Years before the COVID pandemic, I worked at the Los Angeles Daily News, and the paper underwent tremendous upheaval when it was sold and became part of a chain. Employees fretted that they were going to lose their jobs; some didn’t wait for that to happen, and when they left, their positions were absorbed. I…
Why would artificial intelligence create fake sources? That’s a question I posed to two free programs, ChatGPT and Deep AI. The answers saddened but didn’t surprise me. First, an explanation of why. I knew about a New York lawyer last year foolishly cited cases he found via ChatGPT and didn’t verify them. They were fake,…
I never realized ghostwriting was a niche. I never thought that way. After a years-long effort of trying to make it as a freelance copywriter, my career coach asked me a question. “If you could do anything, what would you do?” After dismissing my first love of sportswriting because the newspaper business is all but…
Seventh in an occasional series about compelling stories and ideas worth telling. Compelling stories have many qualities to them: They’re powerful, have an irresistible, sometimes emotional effect on the reader. They earn the person attention, either positive or negative. They’re unique, original, different. They relate to the reader, and they put the reader there. A…
The professor and motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia once said, “Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations.” Ghostwriters—and their clients—would be wise to remember this so expectations can be properly managed and everyone remains united in making the project the very best ghostwritten work possible. But that means recognizing that some expectations…
Let’s talk about expectations. Because ghostwriting is so collaborative, the ghostwriter has the responsibility of managing a prospect or client’s expectations. If not, things can go wrong quickly. Example: A prospect wanted me to write five high quality articles related to his business, that he could post and then share on different social media sites.…
I recently wrote about the importance of having a contract. That’s all well and good, but if you don’t know what to put in a contract, the importance won’t make sense. Since a contract’s purpose is to record rights, duties, obligations, responsibilities, collaborations, agreements, and payment schedules, among many others; and since a contract should…
During one scene in the 1942 movie “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” George M. Cohan (James Cagney) admitted that he and his partner Sam Harris (Richard Whorf) did business for sixteen years with nothing but a handshake. Cohan said it was all they ever needed. They never had a written contract. They were lucky. Today, they’d probably…
What people see as pros and cons of ghostwriting, I see as pros. Last week, I wrote about why ghostwriting is expensive. Some people consider that a reason not to use a ghostwriter. I believe just the opposite: Since you get what you pay for, it’s actually a positive to fork over good money for…
Proof that ghostwriting is expensive: I remember speaking about ghostwriting at a networking event. Afterwards, a member came up and asked just one question: “How much?” What I wanted to say was, If you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Instead, I responded, “It depends on several factors, but if you want quality ghostwriting,…
