A writing friend sent this question: “I have a chance to do a book with a celebrity. Does a project like that really help my writing career?”

I have a rule for collaborative writers to consider: If you come across a story that involves celebrity or heavy media attention, you might want to listen to the idea… but don’t fall in love with celebrity. Those are about the only “personal story” books with a chance of actually creating a payday for you, but it’s not automatic. A buddy of mine was approached by a well-known guy who owns a famous chain of stores, and was invited to “tell the story” behind all that success. He wrote the book, which was self-published and sent to all the franchise owners and managers for staff to read, plus they sell a few in their stores. But the book never made it into bookstores, didn’t break out, didn’t really move the writer’s career forward, and didn’t make him a lot of money. In many ways it’s sort of a paean to the owner’s celebrity status. So be wary of saying “yes” just because someone is a celebrity.

I’ve had more than one person write to ask about “helping my friend do a book” or “helping my pastor do a book. “ Again, if you feel you owe the person a favor, that’s your decision. Or if you feel “called” to somehow do this project… well, God outranks me. But be aware you don’t have to do a book with your friend just because she has a cool story, or with your pastor just because he is in a position of authority. It’s easy to get caught in the trap of “helping” people who have no ability with words — and nothing is more frustrating to a writer.

My solution: If somebody comes up and asks you to help them write their book, learn to keep it businesslike: ”Well, I charge $300 to review your manuscript, and I’m paid a minimum of $1500 to help you with manuscript development. Which sounds like it would be better for you?” That line, said with all politeness and sincerity, will usually drive away the beggars and wannabes. (And I apologize if it sounds cold…but I approach this as a business, not as “Chip’s Helpful Writing Service for the Poor and Orphaned.”) If it doesn’t work for you to help, suggest they get in touch with a professional editorial or critique service — they’ll pay a couple hundred bucks and get lots of good writing advice.

And one additional question: my friend also mentioned he’d been “invited to do a family reunion book” and wanted to know what I thought.

In the words of medieval cartographers, Here dragons dwell. NEVER take on a “family writing project” if you can possibly help it. These are books done for family reunions, 50th wedding anniversaries, 75th birthdays, and the like. I did two of these, was well paid both times, created two beautiful hardbound books, and proceeded to get yelled at by just about everybody involved. Why? Because the principals are old, and memory is a creative thing. So Grandpa Joe’s recollection of events won’t jibe with Aunt Sarah’s. And Uncle Henry’s reminices about the family might be colored by time (or by his good friend Jack Daniels, depending on the family). And you can bet that Cousin Bob ain’t gonna like you revealing that his mama got married in April but had her first baby in October. Yikes. When asked to do one of these, run the other way.

Okay… this all sounds overly negative. The fact is, you may stumble upon a personal story and want to tell it. That’s fine — just be aware that the probability of even a great personal story seeing print is fairly small. Our world is filled with funny, exciting, and hopeful stories of people. They’re just hard to sell in book form these days. If you’re a newer writer looking for good experience, consider interviewing these folks and writing them up in an article for a magazine or website. Because while telling these types of stories in books is a tough market, the worlds of magazines and e-zines and newspapers are filled with great personal stories, usually with a strong undercurrent of humor or romance, and an ending filled with hope and joy. Besides, the process of interviewing, finding a voice, and boiling a long story down to 500 or 1000 words will prove invaluable to your writing future.

Happy writing!

 Someone asked, “What advice can you give those of us who want to make a living as collaborative writers?”

You may not know this, but I made my living as a collaborative writer for years. I was successful at it, and learned some important lessons, so I’m always happy to talk with writers who want to do some collab work. There are a couple lessons I learned…

First, writing speed matters. You see, not everybody works at the same pace. I can bang out words by the pound. It’s obvious Cecil Murphey can. Susy Flory, David Thomas, Mike Yorkey, Steve Halliday, Kenny Abraham, and the other folks in the business who make their living as collaborative writers all write with speed. (True story: When Harvest House Publishers came to me and asked if I’d write a “Y2K” book, I called a writing friend and we banged out 256 pages in 17 days. It sold more than 60,000 copies and, let’s face it, SAVED WESTERN CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT. If it hadn’t been for my book, we’d doubtless all be sitting in the dark and learning Chinese right now. You can thank me later.)

