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The Business of Ghostwriting

Posted on November 9th, 2009 in Writing by BeatsMe
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Do you like the idea of ghostwriting? Have you ever written for other people for money? This is a competitive and lucrative job, if you’re willing to write full time.

If you have been writing online for quite some time, then ghostwriting is not a new word for you by now.  This practice has been going on for years.  Many successful books and other publications frequently use ghostwriters.

Amongst the most famous book series that hire ghostwriters is the Nancy Drew mystery series.  The publisher hires several ghostwriters to write different stories that surround specific characters, settings, and formats.  All ghostwriters for this book weren’t given credits for their works, instead, all their works were credited to a pseudonym that is ‘Carolyn Keene’, where ‘Carolyn Keene’ didn’t really exist.  Source: Wikipedia

Ghostwriters are the kind of writers that are being hired by published writers, publishers, celebrities, business organizations, politicians, and professional bloggers to write for them but will receive little or no credit for their works, depending on the preference of the employer or the agreement between ghostwriter and employer.

Ghostwriters are being hired for many reasons.  And there is no definite task that a certain ghostwriter must do.  Some hire ghostwriters for a particular portion of what is going to be written.  There are people who hire ghostwriters to do an entire writing job.  But even at the most minimal input from the employer, he’d at least give specifications of what he is looking for.  Celebrities who write their autobiographies hire ghostwriters because ghostwriters have the knowledge and the skills to do the job better.  Business organizations hire ghostwriters to write their advertisements or their message to the public.  Politicians also hire ghostwriters to prepare for their speech.  Professional bloggers hire ghostwriters to keep their blogs updated.  Even professional musicians hire ghostwriters to write music for them.

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Employers usually hire ghostwriters because they do not have enough time to write.  Some may not have the skills.  In the case of professional bloggers, they hire ghostwriters because updating their blogs can be a daunting task.  Because their blogs must be updated regularly, bloggers usually don’t have time or they run out of ideas writing about a certain topic.  They need to hire other people to write for them to keep their blogs updated and for them to also have enough time to do the marketing part.

Despite the lack of credits for ghostwriters, it is usually a very competitive job.  Because there are many unknown yet talented writers who are willing to write for a fee, employers usually hire the best writers around.  A ghostwriter must be able to work with the given specifications that he must follow and be able to meet deadlines.  This job can be demanding yet lucrative, it can be stressful yet fun. 

In ghostwriting, you can be a writer of novels, web contents, fiction, non-fiction, biography, songwriting, and just about anything that comes into the array of writing.  Ghostwriters can choose a wider spectrum of writing in this line of work.  Often, the earning potential in this kind of job is satisfactory, and depending on who hires you, you can either be paid a flat fee or you’ll have the chance to receive royalties.

You might also like to read these other articles about writing

Links to ‘Earn Money Writing’ Sites

Links to ‘Get Paid to Write’ Sites

Writing for Yourself or Writing for Others: Which Writing Path Would You Choose?

Finding Your Writing Style

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