I wanted this post to be about brands. I researched “Personal Branding for Ghostwriters: How to Stand Out in a Saturated Market” and found numerous articles about using a ghostwriter to build a personal brand. But there was very little about a ghostwriter building a brand. That didn’t work. So, I dug into my memories. …
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Before COVID, client and ghostwriter met face to face much more often. Now, thanks to that pesky, annoying virus, there are many more electronic and distant ways for ghostwriters to interact with clients and do the important job of telling their compelling stories. I get 99% of my job leads from search engine optimization (SEO),…
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I recently was reminded that I am a ghostwriter. You might think, Well, no shit, Sherlock! I prefer to look at it like the old aftershave commercials from the 1970s, “Thanks, I needed that.” And I have my business advisor to thank. I have many standard fee requests in my contracts. Besides the dollar amount,…
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There is a battle between AI and ghostwriters going on. On one side, there is the ghostwriter. Ghostwriting is a craft. It takes practice, knowledge, skill, and experience to be able to pull a client’s story out of their head and get it onto a page while maintaining their voice, tone, style, and facts of…
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When it comes to contracts, I believe both sides should have protections. The prospect needs to feel like the story is his/her/their property, that they have the rights to it and own it at all times. That also means the prospect has final say over the title, that he/she/they can terminate the project early under…
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From my earliest days in journalism, I was taught to ask questions that begin with who, what, where, when, how, and why because they were open-ended and would lead to long answers (and better quotes). When I transitioned into ghostwriting, I found these questions still worked, but I recently learned that there is a better…
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I once wrote about why journalists make good ghostwriters. (See it here.) Little did I know that I wasn’t setting a ghostwriting trend but rather following one. And yet I should have seen it coming. Consider: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 77% of all journalism staff positions have been lost in the last…
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Last week at a networking meeting, it was time for introductions. The leader decided to put a twist on things and announced, “When you introduce yourself, make sure you list your power partners.” My eyes turned upward. I remembered how my career coach blew me away a couple of months earlier when he declared that…
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How would you like it if you arrived at a date’s house and were asked to sign an NDA to commence the date? Would you sign it or walk away dateless? It is a similar question ghostwriters have to consider when entering into an agreement with a potential client: Are you okay with keeping things…
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Focus up, people! I recently had a prospect call me up and say, “My friends and family have insisted I write my story.” But when I asked him the obvious question, “What is the story?” he couldn’t give me a quick and succinct answer. Instead, he talked about a lot of things: being of service…
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