Anyway, most collaborators can bang out words quickly. And not every writer is built like that. It’s certainly not a bad thing if your writing speed is a bit slower, it’s just that you’ll have a harder time making a go of it as a collaborative writer, since being able to produce a lot of words quickly is essential. I find that most writers have a natural pace, and if you try to speed them up too much, they lose focus and quality. Writing fast is probably a necessity for most full-time writers, but it’s not some sort of saintly gift. Many great authors need adequate time. Lisa Samson, one of the best literary novelists in the business and an author I’ve long represented, is a fabulous, decorated writer who, like many successful novelists, normally takes about twelve months to create a novel. Given the choice, she might take even longer. And that’s fine — in fact, to try and “speed her up” isn’t part of the plan. A writer who is creating their own fiction often needs time to create the story. A write who wants to make a living as a collaborator doesn’t have that option. 

Second, writing a clean first draft is essential. Most writers take Anne Lamott’s advice to heart, and create a bad first draft — but a draft that they can edit, change, and improve. (Every experienced writer knows that it’s easier to edit words than to create them.) But a collaborative writer basically needs to be able to write  a draft cleanly, as well as quickly — a tough combination that few can manage successfully.

 One of the best pure writers I’ve ever worked with was Mary Jenson, who wrote beautiful words that made readers stop and ponder (read her book “Still Life” or “Leaving the Empty Nest” sometime, and you’ll see her craft). But Mary is so careful, so methodical, that though her words are wonderful, she’s probably never going to bang out a book a year. She needs time to polish and improve. Brennan Manning was the same way – I represented him for several years, and he was never in a hurry to churn out books. He wanted to make sure it was good, not fast. That’s how most writers are. The “writer as creator” has to take the time needed to do the best book they can. BUT the same isn’t true of collaborative writers. To be a collab, you’ve got to be able to write fast, and have it turn out cleanly. The fact is, if writing fast and clean doesn’t come easily for you, it probably means you need to consider maintaining some other source of income and not focus on collaborations.

Third, keep in mind that there are all sorts of other writing jobs besides collaborating. I wrote magazine articles, newspaper articles, travel articles, book reviews, product reviews, marketing copy, newsletters, speaking summaries, study guides, sidebars, interviews, I looked up quotes, I evaluated manuscripts, I created indexes, and I did copy editing. All of those jobs paid me something, and helped me move from part-time writer to full-time writer. Many of the people reading this just want to have somebody discover their fabulous novel, sell it for them, and turn them into a millionaire (the writing equivalent of hanging out on the corner of Hollywood and Vine). There’s nothing wrong with that — in fact, it’s sort of the dream that keeps many writers going. But I want to point out that you could decide to pursue some alternative writing jobs and turn yourself into a pro by looking for smaller writing projects that don’t require you creating an entire book.

So here’s a hint: If you have a non-profit company or some sort of organization close by, go ask them if you can help create their newsletter, or edit their website. If you know people in an industry, ask about their industry journal. If you are close to a manufacturing company, ask if you could try your hand at creating catalog copy. If you are involved with a mega-church, set up an appointment with the pastor and find out if he has anybody creating sermon outlines for his web site, or turning his sermon series into study guides, or even turning them into a book. That’s basically how I moved from wannabe to actual writer. Yeah, it’s hard work. And what job doesn’t take hard work to achieve success?

The great baseball pitcher-cum-philosopher Satchell Paige once said, “Seems like the harder I work, the luckier I get.” Great advice. He was probably Scottish.

Lately I’ve been besieged with questions about writing and editing for a living. Let me tackle a handful of them…

One person wrote and said, “I’ve been writing for six years, and I’m trying to establish myself as a paid freelance editor with a book publisher or magazine. I hear companies are outsourcing a lot of editing. What advice can you give me for getting started? Is it possible to break into an industry that relies so much on in-house connections and networking?”

Publishers seem to always be on the hunt for good freelance editors. Just this week I spoke to two Associate Publishers who both expressed the need for more outside copy-editors and proofers. In these tough economic times, publishers are going to be sending even more projects to outside editors — thus saving themselves the cost of paying benefits to employees. So if you want to generate some extra income doing editorial work, the first thing I’d suggest is that you become a proficient editor. Make sure you can copy-edit quickly and thoroughly, then contact publishers to begin looking for work.

