by Mary C Long

When we started our discussion on the various types of ghostwriting jobs out there, we were working our way up to the Holy Grail of ghosting, the novel. You want a nice big payday all at once? Then the job you want to land is ghosting a celebrity memoir, or writing the next installment in a famous author’s bestselling series, etc. But is that selling yourself short as a writer? Is it, in fact, selling out?

The short answer is yes. And no.

Creative people are constantly asked to weigh their artistic integrity against their need for an income. But what if using your creative talent in a marketable way – i.e., “selling out” – actually opens doors for you to accomplish personal artistic goals as well?

by Mary C Long

For as long as people have been writing there have been ghostwriters. I would wager some of your fondest childhood memories have ghostwriters – Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, even the Little House books all were ghostwritten, at least to some degree.

From penning celebrity tell-alls to crafting speeches for the highest political offices, ghostwriting is a common (potentially lucrative) practice – but you wouldn’t think so if you followed the “scandal” that caused tempers to flare in the rap world.

by Mary C Long

If you’re going to be a ghostwriter, there are a few skills you need to have at the ready. Excellent writing skills are a no-brainer. The profession also requires more than a modicum of discretion, and an ability to check your ego at the door, as you will seldom be able to claim your work. And, oh yeah – you’ll need to be able to do impressions. 

Of course, I’m not talking about being able to impersonate Matthew McConaughey or Christopher Walken, a couple of late-night talk show standbys. I’m talking about impressions of other writers, i.e., capturing their “voice.”

by Mary C Long

Being a ghostwriter can feel akin to being in the CIA, at times – except being in the CIA might be easier. At least you always know where your paycheck is coming from. Of course, ghostwriting is less likely to kill you. 

How do you get work when you can't tell anyone about what you do?

The entire point of ghostwriting is to be unseen and unnamed. Most places for whom you write will not want anyone to know that they are even using ghostwriters, let alone you specifically. So how do you get additional work when you can’t talk about the work you’ve done? Here are a few tips to help on that front.

by Mary C Long

Writing is hard. Writers love doing it, but they'll be the first to tell you that it's both the most fantastic and the most frustrating profession. And it's hard. Coming up with fresh ideas is hard. Composing sentences that don't suck and pull the reader along with you - is hard. And communicating that writing is hard without sounding like a first class bragging jerk is hard.

Everyone knows that writing is difficult - and everyone knows that most folks just aren't good at it. Not in a way that's . . . well, readable. Yet those same folks cringe at the thought of using a ghostwriter.

Why?

by Mary C Long

If you’ve been a writer for any length of time, the subject of ghostwriting has probably come up. Ghostwriting sometimes gets a bad rap. That got me thinking - what is ghostwriting, anyway?

Basically, any writing that you do without receiving credit, or while giving another person or entity credit, is ghostwriting. 

Memoirs and celebrity autobiographies might be the types of ghostwritten work most commonly known to the general public, but every day millions of lines of content are authored by ghostwriters all over the world.