Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Write To Sell: 3 Tips For Ghostwriting Fiction

If you love writing fiction, you can build a great career writing for others as a ghostwriter. Ghostwriting brings an inflow of cash so that you have time to write your own novels.

An experienced ghostwriter will expect upwards of $20,000 per book. Even relatively new authors can earn upwards of $10,000 per book.

Although ghostwriting is common in nonfiction publishing, it’s only in the past few years that it’s also become common in fiction publishing.

Novelists are discovering that their words are worth money.

Ghostwriting: your words are worth money

Today, with top selling novels on Amazon earning five figures a day, new publishers hire ghostwriters who are paid by the project. Some of these new publishers manage a large stable of authors, specializing in various genres. They publish novels and series under many pen names.

Their authors sign nondisclosure agreements, and once the authors are paid, they no longer have any rights in their novels.

These new publishers resemble old-style book packagers. They produce hundreds of novels, hiring writers, editors, designers and marketers as needed.

I asked my students who’ve taken ghostwriting gigs for some practical tips to help you to get into this lucrative business.

1. Specialize in a genre: romance and mysteries are the most popular

A student said: “you need to know what’s selling and be comfortable writing in hot-selling genres.”

Another student said that in one sub-genre of romance six out of the ten top selling novels have been developed by a publisher hiring ghostwriters.

She was approached to ghostwrite a series in this sub-genre, but turned down the offer for now because she’s busy with her own books.

2. Be professional: advertise your services

If you’re looking for ghostwriting gigs, you need to promote your services. Ads on LinkedIn worked for a couple of authors, and Facebook groups worked for others.

3. Vital: study your contracts carefully

When you’re writing as a ghostwriter, you’ll be asked to sign nondisclosure agreements. You’ll also agree to relinquish all rights in your work once you’ve been paid.

One author told me that she found that this helped her as a writer. “My name will never be attached to that novel, so I found that I was much more relaxed and confident when I was writing. The experience enhanced my creativity which made me a better writer; I didn’t expect that.”

Build a ghostwriting business: start today

Our new program, Story Spinner: Build A Lucrative Fiction Ghostwriting Business In 7 Days, is available now.

In this new program you'll discover how to build a new business as a fiction ghostwriter in just seven days. The program includes everything you need. Get started today.

MindMup Storyboards (Free)

Frictionless idea capture helps you focus on the story in your head, not on the software collecting the ideas. Once you have a nice outline, you can easily share it with colleagues or even collaborate over the Internet to turn it into a great presentation. The content of the presentation stays connected to the map - update a mind map node, or add a new sub-idea to a list, and the storyboard content updates automatically.

via www.mindmup.com

Love storyboards? Me too.

Storyboards are brilliant for planning scenes. MindMup lets you create as many storyboards as you please.

Does Ghostwriting Pay?

1. Ghostwriting fees vary widely. Let’ s assume you are a beginner at ghostwriting. Ghostwriting fees in the range of $12,000 – $15,000 are usually the low end for a book of 200-300 pages.  A much shorter book (let’s say 80-100 pages) might only be $8,000 – $12,000. There are folks out there who charge even less, but they generally don’t have much experience, and their products are unlikely to be of traditional publishing quality. For a book of 250-300 pages, an experienced book author, book editor or ghostwriter would commonly charge $30,000 – $60,000 and up.

via www.lisatener.com

If you're considering ghostwriting, the greater your experience in writing and publishing, the higher you can set your rates.

New Writing Program: Become A Professional Fiction Ghostwriter

As you may know, ghostwriting has been part of my business for many years. At the top levels, ghostwriting is very lucrative.

Recently a new kind of client has entered the marketplace. As I said on this page:

I call them "stealth" publishers. These publishers are data-driven and are prepared to pay well for novels in hot-selling genres, upfront.

Previously, new ghostwriters had to fight for clients on the freelance marketplaces. This can be soul-destroying, if you have to rely on these marketplaces because you don’t know how to get your own clients.

Professional ghostwriting: get unadvertised gigs

To make a good income as a fiction ghostwriter, you not only need to know how to get unadvertised gigs, you also need to know what top clients want, right now.

So my students asked me to create a fiction ghostwriting program to help them to build great businesses from the start. It’s available now; check it out.

For new and established fiction authors who want to build a ghostwriting business

Our new program, Story Spinner: Build A Lucrative Fiction Ghostwriting Business In 7 Days, is available now.

In this new program you'll discover how to build a new business as a fiction ghostwriter in just seven days. The program includes everything you need. Get started today.

How to Become a Best-Selling Author

In one of my favorite books Rich Dad Poor Dad, the author recalls a conversation he had with a young woman who wanted advice on becoming a successful author.

He told her to take a sales class.

The woman had the right credentials — an MFA and years of writing experience — and she scoffed at the idea of having to learn sales.

