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Where
to find great writers
When
you hire for a writer for your ebook, what you are doing is enlisting the
services of a ghostwriter. A
ghostwriter is a writer
who publishes under someone else's name, with the consent of both parties.
With
the advent of the Internet and ebooks, today, ghostwriters also write ebooks.
When you outsource your ebook to a ghostwriter, you are giving them the job of creating
the words in your ebook in exchange for a fee. You still get to put your own
author name on the finished product. Ultimately you will own the copyright, and
you can sell the ebook as many times as you like. It's all completely legal and
commonly done.
Great
things about ghostwriters
Just
because a ghostwriter does the writing does not mean that you do not deserve to
be the credited author. You will be the originator of the idea, and provide
direction to the ghostwriter, so that the written material reflects what you
want it to say. You may also create a pen name for yourself if you wish your
real name to remain anonymous to casual readers.
Once
you hand off the reins to a ghostwriter to prepare an ebook for you, you may
never go back and try to write one yourself ever again. A ghostwriter can do so
many things for you, from researching to editing. And any writer knows that the
process of writing and polishing a book or an ebook takes a significant amount
of time. Much more than most readers will ever know.
What
they can do
You
can outsource more than just writing to
a ghostwriter. In fact, ghostwriters can be hired to research your topic fully
on the Internet or elsewhere. They can then translate your or their research
into organized sections and create palatable, conversational paragraphs for
your readers. They can interview people that you designate or that they seek
out for the ebook.
They
can separate the ebook-worthy material from non-ebook-worthy material for
inclusion with an eye on what readers are interested in and what you have hired
them to write about. In other words, good ghostwriters will stay on the topic
as they write and not veer off into irrelevant tangents. It's actually an art
form in itself to be able to insert quips and images that are designed to hold
a reader's interest while quickly and smoothly getting back on track to deliver
the information promised by the title and table of contents.
Speaking
of the table of contents, an experienced ghostwriter can review rough notes from
you and propose a title and table of contents. Ghostwriters can start from
notes, organize the material into an outline, generate a table of contents,
research and add filling text, make boring information flow like an
entertaining conversation, and more. They can basically start with whatever
you've got to start with and get you from there to a completed ebook.
If
you have already tried your hand at preparing an ebook, a ghostwriter can whip
your existing draft ebook into sell-able shape. Ghostwriters will accommodate
your preferences, and if you don't know your preferences, ghostwriters can help
you make those decisions.
Finally,
good ghostwriters can write quickly. Ghostwriters cannot perform miracles, but
it's not unheard of to get an ebook done in 30 days when you need it fast.
Depending on your need and schedule, you can usually find some who will work
even more quickly. It's nice to allow six weeks, but not necessary.
You
can sit back while your ebook is being written
All you need to do is give the
ghostwriter the information and he can get straight to work. You may provide
any level of detail on your title or topic, your notions (if any) on how the
topic should be covered, and any other relevant information. Most of the
communication can take place by email, and that keeps things pretty simple and
also well-documented. You may, if you prefer, talk by phone or use regular
mail. It's not common or necessary to meet face to face with your writer to get
her rolling on your project. This is because ebooks tend to be on tighter
schedules and lower budgets than ghostwritten bookstore books. It will save
time, money, and any confusion, if you try to use email and the Internet as
your primary tools to communicate with your writer.
Where
ghostwriters lurk
You
can find ghostwriters the hard way or the easy way. The hard way is to locate
writing or authoring organizations in cities around the globe, and interview
writers until you find one that you believe is qualified to write your book.
The
easy way to find a ghostwriter is to go to an Internet site where ghostwriters
are hanging out, ready to respond to classified ads. You place an ad for your
project, and you wait for bids to come in. Two large sites with gobs of
ghostwriter of traffic are Elance and Guru.
A
third way is to contact ghostwriting companies directly.
Of
the avenues available, I recommend going through one of the large sites that
have high ghostwriter traffic. Sometimes these types of sites are called
freelancer databases, ghostwriter banks, freelancer job banks, or similar.
