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Making Money as a Writer: Ghostwriting · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Writer Starter Kit, visit DailyWriterLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: We've been working our way through a series on making money as a writer, and on today's episode, we're talking about the primary way that I have made money over the last couple of years, which is ghostwriting.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, ghostwriting is essentially writing books for somebody else.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the client is highly involved in the project, almost like a co-author, but other times they're not very involved or they're not involved at all in the book.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever the case, most of the time your name is not going to be on the book.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why we call it ghostwriting, because you're basically invisible in the process.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Or rather, you're not invisible in the process, but you're invisible in terms of whose name is actually on the book cover.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: However, I will throw in this little caveat.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: However, sometimes you can negotiate to have your name listed on the book cover.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And they call this a with credit.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been fortunate enough to negotiate for a with credit on a couple of books so far, including The Faith of Elvis, which I wrote with Billy Stanley, who is Elvis Presley's stepbrother.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now let me dig into the reasons that I like ghostwriting.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: There are a multitude of reasons, but let me boil it down to just three main things.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, ghostwriting is really straightforward.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Writing books is a really straightforward process once you understand how to plan, outline, and write a book.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I really like being able to explain to people that I write books for people who don't have the time or the talent to do it themselves.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's really very, very easy for other people to understand.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you have a job that's really complicated, it's hard to explain to people what you do.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: But ghostwriting is actually very straightforward.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: I tell people when they ask what I do, I'm a ghostwriter.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: I write books for people who don't have the time or the skill to do it themselves.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it it increases their business or gets them more of what they want, or it tells a story that's important to them, whatever the case might be.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: But that's the essence of what I do.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's very easy for people to understand.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: The second reason that I like ghostwriting is that it can pay really well.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: My projects have ranged from the low five figures to the high five figures per book.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And because of this, it doesn't really take many projects per year to make a decent living.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me throw in this caveat though, okay.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is really important for you to understand.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, for those of you who are, you know, you may hear me say something like that, I'm like, oh wow, the high five figures, that's so awesome.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now keep in mind though, that if when you own your own business, okay, this is important, especially if you have a day job or you're an employee somewhere.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: When you own your own business, you are paying all of your taxes.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: And probably you're paying for your own insurance and all those kinds of things.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: So when you hear people who are self-employed or who own their own business and you hear them sometimes talk about what they charge for books or what they charge for this or that, and the numbers seem really high, keep in mind that that kind of gives you a false impression.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and it's not that they're they're trying to be uh it's not that they're trying to pull the wool over your eyes or trying to be dishonest.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the idea that whenever you own your own business where you're self-employed, you don't actually keep all that money that actually comes into you from clients.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And of course you probably already know that, especially if you if you already own your own business, but keep that in mind.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So whenever you hear ghostwriters talk about, oh, I made this per book or I made this per book, um, understand that at the end of the day, you're gonna actually get to take home about half of that, especially if you're hiring other people to help you with various aspects of things.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So just kind of keep that in mind and don't be too impressed with the numbers when you when you hear them sometimes.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Number three is that you can learn a lot with each project that you do.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Every book that I write gives me more knowledge and experience that I can apply to other projects.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I kind of feel like I'm getting a master's degree in a specific topic every time that I write a book.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the big challenge with ghostwriting, just like any client-based work, is finding and signing those clients.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I've had periods where I've had an abundance of work, and I've also had dry periods when I was a little worried about when the next client's gonna sign or when that next payment's coming.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it's definitely a big adjustment if you're used to getting a regular paycheck from an employer.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the one thing that people ask me all the time is how do you get started as a ghostwriter?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to give you three very specific answers that I think are going to be really helpful to you.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got to say, people ask me about ghostwriting all the time.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I have multiple conversations per week about how to get started as a ghostwriter, why I'm a ghostwriter, what it is, how it works, etc., etc.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, my goodness, this week I've I've had probably 10 conversations about it.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I'm not exaggerating.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So people ask me about it all the time.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to just give you like three quick things that you need to do to get started as a ghostwriter.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, you need to write a book if you don't have a book already.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: I suggest writing a short book that's around 120 pages, maybe around 25,000 or 30,000 words or so.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is gonna give you automatic credibility as an author and as somebody who can write books for other people.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to be really honest with you.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really hard to promote yourself as a ghostwriter when you don't have a book out there with your name on it, especially if you're just getting started, because I mean, who's gonna hire you to be a ghostwriter to write their book if you don't already have a book out there?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, that does happen sometimes, and if that describes you, I don't want you to feel bad about it.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm just saying that when push comes to shove, why not give yourself the best chance at success and have at least one of your own books out there?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think that was really helpful to me when I got started as a ghostwriter.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'd already written a couple of my own books, and I was very experienced as a podcaster, a blogger, uh college professor, and all those things.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, what can you do to give yourself more credibility?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the fastest thing you can do is to have your own book out there.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: So write a short book, 120 pages, 25,000 words, 30,000 words, get that done fast to get it out there, make sure it's good.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's going to give you some credibility.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And also in the book, promote yourself as a ghostwriter, and that can really help too.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that's number one.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Second of all, I would encourage you to enroll in Ghostwriter School, which is a program taught by my friend and mentor, Nick Pavlitas.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is how I got started in ghostwriting, and I recommend that you check it out as well.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can access it at ghostwriterschool.com.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the third thing is you need to start telling people that you're building a ghostwriting business.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Don't tell them you're doing five other things on the side.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So don't say, you know, I'm a ghostwriter, I also have a lawn care business, I'm a CPA, I do dog walking, and um, you know, I'm a professional Lego builder or whatever it is.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that actually sounds like a fun job.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've been told to do that.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Professional Lego building.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: I guess that's a thing.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've seen a Netflix show about it.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'll do that at some point in the future, but not right now because I'm a ghostwriter.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: So even if you do all those things, don't tell people that if you want to build up your ghostwriting business, just focus on ghostwriting and telling people about that.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have a book out there and you're going through ghostwriting training and you're consistently telling people that you're building a ghostwriting business, it's only a matter of time before you find that first client.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you are a freelance writer and you're doing a lot of little jobs for clients, I encourage you to consider ghostwriting.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Ghostwriting generally pays more, and you can also focus on a few higher value clients than a bunch of smaller, lower value clients.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't mean lower value in terms of like their value to humanity.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: I just mean lower value in terms of what they're actually paying you.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Ghostwriting has been good to me and my family.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's given us a good living.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: I've been able to support my family with it, and I know it can do the same thing for you as well.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So here's my question: have you ever considered ghostwriting?
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, how do you think it can impact your life and your business?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, as I talk about ghostwriting and writing my own books and doing client books, one of the most important factors in that process has been having somebody that's on my team who is really good at graphic design, who's good at book layout, and good at cover design.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that person for me has been Christy Griffith, the owner of Thumbprint Creative.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: She's really, really talented, and she has been a really key player for my company, Inkwell Ghostwriting, as well as my own books over the last number of years.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Christy is enormously talented as a graphic designer, uh, an interior formatter, and a cover designer for books.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are looking for somebody to help you with those, and if you want to make the process fun and easy, and you want to work with somebody who is really gifted and very reasonably priced, I highly recommend that you connect with Christy.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can go to go thumbprint.com to learn more about her services and see a lot of the work that she's done.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, really phenomenal and stellar work.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you're going to really enjoy working with Christy.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like a personal introduction to her, just shoot me an email.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Kent at dailywriterlife.com.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: I would be happy to make a personal introduction if you are looking for a great cover designer and formatter for your book.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, my friend, as always, thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.