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.
___________________________________________________________________
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.
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