It’s true publishing relies on networking… which makes it just like every other business in America. I don’t think publishing is any different from any other industry — all of us do business most often with those we know and trust. So that means if you want them to hire you as a freelance editor, you need to invest in networking with publishers and editors. Go meet them at conferences. Introduce yourself at industry events. Email them a friendly note and ask to introduce yourself over coffee. Get face to face and let them see you’re a normal, friendly, capable person. Then show them your work or ask to take their in-house editing test. Most houses have either a copy-editing test, or a developmental editing test, or both. Once you’ve shown them you’re able to do the work, ask them to try you out on a small project. (When I was getting started, I told publishers I’d do the first job for free, just to show them I could do it. They all insisted on paying, but at least they saw me make the offer and have the confidence to suggest it.) You will  probably need business cards, stationery, and a bank account in a company name (“Danielle’s Editorial Service”). That makes it easier for the accountant types to prove you’re legit at tax time. Be willing to take on small jobs at first — especially copy-editing jobs. If you prove yourself able to do the work, and charge a reasonable amount, you can begin to develop regular business with certain houses.

Another writer asked, “You once said you had worked with speakers, turning their speeches into chapters. I’m in the midst of doing that myself for the first time as a freelance writer — can you offer some helpful tips?”

Yeah: Invest in technology so you can start and stop the speaker and catch everything they say. Learn to type fast. At first just get all the speaker’s words down onto the page, then go back through it and reshape it so that it reads like a chapter instead of a speech. (This is important. You probably own a lot of self-help books. How many books of speeches do you own? Not many.) As you write out each paragraph or section, read it out loud. Your ear will tell you where it doesn’t sound right. As often as possible, try to keep the speaker’s outline and sequence of thoughts. Don’t bother typing in asides or extraneous comments the speaker makes. Be aware that most spoken stories seem to ramble when put onto a page — you’re going to have to tighten those up. And many spoken jokes don’t translate well into print, so make sure any joke you include is both funny and clear.

Keep in mind that every speech should have a beginning, a middle, and an end… Your speaker is probably fine on the middle content, but you may have to punch up the beginning and the end to make it work in print. Once you’ve done this and have it at the draft stage, run it by the speaker to make sure he or she is happy. Skip over the speeches that requires you to reshape the arguments — leave those until the end. If you gain the speaker’s trust doing the easy chapters, you’ll find you have a lot more leeway to reshape a weak speech into a strong chapter. Remember that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear — a lousy speech isn’t going to make a great chapter, no matter how hard you try.

And there’s something important that needs to be added: If the speaker asks you to insert a bunch of our own material to strengthen and fill out the body of the text, insist on a writing credit. Don’t be bullied, and don’t buy into the argument that ”having a collaborator’s name on the book will weaken sales.” That’s bull. I used to make my living writing collaborative books, and on more than one occasion I had a high-profile speaker ask me to include my own material. He then published it in his book under his own name, and got credit for my work. After a couple times, I wised up. If it’s the speaker’s content, I’m happy to reshape it into a book, take my check, and be happy. But if I’m adding content, I’m the writer, and I should get credit for writing. There is zero evidence to suggest that having a book cover read, “Howie Hendricks with Chip MacGregor” will sell any worse than having the cover with just Howie’s name on it. In fact, if you look at most general market books by celebrities, you’ll find they always include the collaborator’s name. Insist on getting the credit so that it furthers your writing career.

By the way, if there is an easy way to make a living at writing & editing, I’ve yet to find it. So for all the folks who have written to ask, “What’s the easiest way to make a living at writing?,” I suggest the answer is simple: Write a bestseller. That’s the best idea…

Dave wrote to ask, “Do you have any ethical problems with ghostwriting?”

