Three Ways to Collaborate as a Ghostwriter

by Graciela Sholander
This post originally appeared on Ghostwriting Plus.

I have ghostwritten over 25 books for a number of clients, including doctors, lawyers, and motivational speakers. Today I want to share with you three effective ways you can collaborate with your client.

1. Rewrite a Raw Manuscript

These days, this is my favorite way to ghostwrite a book. If your client has written most or all of her manuscript, you’re in a great position to help her reach the next level. She’s written down her ideas. Now it’s your turn to do your magic.

Starting with what she’s put together, rework it to produce the most engaging, professional product possible. Hack away! Create new chapter titles and section headers. Rewrite to your heart’s content. Remove redundancies. Expand points. Add anecdotes and examples to support her points.

Keep the main messages, and make sure your client’s voice comes through. But use your own savvy to rework the manuscript, transforming it from amateurish to a highly professional work of art, with every sentence a joy to read.

2. Write a Manuscript from Interviews

At the other end of the spectrum is the client who has written nothing and has a million ideas floating in his head. He’s brilliant, and his ideas are worth sharing with readers, but as soon as he tries writing anything down, he loses them. He’s an eloquent speaker, not a writer.

In this case, schedule a series of interviews. They can be conducted in person, by phone, or through Skype. I interview clients by phone, and since I’m a fast typist I go ahead and type what they say, creating a written record in real time. This saves me the expense and extra step of having an audio interview transcribed. Then as I piece together a manuscript from scratch, I simply copy and paste sections from the written record, rewriting and expanding them as needed.

By the way, in this case it’s a good idea to charge separately for the interviews. I typically charge clients a per-page rate for ghostwriting plus a per-hour rate for phone interviews.

3. Piece Together What You’ve Been Given and Gather More

In this approach, the client has some material to give you. For example, she might hand you 19 pages she’s written with rough ideas for her book, plus five articles published about her in different magazines, and two YouTube videos of her being interviewed on the subject you’ll be ghostwriting about.

Your job is to take this hodgepodge and incorporate it into a new work. In addition, you’ll need to figure out what’s missing and schedule a few interviews to gather more information.

Since I enjoy writing a hundred times more than I enjoy talking, I try to conduct email interviews whenever possible. This won’t work for clients who love to talk and hate to write. It does tend to work for very busy professionals, though, since they can sit down and address your emailed questions at their leisure.

When I conduct email interviews, I do not charge extra. I charge only a per-page fee for ghostwriting the manuscript.

Graciela has been a professional writer for 21 years and focuses on ghostwriting, editing, proofreading, articles, social media, marketing, and website content. She is also the co-author of Dream It Do It: Inspiring Stories of Dreams Come True, a motivational self-help guide.

Wordenfreude: GG Writers Weigh in on the German Ghosting Scandal

photo from Deutsches Bundesarchiv, via Wikimedia Commons

A German friend of ours recently tipped us off to the most intriguing ghostwriting story of the year so far—what we have taken to calling "three reichs and you're out."

According to the magazine Der Spiegel, Heribert Schwan, the writer who worked with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl on his memoirs for eight years and two volumes announced that he plans to publish his research for the third volume under his own name, after Kohl severed the relationship.

What makes this episode especially juicy—and borderline Wagnerian—is that the collaborator claims he was axed because Kohl's current wife had it in for him.

That got us to wondering—if there were a long crazy German word (along the lines of lebensabschnittpartner) to describe this unusual turnabout, what would it be?

We asked our network of ghosts to chime in, and here are our favorite responses:

• Brad Schreiber sent us the elegant and economical autobiografikaput.
• Mary Jo Bohr came up with the contagious-sounding frauKohlitis.
• Claudia Gryvatz Copquincoined kohlaxghoulenscribe. In case you need a breakdown: "Kohl/axed (got rid of) / ghoul - en - scribe (ghostwriter)"
• Tom Teicholz suggested the slightly profane diefraugefuckedovermich.
• Jeff Kreisler showed off his comedic chops with derwifencrazenwritersblach. Writer's block indeed.
• Arthur Allen won the award for longest entry: Kohlsfrauverursachteghostwriterausgrenzung. According to his German friend, this literally translates to "wife-caused ghost writer exclusion."

Think you can top these submissions? Show us your edelwrites in the comments below.

Happy Birthday Shelf Awareness!

In honor of the Shelf Awareness blog turning nine years old last week, we’ve compiled a short list of some key publishing industry newsletters that should be part of every professional ghost's daily information diet. These staple subscriptions about writing, selling, and producing your book are our must-reads for keeping abreast of what's happening in the publishing industry.

Writer’s Digest sends an array of emails discussing tutorials, conferences, and special offers. Some cost a small fee, but their free articles and posts on writing are just as handy.  

Galleycat by Mediabistro hase everything from new book deals, to topics trending on social media, to award winners.  They also dedicate a section to new job openings every day. With “the first word in the book publishing industry” as their tagline,  the Galleycat newsletter is useful to those who are curious about the insides of publishing.

Shelf Awareness offers two types of newsletters, one for readers and one for book trade professionals, delivered daily. This includes book store closings and opening, events nationwide, author news, and 25 books of the week chosen by industry insiders.

