Angela Booth's Writing Blog

What can a ghostwriter do for you?

I ghostwrite copy for many clients because they're too busy to write the copy, or aren't comfortable expressing themselves. The projects can be short -- a letter or an article for example. Or a project can be extensive: a client may want a book that he can promote and sell.

A ghostwriter can write an entire project, coming up with the idea, researching it, and writing the copy, or can edit previously written copy. Many clients send tapes of seminars or course material that they want me to turn into a book.

I'm asked a variety of questions about ghosting, including:

Q: Who owns the final material?
A: You do -- it's work done for hire, so you own all rights in the work. You own all the drafts and the final copy.

Q: My idea is special -- you won't steal it?
A: No. Professional copywriters value their reputation. They work with many clients, and usually sign non-disclosure agreements to protect both themselves and the client. You're assured of complete confidentiality.

Q: How much do you charge?
A: That depends on the project -- the length of the project, and the amount of research.

Q: I've got an idea for a book. Can you help me to get it published?
A: Yes, I'm happy to develop a nonfiction book proposal for you, and if you wish, to work on getting an agent and publisher for your proposed book. (Please note: I don't ghostwrite fiction.)

Next issue of YEW: Word fun

I'll be posting the next issue of Your EveryDay Write shortly. If you're new to YEW visit the site to subscribe -- it's free.

Note: unless you're a member of Pro Write, you won't have access to the archives. For the free Yahoo subs, it's a one-time mailing only, on the 30th of each month.

Here's a sample of the writing prompts and tips in YEW:

<<< Writing Prompt>>>

You're writing an Agatha Christie-style mystery. You want to create a female character as your amateur detective.

Write down these three words: Gift, Sleep, Premonition.

You can write the words as a list, or cluster them.

See more on clustering here

Now write 50 more words, as quickly as you can, without thinking too much about it. I usually write the words all over a blank sheet of paper, using different colours and doodling on the page to help me to get into a relaxed, day-dreaming state.

Is your novel's character starting to come into focus? Write 100 words describing your amateur detective.


<<< Writing Tip >>>

==> Word associations maximize your brain-power <==

When a piece of writing seems boring, consider using word associations to spark it up. When you select words and write a list of associations, you're maximizing your brain power.

Want to give this a try?

Pick a file on your computer – this can be a letter, an email message, a story, an article --- anything.

Choose any three words you've used in the document, and copy them to the end of the file. Now free-associate. I like to do this on paper, but it's up to you how you do it. Write 50 to 100 words of associations.

Sometime before you get to the end of this process, you'll get an urge to write. Obey the urge.

Write at least 100 words of your inspiration. Note: your inspiration may seem unrelated to the themes that you were exploring in your word associations. That's fine --- it's part of the magic of this process. When you've finished writing your inspiration --- which may be as short as a couple of sentences or several pages long --- copy this into the original document.

The results will amaze you. :-)

Approval of comments and trackbacks

On a housekeeping note: if you've posted a comment or trackback and wondered why it takes so long to appear -- and in some cases DOES NOT appear -- I've implemented approvals.

I got sick of going into the innards of the blog every second day and manually removing endless spam.

Therefore if you're a spammer, don't waste your time here, because your link won't go live.

To everyone else: I appreciate your input. Please comment and link away. I truly sincerely thank you, and apologize for the delay.

Mac: SuperNotecard -- lets you focus on one thing at a time

I've been using SuperNotecard extensively for my novel: it's an excellent tool. I'm trying to work out why I like the program so much. (Disclosure: I've no connection with the developer.)

Primary reason: it's an improvement on physical index cards because it lets you make connections between cards simply. It also means that when you're focusing on just one thing, like the hero's internal conflict for example, you can hoist that card, and not be distracted by anything else.

Secondary: I can keep the program open all day, and keep adding cards while I work on something else.

If you're using Windows, try Writer's Blocks.

Giggle of the Day: Acronym for Vista

How unkind. From David Pogue at the NYT:

Vista is actually an acronym for the top five Windows problems: "viruses, infections, spyware, trojans and adware.

The Great Agent Hunt: Just write a brilliant book

Some new writers working on a novel -- or in some cases if they haven't even started working on a novel -- decide that they need an agent, and set out on the Great Agent Hunt.

This is nonsense. Forget agents. Write the book! No agent worth his or her 15 per cent is interested in an unwritten book. In fact, if you're a new writer and an agent does express interest in your synopsis you should keep your hand on your wallet.

In the post "Finding an Agent" Crawford Kilian offers:

The advice I give my own students is to market the first novel directly to publishers (again with a query letter and maybe a sample of the script if the publisher says it’s OK). You can reach more publishers in a hurry, and if you do your homework you won’t waste time on publishers who refuse to read unagented scripts. If you do get a positive response, and then a contract, you can then call almost any agent you like, and invite her to get a better deal for you. Since you’ve proven you can sell, you should be able to sign on without much fuss.