First, I would insist you define the term. To some, “ghostwriting” means doing any sort of writing for someone else without getting credit. I would disagree with that definition — sometimes an author has good ideas that are well-formed, but needs a wordsmith to help move them toward a polished manuscript. I see nothing wrong with that sort of writing. It’s a paid job to shape up somebody else’s work, and I don’t find anything unethical about that. In fact (since I know a lot of CBA people read this blog), you should know that Saint Paul used a ghostwriter (called an amanuensis) to smooth out his words. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the end of his letter to the Galatians. In 6:11, he says, “See what large letters I use as I write with my own hand” — which means he wasn’t writing the earlier portion of the letter. He was dictating it, and the amanuensis was editing and smoothing it out. Then he added his own handwriting at the end to prove it really came from Paul. The early church actually had a tradition that Paul had very bad eyesight, which might have been one reason he had a an editor taking down his words.

My point is just that it’s a lousy argument to somehow suggest it’s wrong for a speaker to use a writer to help shape or polish the written message. It’s not — that’s what a writer does. Presidents use writers to craft their speeches, and nobody says, “That’s not really the president talking!” Judges use clerks to write their decisions (and often to research and create their decisions), and nobody says, “That’s not really the judge’s words!” Corporate leaders use PR firms to create their company communication pieces, and nobody says, “That’s not really Steve Jobs saying that — it’s a marketing hack!” So put aside the prejudice that using a writer to do a book is somehow unethical or unfair. It’s just a flaccid argument made by people who want to use bumper-sticker thinking instead of examining the actual process of writing and editing.  

Second, most of what people call ghostwriting is really collaborative writing — the celebrity has something to say, but relies on a writer to come along side, add material, fill it out, and wordsmith the entire project. It’s similar to a talented singer hiring studio musicians to play the drums, bass, and rhythm guitar on an album — the singer needs professionals to fill in the gaps and make it better. Most great painters have master students who help them create “artist proofs” of their works — basically a giclee that the students go over with a paintbrush to fill in and complete the work. There’s nothing unethical about it. 

Having said that, I understand the criticism of ghostwriting in the classic sense — a well-known celebrity hires a writer to create something entirely out of thin air, so that the celebrity can claim to be a writer, and the actual writer is paid well and gets no credit. That’s something that isn’t as easy to defend. While I don’t argue with anyone using a writer to help them get their book done, if the hired writer creates new content, it would normally be considered appropriate to list the writer as a collaborator or contributor. I mean, why not simply list the collaborative writer on the cover and title page (“Bob Smith with Mary Jones”)? There’s no evidence to suggest listing a collaborator will hurt sales. (In fact, there’s considerably evidence these days to suggest a good collab can boost sales, since it reveals to the potential reader that a real writer has been over the work and made it readable.) To leave off the ghost is something I frequently find misleading, and is usually nothing more than an attempt to shore up the celebrity’s ego. This is why I rarely read books from politicians — they’re nearly always created by ghostwriters, and the ghost is rarely given credit. Somehow, I find it hard to believe Barak and Mitt sat down and banged out those books with their names on them (they were probably too busy asking people to give them money).

Third, keep in mind there are times where the collaborative writer doesn’t WANT to be listed. What if she is writing outside her genre, or it’s a controversial book, and the collaborating writer simply doesn’t want her name associated with the work? Or what if it’s a book aimed at men, and the collab is a woman, and having her name on it might seem awkward? If the collaborator doesn’t want to be listed, that should be his or her own choice. Back in the early 80′s, the great comic Bill Murray was one of the highlights of the movie “Tootsie,” but he didn’t want his name to appear anywhere in the advertisements or trailers for the film, because he felt that his name would create false expectations and draw the wrong crowd. I know a couple of excellent writers who have ghosted projects and explicitly didn’t want their names on the cover — which should be their choice.

The fact is, I find there is far less true ghosting than there was a few years ago. Most authors are willing to give credit where credit it due. And, as I noted, I don’t have a problem with a writer stepping in to collaborate on a project, or to help wordsmith somebody else’s ideas. I do find that some people get way too worked up about this topic without ever defining their terms, Dave. My two cents. Feel free to chime in on this one, everyone.

Pam wrote to ask, “Can you say more about the whole freelance writing concept? I’m looking for practical ideas to help me make a living.”

A couple thoughts from a guy who would basically write for anybody, so long as they paid me…

1. If you live near a major city, check and see what organizations are located near you. Most nonprofit organizations have a magazine, newsletter, or web site, and they all need content. Check them out, find out what sort of articles, interviews, and sidebars they use, then offer them some material. I sold hundreds of things to companies and nonprofit organizations when I was free-lancing. Nonprofits have to stay in touch with donors, and that means somebody has to write their copy for them. (They also need report writers, researchers, and grant writers, if you want to check into those opportunities.) 

