Ghostwriting Services Guide

“I’ve worked with three different ghostwriters and no one was able to get my voice.” I was meeting an executive for the first time and she wanted to know how I wrote content that actually felt authentic to my clients. I’m so glad she asked. It meant her brand was important to her. As a ghostwriter, I want to embrace who my clients are and the brands they’ve built — NOT replace that. So I told her my (at this point not-so-secret) approach… And towards the end of the call, she smiled and said: “None of those past ghostwriters had a process like yours. I’ll talk to the rest of the team tomorrow so we can start working together soon.” Here’s a peek into the secret sauce behind my process… → Going one step beyond regular interviews with my clients to come up with fresh content. These interviews are SO important — but I also have my clients add me to whatever form of communication they most regularly use (usually Slack or Whatsapp). I encourage them to share every idea that pops into their head WHEN it pops it into their head. Maybe that’s… → As they’re leaving a meeting → A voice memo when they’re commuting to the office → After they finish reading an article that has their brain buzzing The ideas don’t need to be polished. A simple “I want to write something about x” is perfect. My focus is on making sure those ideas get captured when inspiration strikes. This is my favorite way to get to know a client’s voice and how they think, build a real partnership without taking up hours of their time, and never run out of great content ideas. Do you have a process for capturing content ideas the moment they pop into your head — before they escape?

When you hire a ghostwriter, you're not just hiring a writer. You're hiring a project manager. ➡ Writing/producing a book is a huge project. A ghostwriter scopes out the work in the beginning and the author & ghost agree to that scope. Then, it's your ghostwriter's job to keep you on target; to get the book produced in the contracted time. This means: ➡ Scheduling interviews with the author ➡ Making sure the author is coming up with the parts they're responsible for, whether those "parts" are: material from a previous book, extra interviews with related parties, edits on material the ghostwriter has turned in, etc. ➡ Keeping a weekly/monthly word count goal ➡ Sending lots of emails to make sure the author, ghostwriter, and anyone else involved are all on the same page Sometimes I feel like a squeaky wheel. 😅 But it's all in the interest of helping the author reach "the end"...on time and on budget. It's easy to get swept up in the big idea of having a book. 📖 Yet the day-to-day activities involved in achieving that big idea require careful attention, planning, and managing of a lot of little details. You want a ghostwriter who really *gets* that. Someone with whom you feel taken care of. 💜 #nonfiction #ghostwriter P.S.--I'm guessing this is true of freelance writers of other disciplines, even if the scope is not as large as a book. Other #freelance writers: how does this relate to your experience?

Is your voice getting lost in translation? Or is your message getting lost in the crowd? It doesn't have to be that way. Your unique style and perspective is what helps you differentiate and attract your ideal clients.  A lot of times a message gets worked on too many times before it is released to the public. For some it could be a consulting firm, a marketing company,  an editor or chat GPT, or it could be a person changing the message over and over again. To preserve your authentic voice is to preserve your style, your tone and your unique perspective.  I am a firm believer that words have power,  personality and that they hold the essence of connection.  When you think about it. If you have attended a funeral of a loved one you may experience stories of what they used to say and how they used to say it.  That is why I believe that as a strategist,  marketer, branding consultant and coach one of my key things to do is to be a visionary translator that preserves your voice and authentic style. Next time you are writing copy ask yourself questions like. *Is this the way that I normally speak? *Is my tone coming across in my messaging? (Examples of tone include compassionate, empathetic, direct, assertive, curious) I believe that the core of business is human connection, building trust and credibility. And the best way to do this is to sound the same in your copy as you do in person. To have that "human touch" What are words that you love using? (For me two of my favorites are essence and gifts which refer to each person having their natural essential qualities and unique gifts and talents) #marketing #branding #womenentrepreneurs #professionalwomen #techfounders

