Don’t Miss One of the Best Writing Opportunities

By W. Terry Whalin

Many writers struggle to make a living—yet ignore one of the best possible ways to make money: ghostwriting. Some people only want to write their own stories. Yet there are an infinite number of stories for others you can ghostwrite. I’ve seen some writers try it once and give up. Ghostwriting is an honorable way to use your craft to write for others.

The first step is to answer several questions: 1. Are you willing to write stories for others and in their “voice” or style? 2. Have you written these types of stories and where do you get this type of writing experience? One of the best places is in the print magazine area because the form is shorter than a book and you can get a taste of the process without the commitment of a full-length book. If the process works with the other person, then consider doing a full-length book project.

The full details about ghostwriting or collaborative writing are impossible to capture in this short article. I recommend you get a copy of GHOSTWRITING by Cecil Murphey. Cec is one of the most skilled writers in this area with over 140 published books to his credit and a number of New York Times bestselling books. Murphey has tackled this type of writing over and over.

Through a combination of his own personal experience, he takes the mystery away from this area and helps writers learn the value. He gives them a vision for how they too could earn good money but also help others birth stories which would never be written.

Murphey covers the gamut of topics in this well-written book. He defines the terms like book doctor or collaborator or ghostwriter. He goes into ethical concerns and where you find subjects and answers a critical writer question: how do you make money and what do you charge for this service.

I’ve got shelves of how-to writing books and only have one other book on this topic (written years ago). This new book is fresh and engaging. Also, Murphey has tapped his wide network of other ghostwriters for their experiences and added it to enrich his book. The key application points for the reader are distilled at the end of each chapter into a series of bullet points called a Takeaway.

As I read GHOSTWRITING cover to cover, I found myself nodding in agreement at the wisdom in this book. I’ve written more than a dozen books for other people as a collaborator and rarely a ghostwriter. I highly recommend GHOSTWRITING for anyone who wants to learn the inside story about this much-needed area of the writing world. Ghostwriting can be one of your best writing opportunities.

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W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor, Whalin has written for more than 50 publications including Christianity Today and Writer’s Digest. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. His latest book is Billy Graham, A Biography of America’s GreatestEvangelist and the book website is at: http://BillyGrahamBio.com His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Terry Blogs about the Writing Life at: www.thewritinglife.ws Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.