Get
ghostwriters competing for your ebook
The
two large online freelancer databases where ghostwriters lurk that are mentioned
above, Elance and Guru, operate in essentially the same way. Basically, you
post an ad and wait for responses. You choose a writer from the list of
responders, agree on a schedule and fee, and then move on and do something else
until your ebook arrives to you in your email inbox.
Both
sites maintain catalogs of people who provide freelance services. The Elance
catalog has over 50,000 people listed. Some of the people in the catalog, or
bank, provide software programming or other service. Not everyone in the bank
is a ghostwriter. So when you get to the site, you'll need to navigate to the
area that applies to ebooks and ghostwriting. Although this may take you a few
minutes at first, the site is easily navigable once you get your bearings.
In
Elance's writing marketplace, browse through others' ads to see how they are
finding ghostwriters, and roughly what the projects are paying. With a quick
browse you can see how ads are written and which ghostwriters have responded,
and additional details about the advertisers and the ghostwriter responder.
Once
you place an ad, writers will begin to post online bids for your project. They
may offer to write your ebook for less money than the maximum pay you stated in
your ad, or they may offer to write the ebook more quickly than you've stated
you require. Basically, they start a friendly competition (usually friendly) to
get your business. Lots of them will be appealing. That's because it's a buyers
market - good news for you.
Each
responder will provide some background information along with their offer.
There will be navigable links you can click on to review their history with
Elance, their portfolio, and ratings given by some of their clients.
Unsubscribed web surfers will not have access to all the detail that you do on
the ghostwriters. Likewise, casual surfers will not have access to all of your
ad's details either. From the bids you get, you read up on the materials
available and make a selection.
Once
you've awarded the project to a writer, you'll work up an agreement between you
and the writer, and arrange payment through Elance. There are agreement
templates you can use on the site, and there are recommended methods of paying
also. You may want to browse through some of this information early on
regarding scheduling and payment, even before you place your ad, to make sure
you understand the "fine print." There's nothing terrible there that
I know of, but read it all anyway because it's the smart thing to do.
Payment
can be made before the writing starts, after the writing is completed, or half
before and half after the writing is completed. When you do pay, a percentage
will be taken by Elance. This fee is currently less than 10 percent and is
considered a finder's fee. Basically, you won't pay anything to your
ghostwriter or to the databank service until you have actually selected a
writer.
Guru
is a larger site that has won some awards and has a catalog of hundreds of
thousands of service providers in their database. Like with Elance, only a
fraction of the service providers are ghostwriters looking for ebook work
though. But a fraction of almost 500,000 is a good number.
Because
of the buyers market, your odds are pretty good for finding someone quickly on
the Internet. Postings for "ghostwriter wanted" are a factor of ten
fewer than the number of authors that may bid on the job. This is regardless of
monthly fees and percentages charged to the writers on the sites. Sometimes
there's also a fee-per-bid charge for service providers. Since many
ghostwriters who will be responding to your ad are already out of pocket
monetarily, they're eager for your project. And, they are serious about their
business.
The
information available about each service provider, i.e. ghostwriter, can be
compared to information available on vendors on the popular eBay auction site.
Histories and rankings on the large sites are readily available for each writer
or company you are thinking of hiring. You can see if other clients have been
satisfied with a writer's work, and see how many ebooks a ghostwriter has
written through the use of the freelancer bank. These indicators can be very
helpful when it comes time to make a selection, and I'll talk more about how to
choose a writer in the next chapter.
There
is another freelance database on the web where ghostwriters lurk sometimes
called AllFreelance. There, ebook creators have been known to find ghostwriters
using a procedure similar to the ones at Elance or Guru. Ads are placed, and
freelance writers respond with bids. I
don’t like the site myself because of the irritating popups.
If
you don’t want the project details public
You
may not wish to reveal your one-of-a-kind ebook subject or title to just
anybody in what amounts to a classified ad. But you still want to attract
competing ghostwriters to your interesting project. Here's what you can do.
Both of the freelance database sites provide a mechanism for you to post some
information in your ad that only the paid subscribers can see. This is a good
way to go, and you'll see during your initial browse of others' ads that many
advertisers do this. You'll see a symbol next to the project listing that
indicates some of the detail is locked from public view. Already, portions of
the ads are hidden from public view, and extra "locking" reduces the
visible portions even further.