Publishers Lunch is shared with more than 40,000 publishing professionals every day. Key stories of the day from the professional trade book community, all neatly presented in one place.

What do you subscribe to? Let us know in the comments below! 

Insider Stories from Ghostwriter Sari Botton

In a recent interview on the digital magazine Scratch, ghostwriter and GG pal Sari Botton talks at length about the joys and struggles of being a ghost in a today's unpredictable market.

Botton talks about the mix of good and bad deals she's landed over the years. She says, "Ghostwriting is a job—one I wouldn’t do if I didn’t need the money. Like any job, it has its pros and cons, its ups and downs—lots of freedom, the satisfaction of helping someone tell their own story; but also, frequently, having to handle intense personalities with kid gloves.” From being fired yet earning more than $100,000 in a year, to writing a New York Times bestseller for no royalties or credit and getting a lawsuit instead, Botton recounts some of her most memorably difficult projects.

Despite the trials, Botton refuses to quit. She writes, “For every bad client, there’s also an instance of grace—mostly people grateful for my ability to help them express themselves, even if their books haven’t been blockbusters…like helping an author’s daughter, who had severe learning disabilities, write an afterword that made her feel proud.”

In an associated community post on Scratch called "So, You Still Want to Be a Ghostwriter," Botton offers advice to fellow ghostwriters on how to protect yourself contractually, how to maintain realistic timeline expectations, and why to keep your agent your best hidden secret. Botton also acknowledges Gotham Ghostwriters as a great source for ghostwriting gigs. (Thanks, Sari!)

Read the full interview here.

Book Spotlight: Where Are the Ghostwriting Jobs?

Our latest Book Spotlight focuses on a topic that's near to our hearts. Where Are the Ghostwriting Jobs? discusses more than 30 avenues for the novice or experienced ghost to pursue their next gig, whether you write books, blog posts, speeches, or tweets.

Before you click over to pick up your copy, check out our Q&A with the book's author, ghostwriter Graciela Sholander.

What’s your ghostwriting background? How did you land your first ghosting jobs?

I’ve been a freelance writer for over 20 years. This is a second career for me; I started as an engineer, but after my kids were born I left engineering to become an at-home mom, and that’s when my writing career began to emerge. To date I’ve ghostwritten 24 books. When I first started ghostwriting I was unfamiliar with the term. I was living in Albuquerque and had just completed an article about a local psychic for a regional women’s magazine. The psychic was impressed with my work and referred me to one of her clients, a recovering alcoholic who wanted her life story captured in a book she could share with other women struggling with addiction. That book ended up inspiring quite a few people, and the project was a rewarding one. I soon signed up with guru.com (which was in its early days) and landed my next ghostwriting jobs thanks to that site.

What attracts you to ghostwriting?

I love so many aspects of ghostwriting. It’s exciting to meet new people who are experts in their fields or have a compelling story to tell, and then help them get that story in writing. It’s fun to watch a book take shape, from maybe a handful of notes to a complete, full-length tome. I also enjoy capturing the client’s voice and crafting something that sounds like them. I really enjoy serving as the missing link, so to speak, a bridge between a brilliant person’s ideas and his or her audience.

What are some challenges an aspiring ghostwriter might face?

As with any field, the biggest question for newcomers is, “Where do I start?” While there are plenty of people who desperately need help with writing their books and articles, an aspiring ghostwriter may not know how to go about finding these potential clients. I always advise creating an online presence, as all writers benefit from having some form of online portfolio. Another challenge new ghostwriters might face is transitioning from writing short pieces, like articles and blog posts, to longer works, like books and ebooks. In this case, I recommend treating a book like a series of articles in order to get a handle on the project and estimate how long it will take and how much it will cost.

Were there any surprises during your research for this book?

I began writing Where Are the Ghostwriting Jobs? in 2011, and when I became busy with a number of other projects I put it aside. When I went back to complete it in late 2013, I was surprised by how many sites and businesses I was planning to include had disappeared. So the places listed in my guide are the ones with true staying power!

Do you see ghostwriting as an expanding market these days? 

I do. I’ve been watching this business for 20 years, and during that time it has grown by leaps and bounds. The beauty of ghostwriting is that there are so many sectors that utilize it; it’s not just about celebrity biographies. Businesses hire ghosts to create newsletters, website content, case studies, white papers, speeches, and more. Info marketers hire ghosts to write ebooks. Nowadays we even have ghost bloggers and tweeters! As the internet continues to create additional writing opportunities, ghostwriting will expand into these new arenas.

What are the most common kinds of ghostwriting work available?

Memoirs continue to be among the most popular, mainly because so many people of all ages have fascinating life stories they’d like to share with the world. A variation on the memoir is what I call the “expert book”: a doctor, an attorney, a movie industry insider, or an entrepreneur (to name a few examples) has developed a special technique or strategy and now wants to publish a book about it, so he or she seeks the services of a ghostwriter. I also often see people seeking a ghostwriter’s help with a first novel or screenplay. In addition, many information sites rely on ghostwriting. Years ago, I wrote medical articles for a health website. The site’s parent company assigned these articles with very specific instructions and had physicians review them for accuracy, but the writing was done by ghosts.

Can you reveal a tip or two from the book?

