits, magazine/newspaper articles, blogs or whatever to show that you really can write.

But don’t tell your life story.

Be “short ‘n sweet.” Follow up with a phone call and stay in touch with anyone who shows interest. FYI – call the agency before you write to get the name of the creative director or whomever is responsible for hiring talent. “To Who It May Concern” concerns no one.

3. Do Business.

Most of my clients are businesspeople writing to other businesspeople. In most cases they want to tell their personal or corporate story, share what they have learned, or attract more business. That last one is the biggie.

I wrote a series of books for a client who dealt with buying and selling multi-million-dollar properties. He had failed for years to land a “whale,” a big investor.

After the book I wrote for him was published, he sent a copy to the whale with just a “I thought you’d appreciate my new book” note—no pitching. The guy called my client who called me to say, “Dan, that book was the best business card I ever had.”

A book with your client’s name on the cover automatically makes him an expert in the minds of his audience, which is a great selling point for the ghostwriter.

4. Where do you find business people?

Join one of your local business or social organizations. Become active on a committee to show that you are reliable and trustworthy. Hand out business cards and talk yourself up without being pushy.

I picked up a nice piece of work from a friend in one of those organizations who said, “I didn’t know you wrote books for people. Say, I have an idea….”

Never miss an opportunity to tell someone, “You should write a book about that.”

5. Eat Rubber Chicken.

You have more business and service organizations in your trade area than you can join. Each one needs a speaker for their monthly meeting. The “chicken ‘n peas” circuit is a great way to make presentations to the people you need to reach.

Find a topic or series of topics you know well and develop a 20-minute speech on the subject. As a writer you know a lot about… writing. Consider a presentation on “How to writer your memoir… the Great American Novel… a blockbuster-I-hope screenplay.”

6. Think about your hobbies and interests.

Chances are your interests will be interesting to others. I advise against turning your presentation into a sales pitch. Stick to the topic and casually work in your ghostwriting skills.

I always tell my audiences that I’m willing to stay after the meeting to discuss the topic with anyone who is interested. Those informal moments can be very rewarding. In other words, don’t eat and run.

7. Pay Yer' Money 'n Take Yer' Chances.

You are already familiar with Facebook, LinkedIn, X and so on and so on. They are another set of marketing tools to get your name and abilities out there. You can find any number of marketing services to help you with this effort. If you go this route, get references and check out their online reviews.

8. PR is Not Always BS.

Unless you’re already famous, your chances of getting a lot of media coverage are slim. Yet, lightning does strike. Whenever you have a newsworthy item related to ghostwriting, draft a news release and send it to the media.

If you don’t know how to write a proper news release (not “press release”), pick up a stylebook at your library and learn how. A good release follows the accepted journalistic formula and is not a letter to the editor.

Community newspapers are often very receptive audiences to writers who have an interesting story. And, lightning really does strike now and then.

One of the subjects of a non-fiction book I wrote had lived in Chicago many years earlier. In a “what the hell” moment, I sent a release on the book to the Chicago Sun Times.

Bingeaux! Right time. Right place. The book got a 2/3 page front page of the Times Sunday entertainment page. You never know, so don’t hold back.

9. Become a Pod People.

I’ve been successful in getting interviewed on numerous podcasts and broadcast programs, including the big gun in the paranormal world, Coast-To-Coast AM With George Noory, many times. I have a series of non-fiction paranormal books, so those programs are a natural.

Whatever your interest, there’s a podcast or broadcast program out there in need of your voice. Finding the podcasts is easy online and they usually have a contact link. As with the letter to media outlets, state your purpose, your product and your proof.

You can find booking services with the connections to get you on podcasts/broadcasts. I’ve had good response using this avenue on occasion. If you choose this technique, set a budget and stick to it. Make sure you pay only for bookings and not for efforts to get bookings.

10. “A satisfied customer is the best advertisement.” (Anonymous.)

When you’ve wrapped up your work with an existing client, ask for referrals. “I’m sure you know someone like yourself who would like to see his name in print, Mr. Client….” The best time to bring this up is when you wrap up the book and your client is giddy about your work for him.

Get the name and contact information and permission to drop your client’s name. If you feel confident of the answer, ask your client to write you a short referral letter. Your client travels in the circles you need to visit and in some cases may never be able to visit on your own. Don’t be shy. Ask for the introduction.

As I said, ghostwriting clients are everywhere. As you look for them, remember that some of them are looking for you. Make their search an easy one.

Thanks, Dan, for another excellent guest post.

The Writing

The novel wrapped. Number 4 on the year, and number 108 overall. Woohoo!

My marketing (publishing?) plan has changed. I'll take all day tomorrow and maybe the next day turning out omnibus editions, but I can't stay away for a week. After tomorrow, I'll turn them out as I can, maybe one a day, until I'm done.

Of Interest

Selling Books Direct: Insights from 500+ Authors

Finally Crack the Code... I know, this is from Writem, but it can be a good thing if you avoid the myth-laden stuff. Take a look.

Call for Submissions: WD's Self-Published Book Awards If you're into stuff like this, here y'go.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………… 130

Writing of Blackwell Ops 37: Temple-Schiff

Day 1…… 2012 words. To date…… 2012
Day 2…… 2487 words. To date…… 4499
Day 3…… 4597 words. To date…… 9096
Day 4…… 2790 words. To date…… 11886
Day 5…… 3430 words. To date…… 15316
Day 6…… 3353 words. To date…… 18669
Day 7…… 2811 words. To date…… 21480
Day 8…… 3166 words. To date…… 24646
Day 9…… 2077 words. To date…… 26723
Day 10…. 2245 words. To date…… 28968
Day 11…. 3145 words. To date…… 32113 (done)

Fiction for February………………….. 37593
Fiction for 2025………………………. 155803
Nonfiction for February…………….... 11450
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 43430
2025 consumable words…………….. 195868

Average Fiction WPD (February)…….. 2892
Average Fiction WPD (Annual)……..… 3612

2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 4
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 7
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………..... 108
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 277
Short story collections……………………. 29

Disclaimer: Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.

Writing fiction should never be something that stresses you out. It should be fun. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Because of WITD and because I endeavor to follow those Rules I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too.