The author left her with these words, “It’s called best selling author, not best-writing author.”

via medium.com

Create it, promote it, sell it.

Are You a Mind Map Pro?

Mindmaps can help you clarify a complex problem:

using a mindmap in this situation will help you break your problem down into smaller items and give you a clear picture of what’s at stake, who’s involved and where the problem may come from. It will probably help you see some potential leads to solve it at the end of the process.

Mindmaps can help you brainstorm (and find new ideas):

the mindmapping technique is a tool that can be used for brainstorming purposes. You can do it on your own, but it will definitely provide more ideas and interesting concepts if you do it with some friends or coworkers.

Mindmaps can help you lay an action plan for your project:

just as it can help you better understand a problem, it can help you draw a full picture of your project. Mindmapping is a very powerful tool to make sure you don’t miss anything important when you’re planning your project.

via minimal-plan.com

Chances are you're not doing as much with mind maps as you could.

The Easy Way To Become a Better Writer: Just Write

Let go of control

In the classic book The Inner Game of Tennis, coach W. Timothy Gallwey explains that students often get frustrated when they can’t master a certain skill. When that happens, he writes, they should let their unconscious mind do the work: “If your body knows how to hit a forehand, then just let it happen; if it doesn’t, then let it learn.”

via forge.medium.com

Allow yourself to write. No pushing necessary. :-)

Alfred Hitchcock Helps You To Write Your Novel

1. “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”

I thought about this quote all the time when I made my short films during and after college, and I certainly think about it a lot now when I write my fiction — particularly my works of suspense. Since 2015 I have written five novel-length works of horror and thriller, and keeping this quote in the back of my mind has worked wonders.

There is no terror in the bang, only shock. You have your monster jump out of the darkness, and your reader might flinch, might recoil, might even scream.

But then the suspense is gone. The level of interest for your reader might diminish.

The anticipation of the bang — that’s what you want to focus on, and control. The bang can come later. Hell, the bang doesn’t even have to happen.

via writingcooperative.com

Great quote. How could you create more suspense in YOUR novel?

Want To Write a Page-Turning Novel?

Curiosity vs. Concern

• Curiosity is the intellectual need to find answers to questions. 
  As the protagonist of a story pursues his or her goal and is put at increasingly greater risk, the reader is propelled forward by the need to know what’s going to happen or how things will turn out. These questions will be answered by the end of the story, so the reader, held by curiosity, stays put.
• Concern is the emotional need to experience positive outcomes—justice, strength, love, survival, courage, truth, etc. When the reader enters a story on page one, they will immediately try to figure out who’s good, who’s bad, what’s right, what’s wrong, etc. They look for someone (your protagonist) to latch onto and care about as he or she pursues his or her story goal. This attachment will be rewarded at the end of the story, so the reader, held by concern, stays put.

via www.savannahgilbo.com

When you write fiction, you're manipulating readers. (It's fun.)

Freelance Business: 101 Creative Things You Can Do To Get Clients

Describe your work in clear, memorable language

If you want to become a go-to expert, you have to make ‘what you do’ clear, easy to understand, and memorable.

11. Make sure what you do and who you serve is clear within 5 seconds of landing on your website or your social media profiles.

12. If you’re not sure, ask people outside of your industry (ideally in your target audience) whether or not the way you’re describing your work is clear to them.

13. If ‘what you do’ isn’t obvious based on your business or domain name, create a tagline or slogan.

via endeavorcreative.com

New to freelancing? Lots of excellent tips in this article.

Entrepreneurs & Bloggers: Get Productive

2. Eliminate Distractions

Distractions come with the territory of working from home. And if you’re the type of person who has trouble concentrating when there are so many things going on, THIS is your solution. By eliminating your distractions, you will be able to focus your attention on the task at hand.

So, when it’s time to do some work, declutter your surroundings and only keep the essentials out in the open. Shut your door, turn off the TV, put your phone away and close all unnecessary browser tabs.

If you’re working in a loud place – a coffee shop, your living room during football season – then put on some headphones and listen to some soothing sounds from Noisli. As a matter of fact, I’m listening to a crackling fireplace with a little bit of wind right now!

Adjusting little things like your browser tabs and background noise can make all the difference when you’re trying to master some productivity tips for entrepreneurs.

via mayamaceka.com

Too busy? Great advice in this article.