Absolutely! One tip is to take confidentiality requests very seriously. If your client does not want to reveal that his book was ghostwritten, you must abide by that. That means you can’t reveal the author’s name, the book title, or any other specific details about the project you’re working on. Confidentiality is a very important factor in the ghostwriting equation. The ghostwriter’s reward is not fame or recognition; it’s steady income and a fulfilling job. A second tip I’d like to share is this: avoid clients who demand perfection but are not willing to compensate you fairly. Ghostwriting is a collaborative process. Give it your absolute best, but be sure your client respects you and your services enough to pay you fairly.

Graciela Sholander has been a professional writer since 1993. As coauthor of Dream It Do It: Inspiring Stories of Dreams Come True, she had the privilege of interviewing Bill Nye the Science Guy and astronaut Eileen Collins, among other inspiring individuals. As a ghostwriter, she’s completed 24 manuscripts as well as dozens of articles. She has also worked as an engineer, a marketer, proofreader, copywriter, editor, content provider, and translator. 

Guest Post: 5 Lessons Learned from Ghostwriting Memoirs

by Heather Hummel

One of the first statistics I heard when I started ghostwriting over a decade ago was that 80 percent of people want to write a book, and no doubt most of them are referring to writing their memoir. I can say that the same 80 percent applies to the types of books I ghost for clients—memoirs in one form or another.

Among the books I've written for philanthropists, corporations, and public figures, each of my clients have striven to achieve one goal: sharing their story in order to benefit others. Whether that is done in a traditional memoir or a prescriptive self-help book, there are many ways to approach these projects to ensure the best experience and outcome for all involved.

Here are five lessons I've learned along the way:

1. Leave Your Personal Agenda at the Door
This is a critical requirement of ghosting. It doesn't mean the ghostwriter shouldn't offer advice, but at the end of the day it's the client's message, not any agenda of the ghostwriter, that should shine through.

Along the same lines, I believe that a particular ghost can be too close to a topic. For example, a book about raising a child with autism might be better served by a ghostwriter who doesn't have a family member with that particular condition. Otherwise, either consciously or subconsciously, the ghost might end up drawing too much from his or her own experience, thereby clouding the client's message, which might come out of very different experiences. A ghost who hasn't contended with that specific issue, but is empathic and open to understanding what the client wants to express, is likely to write a comparatively more genuine book.

2. Determine Your Client's Engagement Level
An important conversation to have at the onset of the project has to do with the amount of involvement the client will assume. Some clients want their ghost to take the pen and just run with it, whereas others want to be more hands-on each step of the way. Knowing what kind of commitment to expect from your client will help you assess how to structure the work you do together.

But even for the most hands-off clients, a ghostwriting project is still a team effort: the ghost needs information to work with, as well as feedback on the work that's been done. Make sure your client understands this before you get started!

3. Keep the Project Moving
Because ghosting a book can take six months to a year to complete, one of the most important tasks for the ghostwriter is to keep your client engaged and energized. My remedy for this is to set many small deadlines. Agree on the date by which you'll have each chapter to your client, and then a deadline for the client to respond with feedback. This will keep the project constantly moving forward.

4. Know How to Combat Cold Feet
J.K. Rowling once said, "The idea of wondering off to a café with a notebook and writing and seeing where that takes me for a while is just bliss." When I heard this, I thought about those people who want to write a book, and how they must all envision themselves sitting in cafés journaling what will become their message to the masses. Although such a large number of people want to pen their memoirs, more often than not, and at some point in the process, the romantic appeal of sharing one's life publicly is replaced with cold feet when reality sets in. Time and time again, a client's cold feet will be exposed—sometimes one toe at a time, sometimes all ten at once.

It's imperative to have a conversation with your client about the "cold feet" factor at the start of the project—before fear sets in and overrides excitement. Discuss the fact that these feelings may come and are perfectly normal, and that the client is in complete control of how much of the story is divulged, and in what way.

4. Keep Very Good Records
This may seem like common sense, but it's an important lesson that bears emphasizing. It's crucial to keep clear, detailed records of every interaction you have with your client, from e-mail and phone correspondence to each draft incarnation of the manuscript. This practice will serve you in many ways.

Say, for example, that halfway through the project, the client changes his or her mind about the scope of a book. Naturally, the new scope may actually benefit the book—it's normal to have breakthrough ideas during the writing process. But this could also require a reassessment of the contract and the client's fiscal responsibilities to you, especially if you have already allotted considerable time to the project. Having documentation to compare what was originally agreed upon to what is now being asked will help greatly.

To give another example: I won a court case against a client who was in breach of contract, and I credit my win, in large part, to the fact that I had saved every single text message over our year-long working relationship. After combing through hundreds of texts, my lawyer found one that gave ample evidence that the client's in-court argument was a lie.


Heather Hummel has ghostwritten more than a dozen books for a diverse array of clients, including philanthropists, corporations, politicians, realtors, and public figures. Heather is also a featured blogger for the Huffington Post and a land- and seascape photographer, represented by Agora Gallery in New York. A graduate with high distinction from the University of Virginia, Heather holds a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree with concentrations in English and Secondary Education.

Guest Post: Why Authors Need to Have Chemistry With Their Ghostwriters

by Tim Sanders
This article originally appeared on NetMinds.