Also,
you can be vague in your ad. There's no need to list your title, ideas of
chapters, or even the precise nature of the subject matter. In your ad, you can
call your project a "business ebook," if you like.
When
you hire a ghostwriter, you will of course need to deliver the particulars so
that they can do a great job for you. Even then, it's common to have the writer
sign a confidentiality agreement. So, basically, don’t worry too much about
someone else seeing your idea before your ebook is done. The threat of an ebook
idea or title being stolen is not really that high, although as mentioned
earlier, ideas are not copyrighted, so someone could rightfully go running off
with your idea. The truth is any reader of your book or related sales web site
could swipe your ideas just as easily. Regardless of the risks, try not to
deliberate or worry excessively. I'm sure you are busy too, and you have better
things to do.
You
may wonder why the ads are made visible to the public at all. The sites make
all ads available in partial form so that unsubscribed visitors may, by viewing
samples, be enticed to become members.
As
you browse, you will surely see that invariably, advertisers get some responses
that are outrageous. Offers to write a 100 page book in a day for a few hundred
bucks. At this stage, just ignore those, and know that regardless of a few sour
grapes, overall the system tends to work.
You
can move things along a little in terms of trying to get the type of responders
you want. Obviously, offering a legitimate amount of time and pay is one way to
attract a good ghostwriter. On Elance, you can peruse the database and select
certain writers to invite them to bid on your project. On Guru, you can screen
out certain types of people from the list to bid on your project.
Once
you get to the list on Elance, follow the site's instructions to invite certain
people to bid on your project. You can either browse through the list line by
line, and select candidates you like to invite, or you can do a site search for
certain types of qualifications. There's usually a limit on how many
freelancers you can "invite" to bid. Ten or fifteen writers should be
plenty though. On Guru, you can limit your ad allowing only writers with
certain qualifications to bid. Because Guru's database is so large, most
advertisers screen out writers who do not have paid memberships. This, in
theory, eliminates fly-by-night writers who are not willing to pay or to
maintain a monthly subscription to the service.
On
Elance and Guru, most ebooks are outsourced for a flat fee. If you choose to,
you may, in addition to the flat fee, offer a ghostwriter a per-sale
percentage. This is a good-hearted thing to do, since the writer created the
work. You are never under any obligation, and most ebook owners don't offer
percentages to their ghostwriters.
You
will be required to use the payment processors on the sites, so that they can
take the appropriate percentages, and also so that the writer is somewhat
guaranteed to receive proper payment. For example, on Guru, some writers may
opt only to receive payments through an escrow plan. By doing so, they require
that their clients have the payment available in full in an escrow account.
Although actually payment is not transferred until agreed terms are met, the
money is sitting in the account, to be paid upon completion. Having the money
sitting in escrow builds a writer's trust in your ability to pay.
You
also may if you wish offer credit to your ghostwriter in your ebook. It's
occasionally a common practice with paper books, and you may do the same in your
ebook.
Here's
how you do it without flat-out telling readers your book was ghostwritten. 1)
Thank them by name in an acknowledgements paragraph. Don't mention what exactly
you're thanking them for. Your acknowledgements paragraph can be in a foreward,
and introduction, or near the end of the ebook. 2) Include the ghostwriter name
in the byline in an inconspicuous location in the beginning of your ebook.
Don't do this on the cover or in your web sales ad, and don't make it
prominent. In small print underneath "by" Your Name, include the
phrase "with Gary Ghostwriter." 3) Instead of using "with,"
use "as told by."
I
wouldn't go as far as to say that giving partial credit is a universal
practice, especially with ebooks, but it is done, so you might want to think
about it. Here's why I'm telling you the partial credit stuff: even though it's
something you can offer that is often considered as good as compensation, I do
not recommend that you offer it outright on the database sites. Regardless of
what other advertisers are offering, only offer partial credit if the final
product warrants it.
Alternative
to writer banks
Frankly,
placing your project ad into a large database like one on Elance or Guru and
getting competing bids is the most efficient way to find a ghostwriter.