Writing Fiction: Create Realistic Male Characters

8. The one with unrealistic thought-processes. Awhile ago I was reading a book where a male character spent half a page describing how cute his girlfriend's pinkie toe was. Um. What? The majority of guys don't think about that kind of stuff, nor do the majority of girls. Not only did he sound feminine, but like a fringe class of feminine. I've also read a guy character who was being chased by zombies and wondering if his beautiful girlfriend with the soft brown hair was missing him. Once again, no. If a guy is running from zombies, he's running from zombies, not waxing poetic about his girlfriend's hair. Be careful with this. If you are a girl telling a story from a guy's POV, make sure you aren't leaking your girliness into his character. If you are a guy telling a story from a guy's POV, make sure you aren't making him notice or think about unrealistic things for descriptive purposes, such as knowing the name of a type of high heel or wondering about his girlfriend while he's fleeing for his life.

via hannahheath-writer.blogspot.com

Excellent article. Be careful... It's easy to jolt readers out of your novel if you craft weird characters. 

Break Your Procrastination Habit in Ten Minutes

The Ten Minute Rule

My simple tip is the Ten Minute Rule.

The Ten Minute Rule means that I have to set my timer and spend a full ten minutes on whatever task I’ve been procrastinating doing. And that’s it.

I don’t have to actually finish the task, and I don’t even have to accomplish a specific part of the task. I just have to work on some aspect of it for ten minutes.

via www.ourheritageofhealth.com

Sounds good to me. You can stand anything, no matter how horrible, for ten minutes. :-)

Impossible Task List? Here's How To Tame It

Every time I turn the page, I date the top of it with the current date. If something still hasn't been done after two pages, I cross it out and add it to the new page so that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

I only use the right-hand page for the to-do list. The left-hand page is kind of a stream of consciousness place. On the above photo it contains ideas for a Happiness Project I am participating in, the books I need some of my voice students to purchase, and what Sophia was supposed to practice on her violin that week.

via www.overstuffedlife.com

I started a "List" journal a few months ago. It works, especially since I keep it open on the kitchen counter with a mug of pens beside it. 

 

3 Beginner Tips For Your Self-Publishing Blog

Want to start a self-publishing blog? Advertising costs are up and I’ve received many questions about starting a blog to market your books.

In this post, we won’t be talking about WordPress and brand colors and similar trivia. It’s not important. Consider that you’re blogging to sell books, so 1001 blog visitors oohing and ahhing about your pretty blog are 100% useless.

Let’s start at the beginning. Do you need a blog?

Do you need a blog for your self-publishing business?

The short answer is: no, you don’t. There are many ways to market your books.

Moreover, blogging is tricky, because authors are by nature shy. I’ve looked at author blogs where the author makes no attempt at all to sell his books — unless you’re psychic you’d have no idea the author had books to sell.

Your self-publishing blog MUST be a sales tool.

Luckily, you can sell on your blog quite painlessly. This article, Blogging for Authors: Increase Reader Engagement and Sell More Books, suggests:

• Ask for the Sale. At the bottom of each blog post, mention your book and include a link to purchase.
• Share on Social Media. Share each new blog post across your social media networks. Include the post title with a link to continue reading on your site.

If you’ve decided that you’d like to create a blog, these tips will help.

1. Take ten minutes and create an “index card” business plan

The more you know about your goals, the better. That said, your business plan can and must be simple. I love this one from Susan Hyatt:

I wanted to map out a business plan ASAP.

I grabbed a napkin and I wrote on the back:

COACHING BUSINESS

Network your ass off.

Start with 8 clients a week at $125 per session.

4 workshops a year.

Start a blog.

Get on local TV.

2. Your blogging persona: who are you?

You need to decide who you'll be as a blogger. What image will you project? Be yourself of course, but decide how much personal information you'll share. If your blog's all-business, you won't be talking about your partner, or the movie you saw last night.

Choose a couple of audience personas too. These are the book-buyers for whom you'll be creating content. Personas work because once you’ve got a couple of personas, you’re no longer talking to air; you’re talking to real people.

Give each persona a name and a mini-bio. For example: “Melinda is 32 years old. She's been married for 6 years. Her reading happens during her lunch hour and at bedtime. Her son is six months old and she’s just returned to her day job from maternity leave. She and her husband want to….” etc.

When you're creating blog content, you're speaking directly to Melinda.

3. When you’ve got something to say, say it on your blog

Keep the bulk of your book marketing content on your blog, rather than on Facebook et al. However, be aware that there’s not an immediate correlation between your blog posts and book sales. Your blog’s visitors won’t magically turn into buyers immediately. Your audience will build slowly.

When you want instant sales, advertise. Advertising on Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest is becoming more expensive, so expect to spend more than seems to make sense.

A couple of days ago I chatted with an author who told me that he’s spending more on AMS than he’s getting back in sales. It’s worth it to him for now, because he’s building visibility.

However, a big ad spend isn’t sustainable longterm. The biggest benefit of a self-publishing blog is that it’s sustainable, and your sales increase over time.

Discover what sells in mystery fiction — YOU can write it

Check out our new program, Write Your Bestseller: Write HOT Mystery, Thriller & Suspense now. You can write a mystery, even if you’re a new novelist.