Recently I caught up with my longtime friend Glenn Plaskin to talk about why chemistry was the #1 factor an author should consider when selecting a ghostwriter.  He's both an author himself, a syndicated columnist, and seasoned ghostwriter of several bestselling books. While many authors look for credentials or, sadly, price, Glenn suggests they first seek out a personal connection.  

Tim: How did you get started as a ghostwriter?
Glenn: For me, it all started with magazine writing. After 25 years in that business, one of my interview subjects, a celebrity, had liked an article I'd written about him, and asked me to write a book with him. We would talk on tape, I’d formulate a chapter from our interviews, and then we’d go over that material until it was a fully formed chapter, then a fully formed book.

Tim: Talk to me a little bit about why the author/ghostwriter relationship needs to be collaborative. 
Glenn: It’s like going on a blind date except there won’t be any romance—or at least there shouldn’t be! But it is a little like dating someone: there has to be that indefinable click. And is anything more collaborative than dating? You have to feel a rapport, some kind of emotional connection that allows the author of the book to feel comfortable with a ghostwriter, to feel that the ghostwriter understands them, not just intellectually, but emotionally. An author/ghostwriter relationship needs to be harmonious. You’ll be working together in very tight quarters. So things have to be amiable. And having a great sense of humor is key too! I once met with a prospective author for what was scheduled as a 45-minute meeting, and we ended up talking and laughing for three hours! I knew after that our writing relationship would be a successful pairing. And it was. 

Tim: How do you conceptualize the author/ghostwriter relationship? 
Glenn: The author may have a compelling story but may not have the time, skill, or training to write it. The ghostwriter is the conduit. I compare it having a Mercedes: it’s a great car but when you need it serviced, you don’t try to do it yourself, you take it to the dealer. The ghostwriter is the book mechanic, who is best equipped to make the Mercedes run perfectly. The author has the ideas and the content; the ghostwriter has the technical skills to tell the story in the way in needs to be told.

Tim: Let’s put you in the author’s shoes. What should an author look for in a possible ghostwriter? You indicated humor previously. What other factors should the author be looking for in those first two general meetings with a ghostwriter? 
Glenn: Well, the first thing a prospective author should do is check a ghostwriter’s credits. A simple resume check. Google the name, see what comes up. Go to the ghostwriter’s website and see if it’s professional and well maintained. Make sure they’ve been published. Make an effort to call authors the ghostwriter has worked with in the past and ask them how working with that ghostwriter was. There is quite a lot of pre-prep that can be done. 

Tim: And ghostwriters should have their credentials readily available? 
Glenn: Exactly. Once an author has determined the ghostwriter is professional, step two is the meet and greet. Usually the first interaction is conducted over the phone, then the second meeting in person. The very first thing I look for is simple likeability. Do you get along with the person? Would you be their friend in “real life”? Are you impressed with their intelligence? Do they seem to understand what you’re talking about? Did they come prepared? Nothing will impress someone more than knowing something about them. Everyone likes to talk about themselves. Also, is the ghostwriter a good interviewer? Can the ghostwriter fill in the blanks? Are they a good listener? Do they seem to be grasping the verbal cues that you’re giving them and picking up on them and furthering the conversation?

Tim: Do you always ghostwrite subjects that you are well versed in? 
Glenn: Not at all. I met with a pastor once. I really liked the guy, so he passed the likability test, but I didn’t feel connected with the religious subject matter of his book. I didn’t actually have much interest in it. So I turned the project down. A few months later he came back to me and asked me again, and I said yes. I challenged myself. We ended up having a great collaboration. My lack of knowledge of the Bible didn’t hurt the product in any way. I feel that a good ghostwriter can write about anything, especially if they have great chemistry with the author, as I did with the pastor. 

Tim: Can the author cultivate that chemistry? 
Glenn: The author shouldn’t have to. Remember, the ghostwriter is there to make your life easy. They’re servicing your Mercedes. It’s not up to the Mercedes to do the work! The ghostwriter is the one that has to build the relationship and build the trust. 

Tim: As a ghostwriter, can you improve the chemistry with the author? 
Glenn: If by the second date you’re not crazy about the person, you’re really not going to go on any more dates. So I can’t overemphasize the importance of the first telephone and in-person meetings. If the click doesn’t happen after the first two or three interactions, it’s likely that it may not go any further. And maybe that’s as it should be. You can’t improve what never existed. 

Tim: What do you do to sustain strong chemistry over a long project? 
Glenn: Well, for starters, every working relationship needs boundaries. We can’t work in an unorganized vacuum. So it’s up to the two collaborators to decide things like: When are we going to work? How are we going to work? How often are we going to talk? Once these boundaries have been established, a ghostwriter might need to get creative when making sure the author follows them. I once worked with an author and our schedule was a tight one. We needed to finish a chapter every week. The problem was that he wasn’t giving me the information I needed soon enough. So I gently told him, “The train is leaving the station every Monday, one way or the other.” He heard me, and we had zero problems after that. I got the information I needed first thing Monday morning from then on. Writing a book takes discipline on both sides, and that certainly helps the sustained chemistry stay buoyant. The final thing I’ve learned to help keep the chemistry strong is to never responding when angry. In the book-writing process, there will be moments of great tension. There are going to be times when the author is irritated and not in the mood to do his or her part, and there are also going to be times when the ghostwriter may feel annoyed by the client. That’s normal. One thing I practice is that when I’m upset is always the wrong time to discuss it with the client. Instead, talk to a friend, talk to your sister, talk to anybody else, but don’t talk to the client. By practicing this, I hardly ever have arguments with an author. You want to avoid those at all costs. You’ve got to learn to let annoyances go. It’s almost like you have to take a ghostwriter twelve-step program! In order to keep the chemistry going, it’s very important to keep the relationship as harmonious as you can make it. 