2. Drive down any of your streets, and you'll see businesses on both sides. Nearly every one of those businesses have a website, and they all need content. That's how the internet has changed business — every mom-and-pop shop now has the opportunity to hawk its wares worldwide via the web. And think about the changes in websites over the past few years. You used to see something that resembled a highway billboard — a business name, phone, address, and slogan ["Don's Plumbing of Portland -- Great Service, Low Rates. Call Today -- 555-1234"].

Now if you go to that site, you'll find an introduction to the business, a history of the company, a bio of each employee (complete with photos), a self-help section to fix your own plumbing problems, a link to order specialized plumbing parts, a section on the history of indoor plumbing, and an ask-the-expert compendium. And, of course, somebody has to write all that stuff. Most businesses do it themselves (until they figure out what's they've written is awful, since they are plumbers and not writers), then they go to a PR firm to create copy for them. This is why I've been saying to people at conferences there have never been more writing jobs than there are right now — ask anyone in the industry, and they'll tell you there is a huge need for creators of content. And, if you really check in to it, you'll find they don't teach writing in schools as much as they used to, so this need has arisen at the very time when there are fewer people who can put together a string of coherent, interesting paragraphs. If you can learn to create good marketing copy, you can make some extra money. OR you can specialize in editing other people's web copy, since it all needs another set of eyes on it. (I have a friend who has made a steady part-time living doing "editing checks" of company websites.) This may not be exactly the type of writing you want to be doing, but it's a great way to generate income while you're working on that thriller novel you've got going.

3. If you are friends with academics, think through which professors have popular classes that you could turn into books for them. Frequently a popular seminar speaker will have great content, but will struggle with moving his or her ideas into print.  This is how I got started in the freelance writing business — I introduced myself to a couple profs who had great seminars, but wrote like academics. I simply turned each section into a chapter, and in the end, they had a book.

By the way, if you know any motivational speakers, or if you live near a mega-church with a well-known, charismatic pastor (um…"charismatic" in the classic sense of the word) who creates and sells downloadable or CD sermon series, go in and offer to turn those speeches into book chapters, You can also create study guides to go along with the series. I made great money doing this, thanks to a writing friend who introduced me to some people who were creating these types of projects. 

There are opportunities with both digital and print writing. For all the talk about publishing being dead, the fact is more people read now than ever before. That means there are plenty of avenues for making freelance writing money. 

Chantrelle asked, “How do you set up your writing business? What are the benefits to treating your writing business as a ‘real job’ by setting it up in a professional manner? And what did you do to make that happen?” 

Let me offer a handful of thoughts for you…

1. Find a place. Make this your writing place and designate it as your office. 

2. Make that your official home office, then read up on what the IRS will allow you as a tax deduction.

3. Establish a writing time. For most authors, that's simply "morning." Protect a time each day when you can do some actual writing and not just checking email, answering letters, meeting people for coffee, etc. When I started, I set aside 6 to 8 every morning. (I had young kids. Later that would not have worked. I hate mornings.) Tom Wolfe starts writing at 9 and stops at noon. Find a time that works, in which you'll just WRITE.

4. Create a filing system. ("Alphabetical by title or author" works well. Don't rely on the "Eureka!" system.)

5. Set up a bank account that is just for your writing business. Sign up for PayPal.

6. Set up your address list. Keep emails and phone numbers handy… and if you want to move into the bold new world of, say, 1996, invest in a phone that will keep those handy.

7. Create a calendar. Not just for your day, but for the big projects you've got. It'll help you figure out what you're writing when. It'll also remind you that you've got to take Fiona to the orthodontist.

8. Group similar activities. Do all your mail at one time. Group your phone calls back to back so you get through them more quickly. Ditto email, if that were possible. Things that are "occasional but regular" should be scheduled — for example, I look at submissions every Friday morning.

9. Create a budget. How much do you expect to make this year? How much do you expect to spend? (Having more of the former makes for a better business, by the way.)

