How To Ghostwrite - Confidentially

Today I am thrilled to share a guest blog post from Karen Cole, Executive Director of Ghost Writer, Inc. 

When Karen and I were discussing topics, instead of asking for a "how-to" blog post, I asked her about her motivations for ghostwriting.

"I have always wondered why writers would choose to ghostwrite for someone else, the benefits of ghostwriting, and how (if ever) a ghostwriter can build a resume without breaking confidentiality." 

Her response has given me quite a bit to consider. As a writer, this is always a good thing.

How to Ghostwrite - Confidentially

By Karen Cole

I chose to be a freelance professional ghostwriter for a lot of different reasons. But mostly, the money is good, the clients aren’t overly demanding, and I get to learn something new from each new writing or editing project I undertake. Each client has fresh new ideas, and these cover a wide variety of subjects. I enjoy writing for someone else, because it can be hard to come up with your own writing ideas, and this way I have a readymade set of someone else’s ideas from which to work. It makes it fairly easy to sketch out a framework of strictly pure writing, and to fill it in with the client’s main plot and idea structures – with my own professional twists on them.

The benefits of ghostwriting are many, including the ones I mentioned above. A lot of people mention the money. In the field of freelance writing, ghostwriting is probably the most lucrative form of a steady living of writing; most long-term professional ghostwriters make over 100K per year, usually by taking on only two or three writing projects over a year. I myself like to work with new writers, who typically have lower budgets, and I also mainly do copy editing lately, being semi-retired. I have other writing income, so I don’t have to worry too much about money, but in ghostwriting it is good enough to make a steady career out of it.

Any ghostwriter can build a resume simply by taking on some writing work where they are allowed to mention their name, such as writing articles and getting these published online, contributing to literary arts magazines, writing journalism news and entertainment or “op-ed” pieces, etc. You can always list those on your resume, but if you need to list ghost writing pieces to show these to your incoming clientele, the best method is to get permission from your ghostwriting clients to at least mention their projects in general terms, with no names traceable to the clients. Also, you can ask some of your clients to list you on their book covers. There are ways to do this, such as using the infamous “As told to…” method. You can also ask to be a coauthor with your clients, and get listed as one of the actual authors this way.

Finally, you can even field out some of the ghost writing work you get to other people. I recommend arranging for a website to advertise your services, and if you do this, you will probably find more work coming in than you can handle by yourself. This happened to me when I first started having a website; over time I have amassed a huge team of ghostwriters and editors, plus marketing and promotions personnel, to handle all of the incoming work. It helps supplement my writing and editing income, and I feel like I’ve gained a lot in management skills by fielding out so much work to other writers and editors. And I can always take on the “choice” projects myself, too.

Ghost Writer, Inc. has your ghostwriter! GWI features affordable ghost writing for you, including book, memoir, script and screenplay marketing, promotions, sales, and publishing or optioning assistance, all for some very reasonable, inexpensive prices.