Tim is a bestselling author and former Yahoo! executive with a mission to disrupt the traditional publishing and self-publishing industries and share knowledge with authors looking to publish and market high-quality books. Follow him on Twitter at @sanderssays.

Happy Halloween: Trick or Tweeting

Halloween is a great holiday for creativity! There are crazy costumes, creepy stories, and lots of strange decorations to come up with.

But here at GG, we have an extra-special Halloween trump card: GHOSTS! What better time is there to recognize the art of ghostwriting?

So here's a fun, ghostly Halloween challenge:

Come up with a creative hashtag for what being a ghost(writer) means to you, and tweet it to us at @GothamGhosts by Thursday, October 31st.         

We’ll round up the wittiest, funniest, cleverest ghostly tweets in a BloGG post next week.

And have a happy and safe Halloween!

GG’s Oriana Leckert Featured on TechHive

“Whenever someone sounds drastically more coherent in a tweet then they do in person, they probably had some help.” 

—Oriana Leckert 

A recent article on TechHive, a site that focuses on gadgets, trends, and other tech news, features GG Director of Operations, Oriana Leckert, on growing ghostwriting trends in the social media celebrity-sphere.

In “Who’s actually writing your favorite celebrity’s tweets?” Evan Dashevsky illuminates “ghost posting” on social media among high-profile personalities. From celebrities to politicians, ghostwriting has become a common phenomenon in the maintenance of public profiles on social media. “Having worked in this industry for a few years, I just assume that everyone has a ghostwriter,” Oriana says.

So whose writing are we actually reading? We will never know. Dashevsky interviews a celeb ghostwriter for the inside scoop: from negotiating per-tweet rates to client (non)interaction to the legalities of staying anonymous. 

“Ghostwriting [for social media] is definitely gaining ground; the stigma around the whole thing is being lifted,” Oriana says. Fans are going to have to become comfortable with the idea that social media profiles are prepared for, not by, their favorite celebs.

Around the Word: Spooks and Savvy Marketing

Ghost in the machine. In a clever twist on conventional uses of social media, ad agency Keiler has started a Twitter account for the ghost haunting its building. That's right—it's a literal ghostwriter.

Tweeting under the handle @KeilerGhost, the ghost shares snarky comments about advertising trends and daily office operations. Some of our favorite ghost-tweets:

• I've seen a lot of advertising trends come and go in 200 years. But this stock photography thing has got to stop.
• Agencies are like Ghosts: Clients expect transparency.
• I’ve been dead for over 200 years and I’m still humming that darn Coca-Cola jingle.

She's got the look. In another example of marketing genius, author Emily Liebert partnered with a designer, a nail polish company, and a jewelry line to create looks inspired by the characters in her first novel. We think this was a great way to increase the visibility of her book in a flooded market. Read the Huffington Post article on Liebert's strategy here.

A club a day. If fashion isn't exactly your forte, take inspiration from author Jennifer Miller, who aims to visit 365 book clubs in one year to promote her novel, The Year of the Gadfly. Read about her strategy on GalleyCat here. Let us know your clever publicity/marketing strategies!

GG's Dan Gerstein Interviewed by Author Learning Center

Gotham Ghostwriters President Dan Gerstein was interviewed recently by the Author Learning Center, a company that helps first-time authors reach their writing, publishing, and marketing goals.

The interview covered how Dan creates successful collaborative writing relationships, as well as how to promote writing skills and services.


A lot of people struggle with writing.
Here Dan talks about the rewards of working with a ghostwriter:
 


Setting Expectations
And here he discusses ways for writers to successfully collaborate with clients:

Intern at Gotham Ghostwriters

Our team is seeking an administrative and social media intern interested in gaining exposure to the publishing, content creation, and freelance writing industries.

We are looking for an intern who is knowledgeable and passionate about social media to support our company's growing workload and help expand our online presence. The intern will be tasked with following the latest developments in the publishing and media world, drafting blog posts, and curating our Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, as well as performing general administrative tasks as needed. Excellent writing skills and attention to detail are a must.

This is an unpaid internship with a commitment of 12 to 16 hours a week at our office in Manhattan, days and times negotiable, for 4 to 6 months.

If interested, send your resume and cover letter to info@gothamghostwriters.com!

Around the Word: Outing the Ghosts

Pictures supplied by Eva Rinaldi and NASA

Astronaut Chris Hadfield, who has become something of a celebrity du jour thanks to his videos and tweets about life on the International Space Station, may have had a ghostwriter compose some of his tweets, according to The Albatross. 