10. Create a to-do list. Every day. Work through it. On Friday (or every other Friday) start at the bottom and work up – that’ll prevent you from never doing the one task you hate.

11. Create a contact list. Capture names and email addresses, so you can stay in touch with the people in the industry who matter. 

12. Invest in a separate business phone line or business cell phone.

13. Invest in a website and business cards.

14. Make sure you've got quality high-speed internet. (Duh.)

15. Invest in the help you need – training or people or space or tools.

16. Invest in a great computer and the software you'll need.

17. Invest is a good printer, preferably with a scanner.

18. Invest in yourself — take a class, attend a conference, join a support group, get therapy, whatever it is you need to grow.

19. Learn to keep good records. If you need a class on it, take one. (There are even personal organization trainers who will help you get organized.)

20. Learn about taxes – so that you track income and expenses, and learn to maximize information.

And the BEST advice? Write regularly. If you don't do that, you won't make a living at this.

That help?

     There’s no middle ground. If you are a person’s ghostwriter, that person will either hate you or love you. It’s all about ego.

     If the person whose name is going to appear on the cover actually wants people to think that he or she wrote the book, that person will want you to write a brilliant manuscript and then drop off the face of the earth so that he or she can go on radio and TV talk shows and take kudos for writing such a brilliant artistic masterpiece. (I actually had a client break into tears recalling how “emotionally gut-wrenching it was to write chapter nine.”  Oh…pul-leeese!)

     So, let’s put our cards on the table. Most ghostwriters, including me, do this for the money. Thus, rule one is to charge plenty.  I mean it.

     Let’s get the negatives out of the way. First, ghosting causes a split personality: the publisher is expecting the ghost to deliver one kind of book, but very often the client wants a totally different kind of book. (When it doubt, favor the one paying you.) Second, ghosting is hard work, but usually you get no credit for your labors. (One woman, whose entire book was written by me, thanked me on the acknowledgements page for “proofreading assistance and help with typing.”) Third, no matter how the book fares, you, the ghost, will come off the loser. If the book hits #1 and sells five million copies, you won’t get a dime more than the work-made-for-hire flat rate you were originally paid. If the book tanks, everyone will blame you, personally, for producing an inferior manuscript.

WHERE’S THE UPSIDE?

     By now you may be wondering why a guy like me, who has written 34 books under his own name, would also have ghostwritten 18 books for other people. One reason is because writing is what I do, and a bad day writing is better than a good day mopping floors at a fast food restaurant.

     Another reason is that sometimes the clients are really very nice people. For example, when I ghosted a book for Dr. Chris Thurman, a prominent psychologist in Texas, he turned over all of his notes, rough drafts, and research to me, and he also allowed me to follow him for five days, constantly taping interviews with him.  The book I wrote, The Truths We Must Believe (Thomas Nelson, 1991) sold very well. It didn’t carry my name anywhere, but in the book’s preface, Dr. Thurman wrote, “I gave Dennis E. Hensley a lump of coal and he gave me back a diamond.”  That was gracious.

PAYMENT FOR GHOSTING

     Most ghosting is by flat fee.  A publisher will contact you and say that famous model Suzie Sweetsmile needs a book with her name on it. The advance will be $20,000 and it will all go to you (usually half in advance and half upon completion of the manuscript). If the book ever sells enough copies to work off that advance, all future earnings will go to Suzie.  Some small publishers will only pay $6,000 for a ghosted project, whereas Charles Leerhsen was paid an estimated $150,000 to ghostwrite Donald Trump’s book Trump: Surviving at the Top. But then, Mr. Leerhsen was a staff writer for Newsweek and (to quote Chevy Chase) “you’re not.”

     Here’s my suggestion: listen first to what the editor offers, and, if you like the terms, accept the deal.  If not, explain why you need more money, such as you’ve had better offers from other publishers or you could earn more money writing books under your own name.  Make a counter offer. If the editor agrees, close the deal. If she says it’s too much, then thank her for calling you and go back to whatever you were writing that was paying you better.

WORKING WITH EDITORS

     Before you sign a ghosting contract, get three questions answered.

     #1 What is the deadline? If the book isn’t needed for a year, you can work at a leisurely pace and do other assignments along the way. Thus, a 50% advance up front and 50% upon completion isn’t a bad deal. However, if the book is needed in three months, it will consume all your time, so it’s reasonable to ask for 75% of the advance up front so that you’ll have money to live on.