Yes, it's unpleasant to imagine that you might write an entire book of 100, 000 words and then find that no one is interested in it, but there are benefits. Really. :-)

The first benefit is that you've written a book. This is A Good Thing. You now know that you can do it. Many, many people who want to write novels discover that writing a complete book is hard. Write a complete book that strangers will pay to read is even harder.

The second, and even bigger benefit is that you've learned a lot. Your next book will be better. And the one after that will be better still.

Keep writing. Keep sending out partials (chapters and outlines) to publishers. Sooner or later, you'll get a handwritten note on a rejection letter which says: "please try us again" or similar. Yes! Now you know you're close. Keep writing.

One day, when you least expect it, all your work will pay off. You'll get an offer. Then you'll get an agent.

And after that, the world changes, right? Choirs of angels sing, and your path is strewn with rosepetals and everyone loves you...

Well -- NO.

Nothing changes. You just get to keep writing. So do what works, and write, already. :-)

Magic words: We want to publish your book

Nothing beats hearing the magic words from an editor: We want to publish your book. Nothing.

From the article "Steal This Book. Or at Least Download It Free." --

The advance was just $4,000, "but it felt like I'd won the lottery," Mr. Adler said. "It was the defining moment of my life."

Yep. When MacDonald Futura made an offer for my first novel in 1980 I walked on air for four days. The feeling doesn't last, but the memory does. :-)

Giggle of the Day: Romancing murder

Love this quote from the NYT's "A Girl's Guide to Killing":

The memory that still burns bright is of an editor at a major publishing house addressing a packed auditorium of would-be authors, advising them to retool their unsold novels as mysteries. ''That's what I've been telling my romance authors to do,'' she said, ''because the mystery has a built-in structure. This solves your plot problems by giving you a simple formula to follow, but it still allows you to develop your heroine and get your romance into the story.''

Read the complete article. Great take on the chick lit mystery sub-genre.

Great explanation -- how to turn off your inner editor when you're creating

Your inner editor is that voice in your head which is NOT your friend. Dar Kush tells you how to turn the voice off, and reminds you:

4) Remember that there are two completely different states connected to writing: the "Flow" state where you create, and the "editing" state where you judge what you have done. Writer's Block is a confusion of these two states--the editor is speaking up at an inappropriate time!

Mac: Dashboard widgets -- wonderful Capture

Cute as they are I didn't get Widgets for a while -- I mean, so what?

The Capture widget changed that. Yes, it's just a screen capture app, but it's truly useful for me and extremely fast. There's not a day goes by when I don't need a screen cap for a tutorial or a review, and Capture lets me click and move on.

I now get Widgets. :-)

Your daily word count

Want to write? Write.

Yes, I'm stating the obvious, but it's amazing how many things get in the way of your daily word count. This is true for EVERY writer. :-)

You can't sell what you don't write, so create a daily word-count goal for yourself.

If you're not used to producing a lot of words, make the count low -- 50 words is fine. Writing is a muscle, and you need time to get in shape to produce.

If you're a professional writer, set a daily word count goal for each of your projects, and meet that count, no matter what -- you can do it.

Tip: don't reread what you've written. Just write. Produce. Editing your words comes later.

Get started copywriting 2: Get a response to your words

(This is the second post in our "Get started copywriting" series; scroll down to read the first post.)

Many business people can't write, so I've always said that anyone who can write a letter, enjoys writing, and has the desire to write for business can earn a living as a copywriter.

When I say "can't write" I mean that many business people can't write clearly enough to be understood, and that they can't get the response they want to their words.

Here's a copywriting exercise. Choose a pen. Tell me in 50 words why you like the pen. By "tell me" I mean write as if you're talking. :-) Start with these words: Angela, this pen...

I hope Apple makes a tablet PowerBook

I'll need a new Windows machine sometime, and because I love Project Gutenberg I thought a tablet PC would be great. I could read ebooks on it and create hand-drawn mind maps.

Rats. Another dream dies: Working Smart ditched his tablet PC. He says:

Third, I didn’t feel the tablet features were an improvement over traditional note-taking.

Please Apple -- how about a tablet PowerBook? Mac OS X would be brilliant on a tablet.

(Dell) Windows to Mac switching: sorry saga

I'll need a new Windows machine sometime, (only because I write for PC magazines), but I won't be buying a Dell because of the contempt they have for their customers. Hey, I know the margins are tiny, but if I'm handing someone thousands of dollars, a smidgen of concern when things go wrong would be nice.

Jeff Jarvis has switched to Mac. Dell keeps hoping that he, and the story, will go away:

Just to followup: I have not received any response from Dell’s chief marketing officer, Michael George, to my helpful and polite letter. And when MediaPost did a story on this, Dell wouldn’t return their phone calls either.

How hard would it be for someone from Dell to write a letter and apologize?

I just Googled "Dell +complaint" -- wow. Are they asleep at the wheel or what?

Giggle of the Day: How WEIRD is this?

Good grief... had to laugh out loud when I read the extract on Lee Goldberg's "Hypocrisy 101":

FanFiction.Net respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same.

Oh, please. What planet do these folks live on?