Best-selling ghostwriter for your memoir or business book.
Fantasy and science fiction writer Janice Hardy explains how to "build a world" that readers will find believable and intriguing. Judiciously applying some "world-building techniques" like these can help a memoir come alive. The Other Side of the Story: Three Ways to Ground Readers in Your World. … [Read more...]
Standard publishers have mastered the art of making books classy and valuable - they even look that way. Everything from cover art to text to back matter is just so, and signals quality work and a quality read. Unfortunately, self-published books often lack the quality look, as well as the quality. … [Read more...]
5 bucks each? $10? $2.97? Read all about the ups and downs at Newly Discounted Titles Drive Avg. Price of Ebook Best-Seller Below $8.00, All-Time Low | Digital Book World. … [Read more...]
Steve Harper, author of the self-published book The Ripple Effect: Maximizing the Power of Relationships for Life & Business, offers advice on marketing your self-published book. See Author Follows the Advice of Best-Selling Author and Self-Publishes. … [Read more...]
Is it possible to craft a plan for turning a book into a bestseller, step by step? Here's the 7-step program one author crafted - and he says it worked wonders for him. - How to Launch a Bestselling Book | Michael Hyatt. … [Read more...]
Finally! You’ve found an experienced, highly-qualified professional ghostwriter, signed the contract and you’re ready to begin. Here’s a little advice on how to work well with your ghostwriter, from the ghost’s point of view… or, more specifically, from this ghost’s point of … [Read more...]
Recent changes to the Copyright Act mean that authors can "recapture control" of copyrights in book contracts that are 35 years old. This begins with contracts signed in 1978, and some very specific steps must be taken. For more, read: Will the Copyright Act Open a Floodgate of Contract Rewrites for … [Read more...]
For a very visual explanation of the standard book-publishing process, see How to Publish a Book: HarperCollins and Mhairi McFarlane show you how - YouTube. … [Read more...]
You’ve selected your ghostwriter and you’re eager to begin working on your book. But first, there’s that contract to deal with. There is no set format for a contract to ghostwrite a book. Some contracts are long, some are short; some are written in plain English while others are full of … [Read more...]
Finding just any professional ghostwriter to write your book is easy. But how do you find your ghostwriter, the one who is just right for you? You’ve Googled and used other ways of finding ghostwriters to come up with a list of candidates. They’re all experienced professionals, have good … [Read more...]
Looking for a book ghostwriter is both very simple and an amazing pain in the you-know-what! One client told me he thought it would be very easy. All he had to do was Google “professional ghostwriter,” “need a professional ghostwriter,” “want a professional ghostwriter” or something … [Read more...]
One of my “favorite” HOLY COW clients was incredibly slow to pay, although she kept insisting she paid every invoice on time. It didn’t matter that I had to call and email her repeatedly after sending each invoice, requesting payment. It didn’t matter that at one point I refused to … [Read more...]
A company has asked me to ghostwrite a book for them. I’m dealing with a nice guy at the company, who invited me to submit a proposal with my terms for payment, due dates for blocks of chapters, etc. Nice Guy looked my proposal over, told me it seemed fine, and passed it on to the Legal Department … [Read more...]
A few weeks ago I was contacted by a fellow who represented a large international firm that was setting up a website devoted to business. He wanted to know if I could write a series of informative 500-word articles for the site. “We want high-quality writing,” he told me several times. “And … [Read more...]
When writing a health book for the popular press or a book designed to motivate and inspire readers, what tone should you take? Upbeat and positive is best. Readers of self-help books want to know what works. They want to know what you prefer. They want to know what they should do. As much as … [Read more...]
Imagine that you are sitting at your desk, reading a new book on the benefits of exercise. Would you follow the exercise plan if the author proudly proclaimed, “Some of these exercises will affect you in a positive manner?” That’s not much of an endorsement. You’d be much more interested if … [Read more...]
Many years ago, a publisher approached my agent with a plan for reissuing one of my old, out-of-print books. Their offer was modest, but it did include a huge inducement: a “national media campaign.” Whoa! NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN! I salivated as I imaged myself being flown from Los Angeles to … [Read more...]
I often work as a freelance ghostwriter, penning books and book proposals at the request of agents or experts (such as a doctor or business executive). The work usually progresses smoothly, with the agent or expert sketching out their ideas for me, asking for my advice, critiquing drafts as I send … [Read more...]
When you’re in the process of putting words to paper (or words to screen, as the case may be) remember that writing is just like speaking, only you do it with ink (or computer images), not vocal cords. So follow these simple Readable Writing rules: 1. Keep the pomposity factor low. 2. Toss … [Read more...]
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 170-200,000 books are published every year in the United States. That means there are a lot of authors competing for the book buyers’ attention. Imagine all of those authors – including you – standing shoulder-to-shoulder in rows and columns, in a big field, … [Read more...]
If you have money to work with you can hire a PR firm to build your platform for you by pitching you to television and radio shows, blogging and handling social media on your behalf, running commercials or ads, writing and distributing a newsletter, and so on. If you don’t have the dollars to … [Read more...]
Setting up a website and/or blog is also relatively easy, although you will have to learn a little bit about website templates, hosting and a few other matters. Businesses like GoDaddy.com will secure your dotcom name and host your website and/or blog; you can even get a simple website or blog … [Read more...]
When potential clients talk to me about ghostwriting their books, they inevitably ask, “How do you work?” or “What’s your writing process?” By this they mean, “Exactly what does a ghostwriter do?” The answer is simple: It depends on the client’s needs. Some clients, the “You … [Read more...]
