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Do
it your way with ghostwriters
Don't
be fooled into thinking that you can have it your way with any other route. To
get exactly what you want without writing it yourself, hire a competent
ghostwriter. There is another way to sell or give away an ebook without having
to write it. Ebooks that have already been written are available for purchase.
The process is often called "ebook reselling." You can actually buy,
and pretty cheaply I might add - sometimes for less than a hundred bucks, a
pre-written ebook. With the price, you obtain the license to resell. Then you
can sell that ebook as many times as you like for any price you like.
I
don't recommend ebook resales for several reasons. First, you don't get to
create your own personal and unique book. Others will also have resale rights.
The very customers you are trying to sell to may be also receiving marketing
materials from someone else for the exact same book!
Second,
many of these resale ebooks contain marketing information or links to other
services which serve the purposes of the original writer and not you or your
targeted readership. This is one of the ways that an originator gets by with
selling the ebooks so cheaply for resale. He heads straight to the bank
whenever a reader that you sold the book to buys one of his offered services or
other ebooks.
Third,
ebook resale services are heavy-handed with advertising. You can't even pay a
visit to one of their web sites without getting bombarded with popups. Nobody
likes over-the-top selling or advertising. In fact, no one likes sneaky, subtle
advertising either. If your readers go back to the originating web site, which
will most definitely be listed in the ebook, then they'll be bombarded too.
With your own ghostwritten ebook, if you utilize advertising of your own
services boldly or subtly, at least the advertising you're exposing to the
readers is for products or services that you will receive compensation for. And
then maybe you could resell your
book...just something to think about.
Ghostwriting
gives you a one-of-a-kind product. In the end, although someone else wrote it,
you dreamed it up, and you own it outright. Ghostwritten ebooks, compared to
resales, offer maximum flexibility for you to market, revise, advertise, and
more. You can actually legally pursue anyone that tries to copy the written
work or resell your ebook without your permission. You're protected by the
copyright law. Pay the money to get a unique book created that you have control
over. Pay extra to get an excellent ghostwriter if you need to (what I mean is
don't always take the lowest bid necessarily).
Then you will be proud to sell your well-written,
distinctively-your-own, ebook.
After
you place your first ad, within days if not minutes, you will likely have
multiple freelancers who have responded wanting to ghostwrite your ebook. If
you contacted any ghostwriting services outside the freelance banks, then
you'll probably also get immediate responses and interest in your project.
Why
not just take the lowest bid?
You
might be tempted to take the lowest bid, but if you are willing to invest only
a few extra minutes, you could save yourself from heartache that might follow
if all you are looking at is price. You need to find someone who will do a good
job, deliver a timely result, and who is at least somewhat pleasant to work
with.
First,
read all details that each bidder has posted in response to your ad. Look for
writers who have verified credentials
and who have had positive client reviews at Elance or Guru. Verified
credentials are those for which the site received confirmation in official
form, such as a transcript or diploma.
Review
customer ratings that have been
posted on Elance or Guru. This type of feedback will not be available from
individual ghostwriting sites, but is readily available on the database sites.
Not all clients post feedback after a project because they get in a hurry or
forget. But many do. And you can usually put some stake in the ratings because
the clients were once in your shoes placing an ad for a similar service in the
databank. Therefore the databank clients' feedback ratings and comments are
relevant. Clients' comments help you see if they were satisfied with the
working relationship and also with the quality of the finished product.
For
ghostwriting services obtained through Elance, Guru, or an individual
ghostwriter site, check out the writer's references.
Don't just look at a list of names and assume that the longer the list, the
better the references. Get contact information, and follow up. Contact the
references; that's what they're there for. Reference lists and testimonials are
only as good as the phone numbers that come with them so that you can confirm
that someone was satisfied with the work.
It
is the nature of ghostwriting that the ghostwriter is not at liberty to divulge
or show you his work for others. But if you could speak to only one of his or
her clients or collaborators, then at least that is something. Be hesitant to
award your first project to a writer who will not provide at least one
reference of some kind!
Where
ratings and references will tell you how easy or difficult a writer may be to
work with, writing samples will give
you a more explicit idea of how well a writer actually writes. Although
ghostwriters are not at liberty to post or publish work they did for others for
a flat fee, they may be able to show you something they wrote for their own
benefit or something that they published under their own name. In occasional
cases, ghostwriters are given credit in the books (or ebooks) that they wrote.
Those books would be good writing samples to look at. Require at least one or
two writing samples at a minimum. An experienced ghostwriter should have a
lengthy portfolio, but even a lesser experienced ghostwriter should be able to
show you something they've written. Even a letter to the editor of a newspaper
or an essay on their personal web site is better than nothing. You can tell a
lot about writers from their samples. You can usually tell if they speak conversationally,
if they have a comfortable command of the language you're looking for, and if
they pay attention to detail (with no errors spelling or punctuation).
Although
terse ad responses are common, if you do see any glaring errors in the response
to your ad, like a misspelled word or confusing explanations, proceed with
caution in the direction of that writer. Give a responder some leeway in
abbreviating or being direct. Beyond that, glaring errors in can be an
indicator that the responder may not be the best one for your project.
Remember, if you wanted to slap a book together throwing grammatical caution to
the wind, you could write that yourself. You are looking for a skilled writer
who pays attention to details.
Again,
beware of responders offering to write you a 100-page ebook in a matter of
days. If you want any kind of in-depth coverage or research, this isn't
possible, even for a talented and experienced ghostwriter. These people are
trying to steal your business away from bona fide writing professionals.
It's
not to say that an amateur wouldn't do a good job, it's just that with
experience comes better writing that is faster and more accurate. Even the best
ghostwriter cannot perform miracles. He or she will need time to read, study,
interview, organize, draft, and revise before getting it to you.