Blacklock’s Reporter Tom Korski claims that documents from the Canadian Space Agency showed that Hadfield’s “seemingly spontaneous performances in space were the product of a three-year marketing campaign.” Hadfield’s son, Evan Hadfield, adamantly denies it.

Are we missing something? What’s the big deal? It looks to us as though Blacklock’s Reporter seriously exaggerated what help Hadfield had. Having an occasional tweet drafted by your son, or even the CBC, doesn’t equal a “three-year marketing campaign.” And even if Hadfield did have a ghostwriter, that’s not exactly the makings of a scandal, is it?

Maybe it is. In fact, Chris Hadfield wasn’t the only one “accused” of using a ghostwriter recently. Ransom, a rapper who collaborated with Nicki Minaj, recently released a song in which he claims to have written verses for her before she became famous. Nicki denies ever having used a ghostwriter in a (somewhat profane) response on TMZ.

What do you think about these stories? Is "ghostwriter outing" the new rage? Why all the hubbub?

Writer Poll: Is Ghostwriting Hazardous to the Health of Your Voice?

All ghostwriters are writers—whether they're writing in collaboration or on their own. So what happens when a ghost is too good at inhabiting the writing mind of another person or persona? Is it possible to get so immersed in another voice that you lose track of your own?

Annie Davies' recent Salon piece, “My Dirty Secret Writing Life,” says yes. In it, she expresses regret that she spent so many years ghostwriting a young-adult book series based on a popular TV show. Ultimately, she decided that “none of the ghostwriting gigs mattered very much, not in the long run.” And when she finally stopped writing for the series and turned to her own bylined projects, she found that she’d become disconnected from her own voice.

We polled our writers to see whether that resonated with them—had ghostwriting ever been hazardous to the health of their voice?

Davies' article really hit a nerved in our writer community. Most responses scolded her for her unacknowledged privilege, including some variation of “first-world problems.”

One of our ghosts, Sandra Rea, responded with “DUH…she lost herself. That’s what writers do.” She went on to pose some questions in a hypothetical conversation wtih Davies: “What does being a 'real' writer mean to you? What do you think you were doing all those years? If you were busy as a ghost—and paid well too—doesn't that legitimize you as an actual, flesh-and-blood writer?”

Some writers said that they found ghostwriting to be beneficial for their other projects. Holly Robinson said, “I enjoy the challenge of capturing a new voice on the page and have discovered that, although most of my clients are people whose lives are quite different from mine, many of our central conflicts and experiences share a common thread. Plus, ghostwriting has given me lots of good fodder for my fiction writing!” Alan Perlman felt similarly, saying, “As an academically trained linguist, I'm unusually objective about language, and as a student of stylistics, I like the challenge of replicating another person's voice. Praise from the client, audience reaction to a speech, and money—these serve my superficial ego needs.”

Other ghosts felt that, though they had at times felt conflicted about their own voice, at the end of the day, it all comes down to the paycheck. A writer who preferred to remain anonymous said, “Anything hazardous [to my voice] has been helped by the check I get that covers my rent and life.” Blogger and ghostwriter Claire Shefchik agreed: “When I'm ghostwriting and start worrying about ‘the health of my voice,’ these three little words usually help: I'm getting paid.”

The consensus from our writers is clear. Davies should be happy that she's been able to do what so many people can’t: make a living off of her writing, bylined or not.

Guest Post: Building Books as a Ghostwriter

by Alice Lesch Kelly

One of the authors I ghostwrite for checked in recently from the road. She was out promoting the book I’d written with her, and she was having one of those “I forget which city I’m in” moments.

While she rattled off her frantic schedule—a long list of readings, interviews, TV appearances, and speaking engagements—I sat back and appreciated the situation. After months of work on her book, we were both just where we wanted to be. She was out promoting her bestseller, and I was writing my next book.

As a ghostwriter, I get to do what I consider to be the most interesting parts of creating a book. I brainstorm topics, develop content, define strategies, package ideas, delve into research, and conduct interviews. And then, best of all, I write—expressing ideas, choosing words, crafting sentences, guiding narratives. I draft, revise, and polish.

Then, when I’m finished, I hand it all over to someone else.

I often think of myself as a surrogate mother. My books’ genetic material comes from another person, but I form it. I carry it for months, molding it, cultivating it, giving it voice. Under my care it develops and grows from the seed of an idea to a completed book that’s all ready for delivery.

The process works for everyone: The author has her baby, and I have the satisfaction of having written it to life.

When I started ghostwriting, I thought I’d feel disappointed when my authors received praise and attention for books I had written, or that I might be envious when Good Morning America called them rather than me. As it turns out, though, I prefer it this way. I get to have all the fun of writing—but when my books are ready to step out into the spotlight, I’m happy to let them go.

That’s why I love ghostwriting. Authors build platforms and marketing strategies, but I get to build books.


Alice Lesch Kelly is a book collaborator and ghostwriter specializing in health and self-improvement. Two of her recent books are Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby (HarperOne) and The Omni Diet (St. Martin’s Press). Her website is www.alicekelly.net.

3 Benefits of Being a Blog Ghostwriter

by Kelsey Jones

Many writers get into blogging because they want to have their work published online. However, if you have started blogging for a living, you will quickly learn that the benefits of not having your name on something can often far outweigh the name recognition you’ll get on a piece of content written under your name.