Which of the following two passages is easier to understand? This one: “As a consequence of his environmental exposures, he developed a cough, blackout spells, breathing difficulties, nausea, and was diagnosed as having asthma. He had headaches and irritation of the eyes, stomach aches, … [Read more...]
If you read this sentence, “He developed high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, something he had never had before,” would you know which ailment was new? The high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, or both? How about this: “He complains of frequent fatigue, pains in the lower … [Read more...]
Is it possible to be too wonderfully, self-effacingly, grateful, humble and modest in your writing? If such an inferior writer as me may be permitted to offer an opinion, I would venture to say yes, although I would immediately and happily withdraw my conclusion if even one of the numerous … [Read more...]
Experts know all the jargon and abbreviations, but most readers won’t. For example, foreign policy experts know “MAD” refers to the nuclear strategy of “Mutual Assured Destruction.” Psychiatrists and psychologists know that “mental/physical” describes mental distress resulting from a … [Read more...]
When penning a self-help book or article, should you write about the actor or the action? In other words, is the active voice better than the passive in non-fiction books? As a general rule, the active voice is better than the passive voice. The active voice is more authoritative, to the point, … [Read more...]
Can sentences be too short? Yes. Too-tiny sentences can be annoying because they spread a modest amount of information across several sentences. Making your sentences too small forces you to add unnecessary words and to chop up ideas and descriptions. For example: “See Dick. See Dick run. … [Read more...]
How long should a sentence be? No longer than it needs to be. You don’t get brownie points for adding extra words. In fact, getting rid of extra words will help make your sentences more understandable. Take, for example, this sentence: “The presence in this plant of a significant degree of … [Read more...]
How many words does it take to express an idea? The Lord’s Prayer is 66 words long. The 23rd Psalm is made up of 118 words. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contains 226 words. The Ten Commandments are spelled out in about 300 words. On the other hand, the “US Department of Agriculture … [Read more...]
In her “Ask Allison” blog, novelist Allison Win Scotch describes how painful reviews can be: “One of the toughest things about writing a book and putting it out into the world is being totally defenseless to the reviews that come your way…I've been blessed with this great review coverage and … [Read more...]
How "Elevated" Should Your Writing Be? When was the last time you walked up to someone and said, “As per our conversation of the 10th, I wish to provide additional information which prior to this time was not available.” It’s probably been awhile since you said anything like that to … [Read more...]
You're writing a health book for the popular press: what style of writing should you use? Unless there's a good reason not to, keep it simple. Always remember why you’re writing: to persuade or move your readers. The best way to do that is to keep it simple. Don’t try to impress your … [Read more...]
You've finished writing your new health book, but it’s not quite as good as you had envisioned. The central idea is fuzzy, the various arguments don't connect, the case histories aren't positioned for maximal impact, the scientific explanations are confusing, there are too many studies, and/or the … [Read more...]
Becoming the author of a health book is an extremely powerful marketing tool for doctors, psychologists, chiropractors, nutritionists and other health care professionals. A book can… Greatly increase your public profile. Solidify your reputation as the expert in your field. Bring you guest … [Read more...]
Is self-publishing is a better approach than having your book released by one of the major New York publishers? Surprisingly, the answer is often yes. Part II of this two part series looks at the pros and cons of custom (self) publishing. Custom Publishing - Pros You're the one who decides … [Read more...]
Until relatively recently, the best way to publish a book was the traditional route, through one of the New York publishing houses. However, the publishing industry has undergone tremendous changes in the past few decades. As a result, it is now much easier and potentially much more lucrative for … [Read more...]
People who call to inquire about hiring me to ghostwrite their books are generally surprised when I ask them why they want to become authors. It’s not a frivolous question, for the answer helps shape the book, determine whether “standard” or self-publishing is the better route, and spur the … [Read more...]
Who are the “interested parties” for your book? They are the people, companies or entire industries that want to see your book publicized because it shines a favorable light on them or their product(s). One of the major interested parties for my wife’s book Green Tea was Jamba Juice, a … [Read more...]
In 1998, my wife Nadine’s very first book – Green Tea: the Natural Secret for a Healthier Life – was published by Rodale. Unfortunately, Rodale considered the book a backlister from Day 1, so they did nothing to publicize it. We didn’t much care because we were so happy that she had become a … [Read more...]
When you dream about doing publicity for your book, you probably envision appearances on the big TV shows like Oprah and Jay Leno, about live appearances on CNN, Fox and the big three networks; about interviews on coast-to-coast radio shows and blogs that receive hundreds of thousands of hits a day. … [Read more...]
There’s still more to the saga of my book The Healthy Prostate, which the publisher refuses to designate as out-of-print, despite the fact that it has been selling less than 20 copies a year for several years now. I received another call from the editor, who told me her boss had told her I … [Read more...]
Tuesday came and went, so I called the editor to ask what had happened at the editorial meeting. She informed me that her boss would not put The Healthy Prostate out of print, despite the fact that it had sold 13 copies during the past six-month period, and 4 copies in the period before that – … [Read more...]
I coauthored a book on prostate health back in the 1990s, and would now like to do another. Unfortunately, the “Competing Works” clause in my contract makes that impossible. According to the clause: “No Author shall, without the Publisher’s prior written consent, prepare or assist in the … [Read more...]
Book publishers love long contracts. I have a contract from John Wiley that runs 11 pages; one from Rodale that takes up 17 pages; another contract from Broadway Books that “only” goes 10 pages but they're legal-sized; one from Penguin Putnam that stuffs 38 clauses into 11 pages; and others … [Read more...]
