How did you get started as a ghost writer?
I was writing a column for a trade magazine and one of the executives I interviewed liked the column. When he sold a book idea and needed a writer, he thought of me. The publishing company's editor had to approve of my writing before she would accept the relationship, but she did. I wrote the book. The editor recommended me to another author. And I ended up writing four more books for my original author. Does this help?
After going freelance, I've done a couple of large and small ghost jobs
through Elance. Handle with great care there, because some of the
clients have no idea what they need or how to do business
Writers have power to influence anyone willing to go through their writings and this includes management team.
If you go the collaborative writer route, rather than ghostwriting, you
get name recognition, no non-disclosure agreements, and are able to more
effectively market yourself. You don't make as much PER project, but
you'll have a more steady stream OF projects. You can turn your writing
into a real business. Also, it's easier to "break-in" at the lower cost
market of collaborative market and then your costs go up as you've
proven yourself and you become a more sought after partner.
Stephen, think first about what type of collaboration writing you would
like to do. For me, I've worked with athletes and with business leaders
this year (two very different markets, I know, but I enjoy both). (Wrote
with Dick Vitale, Bob Brenner, Donna Schumell, Ben Merens, Mike
Epstein, and others in process.) Because of my strengths in writing for
those areas, I attend events, conferences, and networking opportunities
where I can meet people who have stories in those genres. Step 2 is
finding the stories that need to be told and approaching those
individuals with your 30-second speech about why you would like to write
specifically for that person. Set up a meeting. Step 3 is to come to
the meeting with a story outline and a process for how that story would
be created, including timeline and cost. PROCESS is key. If you don't
have a system in place, you won't be looked at as professional.
Bdir
I sat so merry in my abode
Loving hands around me
I dreamt of such glorious days
One day i would see
I remember the day I left
My room
I closed the door behind me
One quick look again
Then walked away
The room which would always remind me
The glorious days I had dreamt
I did merrily spent
How little did I then know
Life turns on a dime
My room is now not as it was
When I closed the door
Behind me
My room now is a prison
But not how one would invision
It is one of sorrow and grief
Sadness burns into the bare walls
I catch my breath
And weep
Why did thou'st doth betray?
The room which once embraced me
I ask with riddled heart
Jagged and torn
Which wicked riddles have I thus sought?
I sit still
I am now my room
No dreams as once before
I age before my open door
In my room long ago
I sat merrily in my loving abode
Loving hands did hold me
All gone
My room and myself
Now one
Two thrust to be together
Forever
Alone