Are you hiring a book ghostwriter? If so, and you'd like your book to be a game-changing success for you, here's a tip: When you ask a writer to bid on your project and they respond with a question or two... ANSWER THEM. I've been ghosted so many times when I ask questions of thought leaders who tap me for a quote on Reedsy. Thing to know: No experienced, successful #bookghostwriter is going to bid blind, without ever meeting you (at least on Zoom) and getting a detailed sense of the project. People who go ahead and throw you some lowball number are desperate. There's a lot to know to start a book collab. How will I get the information I need to write the book? Is this outlined with a solid structure that will create a compulsively readable book, or do we need to do an outline project first? What's your real target wordcount and deadline? I find most first-time authors are picking wordcounts and deadlines out of a hat with no idea how long it takes, or how many pages a 50K-word book would be. I'm not going to bid without finding out if you seriously need that full-length book done 60 days from now as you've indicated, for instance. Because that's not achievable–not unless you don't care if your book is a hunk of junk nobody will read. When I ask basic questions and you disappear, I suspect you aren't serious about this. Or that you think writers are interchangeable parts and you're just looking for the lowest bidder. Which won't be me. Instead, if you're looking to create a book that will massively level-up your reputation, brand, or career, be concerned about finding the *right* writer–one that has experience in and loves your topic. And one you'd enjoy spending 6 months working closely with. You're looking for the writer you can trust with your story. If you'd like to talk about your book idea, IM me for a link to schedule a time. I'll have an open slot for ONE new author coming up in the Fall. And if I ask a question – please answer! #collaboration #authors #ghostwriting #ineedinformation

Not every ghostwriter follows the same process—and that's ok. But if you're looking to hire one, make sure they HAVE a process, and that it aligns with how you want to work. For instance, when I ghostwrite a book, Before I write Word One, I make sure the expert is 100% on board with our Table of (Expected) Contents and approves of the structure we're working with. Then, I send chapters or major sections as they are written. The expert understands that we are working on the book as a whole. Once we iterate and edit one chapter, it is shelved until we have done the same with every other chapter. This keeps us from spinning our wheels and spiraling into editorial soup in one section and never getting to the others. When the whole book has been gone over in this piecemeal way, it's usually ready for an in-depth edit. This approach has worked for me and my clients for 20 years. Some 👻 ✍ do it differently: Some write the whole manuscript before sending it to the client for review. Some have their workspace open to the client, who can see every element of creation in real time, if they wish. There is no One Way to write a book. (To quote "The Princess Bride's" Westley: "Anyone who says differently is selling something.") As the author, you have final say in who you choose to work with. Find someone whose approach to the project makes the most sense to you. **** How do you prefer to collaborate with a professional on a major project? 🔚 Do you like to turn them loose and wait to see the end result? 👀 Do you want to stand and look over their shoulder as they create? 👄 Or do you work best in bite-sized pieces, building the project together? Let me know in the comments below. #ghostwriting #collaboration #process #communication

I don’t do meetings. (Okay, that’s an exaggeration — I BARELY do meetings.) All of my clients are founders, and I know that their time quite literally = money. A lot of folks hesitate to hire a ghostwriter because they assume it’s going to eat into their week. They picture: → Endless meetings → Tedious back-and-forth → Needing to approve every. single. word. But that’s not how I work. For most of my clients, content creation on their end takes roughly an hour a week. Here’s how: At the top of the week, I drop ideas into their Notion dashboard (we work a few weeks ahead). I source those ideas based on: → Past interviews → Old content worth repurposing → What’s been performing → Feedback/comments from their audience Each idea comes with 3-4 probing questions. Then, (and here’s the best part), they just send me a voice note with their take. It can be 4 minutes long, or 10. Whatever it takes for them to get their ideas across on the topic. That voice note is the raw material I use to create posts that ACTUALLY sound like them. All that’s left is prompting them for a supporting image (if needed) & delivering a draft. From there, they can: → Approve it → Tweak it themselves → Send another voice note with edits That’s it! No standing calls. No BS. I am a HUGE proponent of: If the meeting could’ve been an email, the meeting shouldn’t exist. Of course, I do meet with my clients. For onboarding & once monthly for strategy/content performance reviews. But I never take up space on someone’s calendar without ROI behind it. But, I’d love to hear from you guys: What’s your take on meetings? And, if you’re a ghostwriter—what does your process look like? 👀