Why You Should Try Ghostwriting

Years ago, I decided there were a finite number of stories and articles and books that I could write from my own experiences. I've written personal experience magazine articles from my own life and published in various publications.  Also I've written many different types of books such as devotionals or biographies or how-to books.

For any writer, there are many different types of writing. In fact, I list the variety in the first chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. The first chapter is free with this extensive list.  If you are looking to diversify your writing, I encourage you to look at this list and try a different type of writing.

Today I want to highlight one of the most overlooked types of writing called ghostwriting. When you write a book for another person is called ghostwriting. Cec Murphey is one of the most skilled writers in this area with over 140 published books to his credit and a number of New York Times best-selling books. Many writers have never attempted ghostwriting or co-authoring or collaborating to write the story of someone else. Murphey has tackled this type of writing over and over. He has recently published a new book called GHOSTWRITING.

Through a combination of his own personal experience, he takes the mystery away from this area and helps writers learn the value. He gives them a vision for how they too could earn good money but also help others birth stories which would never be written.

Murphey covers the gamut of topics in this well-written book. He defines the terms like book doctor or collaborator or ghostwriter. He goes into ethical concerns and where you find subjects and answers a critical writer question: how do you make money and what do you charge for this service.
I’ve got shelves of how-to writing books and only have one other book on this topic (written years ago). This new book is fresh and engaging. Also Murphey has tapped his wide network of other ghostwriters for their experiences and added it to enrich his book. The key application points for the reader are distilled at the end of each chapter into a series of bullet points called a Takeaway.

As I read GHOSTWRITING cover to cover, I found myself nodding in agreement at the wisdom in this book. I’ve written more than a dozen books for other people as a collaborator and rarely a ghostwriter. I highly recommend GHOSTWRITING for anyone who wants to learn the inside story about this much needed area of the writing world.

Many writers are trying to figure out how to make a living with their writing. One of the most lucrative and needed ways to earn a living and tell the stories is in this area of ghostwriting. I encourage you to get GHOSTWRITING to learn how to open up this possibility.

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Why Attend a Writers' Conference?

Every year for the last 25+ years, I've been going to writers' conferences. Sometimes I'm teaching at these events and other times I am an attendee. No matter whether you are on the faculty or attending, conferences are key events to grow as a writer and meet new people. Why is this important?

We work with people that we know, like and trust--have a relationship. Relationships are formed and developed at conferences. I've written over 60 books and for more than 50 magazines. The roots of those books and magazines came from meeting an editor or agent at an event. My first book--a children's book with David C. Cook--happened because I met an editor at a conference.

From my perspective, there are several important aspects in going to a writers' conference:

1. Commit to attending a conference (large or small) on a consistent basis. I have had great experiences at small events and also large events.The bigger conferences have more editors and agents and more opportunity but also the competition for these people's attentionis also greater. There are many terrific events and you can follow this link to get more details about specific conferences.

2. Come prepared. You are investing time, energy and money to attend so you can meet an agent or a publisher. You can make it worth that investment if you do some homework ahead of time such as studying the faculty and their photos. Being aware of their photo and background will help you as you interact with them. Also bring lots of business cards to exchange with everyone you meet. Also as you study the faculty, you will be able to create specific pitches with your ideas. Your efforts to prepare will show to the faculty members and help increase your possibilities of getting writing work from the event (a common goal for many writers).  

3. Throughout the event, meet as many people as you can. You will be able to meet people at meals, coffee breaks, waiting for a class to begin and any number of other places. Introduce yourself and ask questions about what they write and what they are learning.  Make a point to exchange business cards with everyone and offer to help them. You never know who you are going to meet at these events. I encourage you to make the first move and reach out to others around you. Remember, many writers are introverts (and you may be as well). You will have to push yourself but it is worth the effort. 

4. After the event, this step is one of the most important: follow-up and follow through on the requests and ideas. If someone asks you for something (magazine or book), get them the material as soon as possible while your meeting is fresh in their minds. 

You may wonder how I've written all the material that I've done over the years. It's not any secret. I go to conferences, listen to the editors and agents, then do what they asked me to do. In other words, I send these professionals the requested proposal or article. Also I follow-up these submissions with solid writing. It's not that I'm the best storyteller or the best writer in the room. I am one of the most consistent in my follow-up and determination to meet the needs of the editor.

No matter whether you are writing your first magazine article or book or whether you've written dozens, the teaching, insights and relationships from conferences are critical to propel your writing life forward. Now as an acquisitions editor at a New York publisher, I go to conferences to make new connections and find new authors. If you haven't noticed, Morgan James Publishing had their first fiction book on the New York Times list (#12 right behind The Shack at #11) On The Clock, by Tim Enochs and Bruce Tollner. Be watching for this book and I encourage you to read it.

Plan your action steps today to get to a conference. It can be a life-changing event for your writing life.

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The Unknown Impact of Writing

For years I have been writing stories. Some stories are from other people and I tell them in magazine articles or books or blog posts or Ebooks. Other stories are my own personal experiences which I relate in different forms of print or online.

It is hard to measure or know the impact of your words or writing. Yes we get hints when others review our work in print or on Amazon.

Over 12 years ago as a frustrated acquisitions editor, I wrote Book Proposals That Sell. My goal was to help writers be more successful in getting their books published. I also wanted editors and agents to receive better pitches and manuscripts and proposals from the teaching in my book. Many of these goals have been realized because the book has over 130 Five Star Amazon reviews and I’ve received all sorts of great feedback from writers, agents and editors.

I’ve also had my share of detractors or people who have not liked the book and given me one star reviews saying, “I threw your book in the subway trash.” Each of us should understand not everyone will like our work and there will be negative feedback.