     #2 Will there be an expense account? This is crucial. If your source person is in California and you live in Kentucky, who is going to pay for the air fare for the interview trip? What about motel bills, rental cars, meals, photocopying expenses, mailing costs, and typist fees? You need to nail down how much will be coming out of your pocket so that your entire payment won’t be eaten up in research and operating expenses.

     #3 What sort of recognition will the ghost receive? Get it in writing. Will you get no recognition?  Will you get an “as told to” identification on the cover? Will you be listed as the book’s coauthor? Will you be lauded on the acknowledgments page? Agree on this ahead of time.

BREAKING INTO THE FIELD

     There are several ways you can become a working ghostwriter. If you know someone who is famous or is an expert in some area, try to convince that person to allow you to write his or her story and, thus, hitch your wagon to a star. Another option is to write directly for a client. Not all ghostwritten books need to be written for a publisher. There are individuals who are prosperous enough to hire you directly to write their autobiographies or their specialty books.  I placed an ad in a business magazine offering my services as a ghostwriter and wound up with three deals.

     Try to get someone to recommend you. Networking is important. Have other writers refer you to their agents or publishers.  Go to writers’ conferences and give your business card, resume, and samples of your published works to editors and inform them that you do ghosting.

     Become a topic expert. If you can become a writer who is an expert in a particular field (law, medicine, religion, the military), you can send your credentials to publishers who specialize in publishing books in those fields and line up ghosting assignments. In the late 1980s I started writing a lot of magazine articles about aspects of the insurance industry. I wound up ghosting books for leading agents, and later even wrote four insurance-related books under my own name.

     Obviously, ghosting is a avenue of revenue for writers. After one experience with it, you’ll know if you have a ghost of a chance of surviving another go-round.

Dennis E. Hensley, Ph.D. is director of the Department of Professional Writing at Taylor University and the author of more than 50 books, including How to Write What You Love and Make a Living at It (Random House).

Daniel asked, “Is the ability to craft great similes and metaphors a gift, or can it be learned?”

My guess is that it's a gift. I've watched some people in the industry and been amazed at their ability to "see" the link between one action and another. I wish I could do that.

And his follow up question: “What are some good learning tips for creating great metaphors?”

Beats me. I've never been good at metaphors. (Or, in metaphor, "When it comes to creating metaphors, I'm a lawn chair." See? Awful. I hate coming up with good metaphors.) Maybe you could just learn to steal the good ones.

Lynn asked, “I've been asked to collaborate on a book with someone — what are some of the legal necessities I need to keep in mind?"

It’s a random list, depending on the topic of the book, the audience, the authors… but here are a handful of suggestions:

Tom asked, “What’s the one writing story you like to tell at writing conferences?”

That's easy… In 1919, a young man who had been injured in the war in Europe moved to Chicago, picking one particular neighborhood in order to be close to the noted author Sherwood Anderson. The young writer, impressed with the critical praise heaped on Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, had heard the novelist was willing to assist beginning writers. The two men became close. They met every day to read together, exploring the writing of newspapers and magazines, and eventually tearing apart the inner workings of novels. The young man brought his own work to Anderson, who helped him see how he could improve his craft. Anderson even introduced the young writer to his network of publishing associates, and helped him publish his first novel, which was met with critical acclaim. Its title was The Sun Also Rises. The young man’s name was Ernest Hemingway. Sherwood Anderson then moved to New Orleans, where he took another
young author through those same paces, even putting up $300 of his own money to help that beginning writer’s first novel get published. The novel was entitled Soldier Pay. The author’s name was William Faulkner. Anderson would then move to California, where he worked with a young writer by the name of John Steinbeck. Sherwood Anderson shaped modern American writing more profoundly than any author except Mark Twain. Most of the writing instructors of the late 20th Century were, in one way or another, disciples of Anderson. 

And the reason Sherwood Anderson was so committed to mentoring beginning writers? Because when he was young, a more experienced author by the name of Theodore Dreiser had invested in his own life and craft. It's why I'm a fan of beginning writers finding a Sherwood Anderson to help them develop.