The “Secrets of the Ghosts: Expanding Your Writing Horizons by Ghostwriting, Editing, and Promoting Books” panel for the ASJA 2014 annual conference featured three ghostwriters, one proofreader who emphasized the importance of line editing to make sure your manuscript is clean and not full of errors, and one publisher who hires writers.
Essentially this is what we told our audience: This is a wonderful way to make a living, there are endless potential clients out there, and essentially the only competition you have is yourself: put yourself out there, and people will want what you have to offer.
Today if a businessperson is not an author he or she will lack a certain credibility. Authoring a book has become the must-have for media placements, paid speaking opportunities, and more and better clients. All of the panelists said they did well but admitted that finding would-be authors takes networking and telling everyone everywhere what you do—everyone wants to write a book; it’s a matter of affordability and encouraging them that there is an audience for their particular story.
A dozen years back, I was running my PR firm, and began to ask myself what I could do from home, with little or no staff. To begin, I harangued a client till he let me write my first ghostwritten book. We printed 7,500 hardcover copies, and mailed out 6,000 of them immediately to the firm’s targeted audience of CEOs, along with a powerful cover letter. This firm’s business tripled almost overnight. Enthusiastic recommendations followed, and my ghostwriting business was securely on track. To date I have ghostwritten 32 books at anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 for each project, and this does not include the publishing or promotional aspects.
Of course, “Be careful what you wish for.” I was working harder than ever, and had to find other ghostwriters to help me. Nonetheless, I loved helping people become authors. I set up New Voices Press, educated myself about ISBNs and pricing, and put together a team of talented, reliable book cover and interior layout designers. I also found creative ways to get celebrity and VIP blurbs as testimonials.
All of my panelists also agreed that the major opportunities comes from CEOs or owners of small-to-mid-sized companies as well as professional consultants and solopreneurs who want a book that can open doors to media, speaking opportunities, to more and better clients or customers, and to being viewed as experts in their fields.
One thing I can tell you for sure: good writers are urgently needed to help people tell their stories, whether you help them with nonfiction or even fiction.