However, I would be remiss if I didn't at least let you know that there are
some ghostwriters that you can hire directly. I mentioned you could look around
in writing organizations, but also, you can go directly to any of the web sites
listed in the last section of this book. You will need to do your homework,
check references, etc. on any of these ghostwriters, just as you would with
ghostwriters on the database sites.
To
find more individual ghostwriting web sites, search the Internet for
"ghostwriting service," or "ebook ghostwriters."
If
you hire directly, you will save yourself the finder's fee charged by the database
web sites. However, you will not have access to the competitive marketplace and
the ranking information from the large sites. On Elance and Guru, after
projects are completed, many clients provide some very valuable and useful
feedback on their experiences with the ghostwriters they hired. This feedback
is available to future clients and people who are placing ads.
Individuals
and companies who provide ghostwriting services but are not bidding for your
job through Elance or Guru may charge flat fees, percentages, or per-page
rates. Some require partial credit in the ebook. Talk to individual-site
potential ghostwriters online to find out their fees, experience, and such. If
one can't help you, he or she may be able to direct you to someone else in their
line of work that can.
However
you go about finding one of the many ghostwriters that are lurking day and
night, for efficiency's sake, do use the Internet. Post your project on Guru or
Elance or both, or initiate contact with an online ghostwriting service. Once
you start getting bids from the banks and/or pricing and service information
from the individual ghostwriting services, you'll have decisions to make, and
I'll tell you how to choose a writer in the next chapter.
Some
tips on posting your ghostwriter wanted ad
Back
to the database sites, posting an ad is simple once you have your topic or
title selected. You want to include some particulars, but not all of them at
this stage. (Once you negotiate terms with a writer, then you will of course
put every item that you require into a contract.)
Your
ad should include the following items:
1. Short
description of the project. A few lines at most.
2. Maximum
amount you are willing to pay. Writers can bid lower than this, but they cannot
bid above your maximum offering for your project.
3. Date
you will close bidding on your project. Close bidding in a few days or a few
weeks. Don't leave your ad lingering on the site too much longer than that,
because it loses momentum. Besides, if you are not getting responses you like,
you can always place another.
4. Deadline
the ghostwriter will have to meet. Give the writer a month or six weeks if you
can. But, if you really need an ebook in seven days or less, then specify that.
Tip:
A good length for a for-sale ebook is 80 pages. Other common lengths are 40,
60, or 100 pages. To specify that you'd
like an 80-page ebook, require at least 80 pages, or 80 pages + in your post. A
free-give-away ebook used to market other products or services may be any
length.
You
can specify any other parts of the book you like, but keep your list of
requirements relatively short. For example, you may specify that you need a
glossary chapter or that you will need drawings and/or photographs included.
When you come to an agreement with a writer, you will naturally provide all the
other details he or she will need to complete the book. He may need to know
what font you would like or what personal details you want included.
It
is a good bargain to pay around $1,000 to get an 80-page ebook ghostwritten
without drawings, photographs, or cover art included. It is possible to get good ghostwriters
sometimes for a tad less. If you offer to pay a maximum of $150 for an 80-page
book, you will not likely get a ghostwriter who knows what he is doing. You can
advertise a maximum of $1,000 for a 60-page ebook, and you will get some
legitimate offers in the range of $500 to $1,000. Although you don't want to
pay a huge amount more than necessary, I do recommend that you offer and pay an
adequate amount to get a good ghostwriter. It's worth it.
Tell
viewers what kind of qualifications you are looking for. Either make the
selection on the screen by clicking on the categories provided by the service,
or indicate clearly in the text of the ad what type of person you're looking
for.
You
will also want to indicate that you may require that the ghostwriter make
revisions after you review the ebook. Note this in your ad as well. It is okay
to indicate that you would like two sets of possible revisions to be included
in the bid. When you negotiate the final terms with the writer, you can specify
what types of revisions are included and the timeframes for them to be done.
One
thing you do not want to do is to change your mind on what you want after you
have already posted your ad. Although posting is free on the ad sites, if you
make changes or otherwise renegotiate on terms already established, word will
get out. Besides it's just not a good idea. It wastes your time.
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Other pages on Ebook Writing: Ebook Marketing Introduction Topic Ideas
Working with Ghost Writers Cover Art
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