Regarding
amateurs, if you think that someone with little or no ebook writing experience
would be a good fit for your ebook anyway, then you may be right. Everyone,
even a ghostwriter, has to start somewhere. Although he may not have many
client ratings on the site, he should be able to get you a resume, some writing
samples, and some general business references. If a new ghostwriter is serious,
he will have prepared these items. Review the resume and writing samples, and
contact the references, Then, who knows, you may find that you and he are a
great fit. You may strike gold where other potential clients have walked on by.
As
I mentioned, be extremely wary of outrageous
claims. If a writer can't provide you with any verification that he has
indeed written over 200 ebooks and made his clients over ten million dollars,
then there is no reason to believe it. Nor is it generally possible to get any
kind of quality book written in a matter of days. If you get tempted to use one
of these mavericks, check their feedback from other clients. You may get the
real picture there. If it seems too good to be possibly true, it is. Use common
sense.
More
on client rankings 
On
Elance and Guru, when you open your ad, you will see a list of the bidders who
responded, how much they propose to charge, and some links to check out their
qualifications. One of the links will take you to a responder's profile page. Go there and read all the entries
carefully. You can glean what others in the system think about the writer's
work - both the work product and how easy he or she was to work with.
As
you're reviewing, keep in mind that just as some responders can be outrageous,
so can some advertisers. This kind of stuff happens; so what you want to do is
look at multiple rankings. One or two outliers can pretty well be ignored. In
any case, a single low mark or a single high mark probably doesn't mean as much
as overall in terms of how clients are appraising this person's work. Look for
how most clients ranked this person.
Also compare that against how many jobs the responder has actually done.
Before
you seal the deal
Once
you go through the items above, you will have a good feel about who to select
from the list for your project. You may have six really good contenders. In
that case, take the one with the best writing samples.
Where
possible, contact the ghostwriter directly. Get to know him a little. Lots of
things cannot be translated over the Internet, but you can figure out a lot in
a quick phone call. You may ask
questions such as, "Will you be writing yourself, or will you be
giving this job to one of your employees?" You have the right to find out
such things.
One
key that a ghostwriter is good is repeat
business. Repeat business indicates that a client liked the ghostwriter's
work because the client came back for more. On the database sites, you can see
from the profile page if a client has posted more than one rating for more than
one project on that particular ghostwriter. If there are multiple project
entries from the same client, smile, and move that ghostwriter to the top of
your list.
I
don't think this is as big of a deal, but it is something to look for: areas of expertise. If your book is on
running a house on a tighter budget, and a ghostwriter with good credentials,
references, samples, ratings, and some repeat business also has experience
writing books about money - bingo. It just doesn't get any better than that.
There
are some writers who just plain charge
beyond the top end for their services. Some are out to take your money,
hoping you'll stumble on their web site, and be dumb enough not to check out
the going rate to get an ebook published on a databank site, and you'll pay
their fee schedule, no matter that it's above industry standard.
But
don't. Don't hire the over-charger, and don't hire the Rolls Royce of
ghostwriters. Get at least three bids if you're looking only at individual
ghostwriting sites.
Generally,
if a ghostwriter wants $10,000 for a 60-page ebook, he's charging more than
normal. If she claims to be able to complete your project in 48 hours or less,
the product will be sloppy at best.
If
a ghostwriter wants $5,000 for an 80-page ebook, she's charging on the high
side, but you may want to see if the services are worth it. She may score an
A-plus on every criterion mentioned in this chapter, and she may indeed be your
niece! In that case, I wouldn't think of stopping you. Some writers offer a
range of additional services, guarantees, rewrites, or even prepare cover art
or sales web pages for you. Ghostwriters are an eclectic bunch. Some may even
provide you with marketing leads. Still, I think $5,000 is on the high side,
and I'd try to look for someone a couple thousand dollars cheaper, just because
I can in the buyers market.
When
you select a writer, you will need to strike up a written agreement. The large freelancing sites have contracts that
you can use. The contracts will include payment for particular milestones,
whether or not revisions will be included, deadlines, and confidentiality
issues. Use the standard contracts as starting points. You may want to have an
attorney check out the legalese, but the templates are good. Use them. From
individual ghostwriting sites, you certainly want to carefully read, negotiate,
and possibly have an attorney review your contracts and work agreements.
Prepare
for future projects
What
makes a great ghostwriter? Here's what: a reasonable price, timely delivery, a
good product, and something else. Yes, something else! The icing on the cake is
a good, trust-based, long-term working relationship. If you develop a relationship with a good
ghostwriter, you can bring him or her project after project, and accomplish all
kinds of goals with his or her help. A good ghostwriter at your disposal is as
good as gold.
So
lay the groundwork for finding and keeping a good ghostwriter associate. Pay
reasonable rates. Don't belittle your writer, and don't expect them to stay
awake at night without food or sleep to complete your projects. The ghostwriter is a freelancer, not your
employee. As such, he is at liberty to work in the best way possible at his own
discretion. If your ghostwriter is particularly good, tell others who might
hire him. Bringing in business will always earn you high marks. Pay promptly
when jobs are finished. Never withhold payment if the terms of the agreement
have been met. Give your favorite ghostwriter interesting new subjects to write
about. Tell him he did a good job! Give him partial credit if it will not
adversely affect your ebook. Go back to the previous chapter of this ebook to
review ways you can slip his or her name in without giving up the secret that
your ebook was ghostwritten.
Think long-term when you work with a
ghostwriter. You can interview new ghostwriters for every project, which isn't
difficult, just time-consuming. Or, you can develop a relationship with one or
more excellent ghostwriters and save yourself from all that trouble. Treat your good
ghostwriter with respect and courtesy, and your investment will come back to
you many-fold!
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