Writing content that isn’t going to be published under your name (and is instead published under someone else’s name) is called ghostwriting. Published authors have been using ghostwriters for years on their books, and now the market for digital ghostwriters is stronger than ever. Higher rates, more work, and better guidelines are all things you can look forward to as a ghostwriter.

Better Pay
Most bloggers charge higher rates for ghostwritten pieces over those published under their name. This is understood by most clients, as not having your work recognized as your own carries a higher cost (as you can’t usually use it in your portfolio). For ghostwriting assignments, I usually charge 15 to 30 percent more per word or per piece. This rate usually varies wildly per industry and takes some experimentation before settling into a steady ghostwriting rate.

More Opportunities
Many clients are specifically looking for ghostwriters for their own marketing/blog content or to for their clients. Because the quality of content has a significant impact on a website’s traffic and search rank, companies are looking for great bloggers who can craft unique and engaging content. As many companies begin to realize how important blogging can be a website’s ROI and engagement, they will begin to hire more writers as well. What does this mean for bloggers? There will be more ghostwriting assignments available to go around. If you are okay with ghostwriting, this can allow for more clients than you might have received had you been adamant about your name being attached to any work you produce.

More Structure
More rules and guidelines might be viewed as a negative aspect of ghostwriting, but many bloggers see it as a benefit. For writers who are given free rein on assignments they attach their name to, it can be difficult at times to continuously come up with new blogging topics, due to that pesky writer’s block. However, many ghostwriting assignments have specific guidelines for content length, topic, and frequency, which can help the creative process when it comes to composing posts. We all need a break from idea generation, and more structure can often help.

This article originally appeared on the Blog Herald.

Visit Kelsey Jones' website: The Social Robot.

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Hello ghostwriters, writers in general, and tumblr-ers as a whole: We’ve joined the tumblrsphere!

We’ve got a folder full of gifs and we’re ready to party. We love hearing about the adventure of ghostwriters, freelance writers, editors, interns, and basically anyone in the writing and publishing businesses.

Follow or like our tumblr if you post about any of these topics!

Capturing Another's Voice

by Gwen Moran

When it comes to ghostwriting, one of the most challenging aspects of writing the manuscript is capturing another author’s voice. Writers typically have a cadence and style to their work that reflects certain word, construction, and other preferences. Sometimes those can be easily recognized. Developing a strong, recognizable voice is a work-in-progress for many writers. 


Ghostwriters, on the other hand, seek to be invisible. Our job is to capture and present the voice of the author. We are successful when someone says, “That sounds just like me!” And while that almost never happens in the first draft, there is a process I’ve found very effective when aiming to sound less like Gwen and more like the individual whose book I’m ghosting.


Listen. The way the individual speaks and tells his or her story, whether it’s a memoir or a nonfiction service book, tells you what’s most important. When you discuss the content, what are the areas that the author tells with enthusiasm and detail? What does he or she address more casually? These are important clues to what the author thinks matters. It may be your job to challenge that and get beneath the surface to richer material, but those initial conversations can give you strong insight into the author’s mindset.

Read. If the author has written other material, read it. Memoranda, email messages, newsletter articles, speeches, presentations—it doesn’t matter. Get a good collection of the author’s own written words. Of course, not everyone is a professional writer, and it’s your job to make the work sparkle. But notice the author’s style. Does she favor long, conversational sentences? Is he funny? Does she use numbers or bullet points to break up her correspondence? Are there style clues that you can incorporate into the writing you’ll do on this person’s behalf?

Record. A digital recorder is a ghostwriter’s best friend. I record my sessions with authors and note key sections of the audio file. I listen to the audio file while reviewing the transcription. This helps me relate the words on the page to the author’s voice, so when I’m writing, I can hear in my head the way my author turns a phrase. I’ll ask the author to present the material as if he or she was pitching a client or explaining something to a friend. In those familiar monologues, I look for well-worn terms and favored anecdotes. Words prefaced by “I always say…” or “I usually tell people…” are gold to be woven into the copy, bringing the author’s voice to life.


Revise. In most of my ghostwriting relationships, I manage expectations upfront: It’s very rare that I will nail the author’s voice on the first round. That’s where revisions come in. When we discuss the work, I record those conversations. Often, the author does much of the voice transformation as we talk about changes and additions. When she looks at a passage and tells me, “I like that, but I would say it another way,” the next words give me the infusion of her voice that makes the work uniquely hers. When he shares an additional fact or two he forgot in the first discussion, suddenly I have his voice to insert into the copy. And I know I have done my job well when the client says, “You made me sound like me—only better!”


Gwen Moran is a Jersey Shore–based freelance writer and ghostwriter specializing in business and finance topics. She has collaborated on more than 20 books and ebooks, and is the founder of Biziversity.com, an online information resource for small businesses.

This piece originally appeared on ASJA's The Word.

The Takei To-Do, Take Two: The Ghosts Speak

Last week we asked our writers to boldly go where no ghost has gone before, to tell us whether they thought George Takei’s ghostwriter committed a major faux pas by revealing that he wrote some of the former Trekkie’s funny Facebook posts. The general verdict from our ghosts was, not surprisingly, largely critical: no matter the medium, ghost Rick Polito should have had his phaser set to silent.

