Scripts are out. Spontaneous is in. I recently came across a column by Ted Gioia, who calls himself The Honest Broker. He wrote that the recent presidential election showed that giving speeches from a teleprompter isn’t effective anymore and ”The word ‘scripted’ is now an insult. Plainspoken dialogue is considered more trustworthy.” Gioia then goes…
I recently introduced a new feature into my contracts: the escape clause. It arose because I had a prospect who insisted on it, and because my business advisor recommended it after I told him about this prospect. But first things first. Escape clauses (sometimes called “out clauses”) let a party leave the contract before the…
To paraphrase James Carville, not only is it the story, stupid, it’s also the emotion. Plenty of studies have shown that storytelling matters. Here’s one example. One critical aspect of good storytelling is including emotion. Adding details that trigger your brain’s amygdala (the emotional processing center) automatically makes the story better. A story with emotion invests,…
Occasionally, when I first talk to a ghostwriting prospect, I get asked a version of this question: “Can you help me get my book published?” My standard response has been, “My specialty is writing. I know people in the publishing world that I’m happy to introduce you to, but I focus on making the manuscript…
Last week, I detailed three lessons I learned as a ghostwriter. Here are two more lessons. A ghostwriter doesn’t need to be an expert in every subject. I have a client who’s a Pennsylvania-based personal injury lawyer. He hired me to ghostwrite some chapters into an already existing book about depositions. In our early conversations,…
You’ve probably heard or read these quotes before: “There’s no end to education.” “Learning is a lifelong process.” “Everything is a learning experience.” I, too, learn as I go. In ghostwriting, there are plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. Here are some lessons I’ve learned. Don’t take any project if you’re not enthusiastic about…
Almost whenever I research ghostwriting topics for my next post, my search engine spits out subjects I’m not asking for. Most common are the ethics of ghostwriting. I’ve written before about how ghostwriting is here to stay and how it’s ethically acceptable to hire somebody to write words for you. Here are some other ethics-related…
Last week, I wrote about three reasons publishing is its own challenging animal. Now, here are three more reasons (with apologies to James Carville): It’s the book, stupid In simple terms, the manuscript sucks. The difficult part sometimes lies in why. Not every publisher states the reasons for rejecting your work. The larger the publisher,…
Too many people don’t realize how difficult the publishing game really is. Recently, a woman in Alabama reached out to me because she wanted a book ghostwritten. If I could choose a title for her book, it would be All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Prison. It sounded really fascinating. Then I…
Last week, I wrote about two things a ghostwriter can do to help build a brand. Here are four more: Develop a professional website. A ghostwriter can write the copy on the website, giving prospects a solid first look at your writing ability (and, yes, I wrote my website). Not only that, but your website…