Some of our ghosts, like speechwriter Bernard Lipsy, argued the traditional, absolutist line: “In my 35-year career at IBM, only my immediate colleagues knew for whom I wrote. Once the speaker opens his or her mouth, the words belong to that speaker and nobody else.” Echoing this sentiment, speechwriter Lisa Schiffren said, “It's always wrong to take credit for work that is supposed to come from the principal in question.”

Others were more conditional in their condemnation. Ghost and novelist Kerry Zukus said, “We don't know what was in the agreement [between Takei and Polito] or what went down behind the scenes,” but even without an agreement, “it should not be assumed that the ghost is free to brag about his or her work on a project. [He should] still ask permission from the client before telling the world.”

Sarah Wachter also said that consent was the key determinant. “When a ghostwriter decides to part the curtains and reveal himself, it should be done with the tacit consent of the client, and without divulging many details, keeping the statement general, casual, and understated. That’s what Polito did in his back-pedaling statement, saying: ‘I've had no direct contact with George. I've sent him some memes, as have other comedian types, and I was happy for the exposure.’”

But in the end, Liz Vance spoke for most of our ghosts when she said, “A ghost is a ghost, and shouldn't ever intentionally reveal that to the public.”

There was a much greater diversity of opinion about the ethical questions this episode raised for the new world of social-media ghosting.

Speechwriter Juli Branson suggested that the Takei case points to the dangers to and responsibilities of authors. “Social media has its own set of expectations from readers, who believe they are communicating directly with the person listed on the [social media] account,” she said. “Therefore, even if a celeb hires a ghostwriter, the celeb needs to be the one reading the posts and telling the writer how they would like to respond. If there is no connection between the celeb and the social media venue, isn't that like a speechwriter not just writing a speech, but also delivering it, and even saying they are the celeb?”

Other writers were softer on the scandal, suggesting that social media ghost-posting was something to be expected. Bookwriter Bob Fancher said, “I think the relevant question isn't the medium, but what the audience has a right to expect. I don't mind ghosting for corporate types or politicians or public office holders, because no one thinks they write their own stuff. Celebrities, it seems to me, fall into the same category. Maybe love letters and religious testimony shouldn't be ghosted. But celebrity Facebook comments? Really?”

In the end, some thought the most trenchant revelation from the whole hullabaloo was not about the morality, but the money. “I think the real embarrassment here is Takei paying just $10 for the postings, which have helped him resurrect his career and command decent appearance fees,” said Howard Rothman. “I'm not swayed by fact that the going rate for such work is appallingly low; it wouldn't be if people making a good living off this stuff offered fair remuneration.”

Fly Me to the Moon—A ghostwriter reviews "Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations"

In the 1980s, legendary Hollywood beauty Ava Gardner hired ghostwriter Peter Evans to pen her memoirs. She was broke, aging, childless, living alone in London, in ill health, and very lonely. She told Evans that it was a choice between selling her book or selling her jewelry, and, as she said, “I’m kinda sentimental about the jewels.”

Known as an outspoken, independent, over-the-top playgirl, Gardner was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1940s and '50s, working with Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, and Burt Lancaster, among others. Her personal life was even more sensational. She’d been married to a bizarre trifecta of celebs (Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra), had many torrid love affairs (she was especially fond of bullfighters), and then, in later life, sank into alcoholism and depression.

She was, in short, the perfect client for any ghostwriter—if he could get her to talk.

He did, especially in boozy late night gabfests on the phone. Then, after many months of hard work and interest from a major publisher, Gardner suddenly stopped calling. She fired Evans and canceled the project. (Man, we all know how that feels.) What apparently happened was that Sinatra paid her NOT to tell their story.

Twenty years went by, both Gardner and Sinatra went on to that big Silver Screen in the sky, and one day Evans pulled out his tapes and notes and decided to write his own version of Gardner's life. Only this time he put himself into the story, much in the same way that Charlie Kaufman inserted himself into his screenplay for Adaptation. That is, Evans became a character in Gardner's life, and part of the book became his struggle to get her story on paper.

Evans describes in exquisite detail how to work with and around a reluctant client, how to flatter without pandering, how to tread the fine line between friendship and a working relationship, and how to establish boundaries—including sexual ones—between oneself and a moody client. He details how ghosts have to maneuver between being a confidant, a shrink, a best friend, a detached observer, and, yes, a gossip monger. Of course, we ghosts want to present our subjects in the best light, but we sure do need those juicy details, not-so-flattering inner thoughts, and questionable motives to move the story along.

All through my reading of the book, I kept thinking it was like a primer for anyone who has ever attempted to ghostwrite someone else’s autobiography.

For me, the difficult part of ghostwriting is not the writing, it’s getting the material needed to tell the story. So reading about the ways Evans pulled it off was just one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much. The other, of course, was learning the intimate details of Gardner’s life, particularly what she had to say about Sinatra’s biggest asset—which, trust me, was not Ole’ Blue Eyes' vocal cords.

***

Linda Sunshine, a former NYC publishing executive, is the author of more than 50 books and a ghostwriter for many unrepentant clients. Currently, she is the only writer in LA who isn't working on a screenplay.

Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations, by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner, is now available from Simon & Schuster.