When my authors from Morgan James contact me about what to do with a negative review (one or two stars), I tell them  to rejoice. They should not complain to Amazon or try and get those reviews removed. These lower reviews actually validate all of the other reviews on the book. They show readers that you are getting real feedback on your book. The stars are averaged together so if you only have a few Five Star reviews then get a one star review, it will skew your reviews toward the negative. It means you have more work to do to get others to give you five star reviews on your book.

This weekend, I was on the faculty of the Indiana Faith & Writing Conference at Anderson University. I taught on book proposals. I heard a new story about the impact of my Book Proposals That Sell which I wanted to tell you about in this blog.

I met Kelsey Timmerman who was also on the faculty of the conference. He told me that he used my book (along with one from Michael Hyatt) to write his original book proposal for Where Am I Wearing?, A Global Tour to Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes. After Kelsey wrote his proposal, a literary agent picked up the book an sold it to John Wiley & Sons. Where Am I Wearing? was published in 2012.

As I’ve written before in these articles, the marketing for any book is on-going, Kelsey told me that five years after his book was published Where Am I Wearing? made the New York Times bestseller list. It was not the top twenty nonfiction books but made the extended list in the fashion category—but it still made the list. Because Where Am I Wearing? was on the New York Times list, he can use the title New York Times bestselling author in his biography, website and other promotional materials.

From Kelsey’s story, I gained a new insight into the impact of my own writing on the community.I had never heard that one of my books led to a New York Times bestseller. Getting on the New York Times list is rare and hard in this competitive business. From my understanding a book has to sell over 11,000 copies in a seven day period through that secret list of bookstores which report to the New York Times. It is almost like winning an Oscar in the book business—very hard to do but is rarely accomplished.

What is the impact of your writing? How do you measure it and know? Do you treasure the feedback of others? Let me now in the comments below.

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When The Big Book Gets Away....

Much of the publishing world is outside of our personal control. As an acquisitions editor for me to find a New York Times bestseller is almost like the storm chasers looking for the perfect storm. It is rare for the right variables to come together. Yet it does happen and I continue actively looking for that book. When the big book gets away for a multitude of reasons, you keep searching for it.

While I can champion a book to my publishing colleagues so they issue a contract for the book, even when the author signs and the book moves into production, there can be snags in the process. Recently I learned one of my books was in stall because the author had not delivered their final manuscript nor a complete author questionnaire. Both of these missing elements are important for the production process to be completed. When our managing editor reached out to this author, there was no response. Who knows the reason for the lack of response but the book was stuck.

Even though I acquired this book weeks ago, I have a relationship with the author. I reached out and learned the author needed an excellent editor (even though they had not given this information to my colleagues). I have a list of terrific editors that I sent them right away. I tell my authors that finding the right editor can be like finding the right spouse. The timing and other elements have to be a fit for it to work. As I sent the editor contact information, I mentioned if he didn't find the right editor to reach out to me again and I would find someone else. I'm eager to help this author succeed—-and every Morgan James author in fact. Why? Their success as individuals will be my success as an editor. It's a team effort.

Many times I've discussed finding a bestseller with my wife. In fact, we've talked about it so much that to be honest she doesn't want to hear about my big potential book. Why? 

Because that bestseller hasn't happened—yet.  You may be in this situation yourself—looking to get published or looking for your ideal literary agent or looking for your champion within a publishing house or ???. Here's some steps every writer can take as you continue on your journey:

1. Continue writing. You want to write for blogs and magazine articles and your books. The consistent work of writing will help you practice your craft. 

2. Continue promoting your current and past work. Look for opportunity to speak and review the books of others and write.

3. Use your current opportunities. Whether we realize it or not, each of us have opportunities. We have email. We have phones. We can reach out and set up coffee meetings or offer to write for new publications or send query letters or reach more people on twitter. The key is to be taking consistent action. For ideas, download my free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author.

4. Keep searching for your bestseller (or whatever your big goal) and learning about the craft of writing and growing. My friend Jerry B. Jenkins wrote over 100 books before his mega hit with the Left Behind series. The first book in this series continues to sell over 150,000 copies a year—even though originally published in 1996. Notice the work that went into his writing life before that bestseller. You may be on the same journey. You can hear Jerry answering your writing questions here (follow this link).

I'm on the same writing journey as each of you but I've been at it for a while. Every day I continue to build my audience and reach people with my books and blogs and other tools like twitter. During the last few months, I've been on the list of the top 100 marketers on Twitter from Evan Carmichael. Check the July link and you will see I went up in the last month from #50 to #46.

Every day keep moving forward. If I can help you in this journey, let me know.

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The Holy Grail for Authors

Every business has a pinnacle of success. It is the ultimate mark of achievement. In book publishing, much of this mark of success is tied to winning a particular award or getting your book on a particular bestseller list.

The ultimate bestseller list is to see your book on the New York Times bestseller list.. If you study this particular group of authors, you will notice the same names repeatedly land on this list. 

When an author lands on the New York Times list, the achievement is forever carried with their publishing life. They are introduced as a New York Times bestselling author. In many ways, it is the holy grail of publishing to achieve such a milestone.

I’ve never achieved such a milestone but I know a number of authors who have reached this goal. Last Thursday, I moderated a panel with three members of the American Society of Journalists and Authors who have reached this milestone and become New York Times bestselling authors.

I wrote some these words in another airplane on the way to this event. As the moderator, I pulled together the speakers and organized the session into three parts: the pitch or the proposal, the writing and the promotion and life changes that came from the experience. 

I asked each speaker to pull together some tips and suggestions into a handout. This handout was given electronically to the conference attendees. Also I printed a number of copies that I hauled to the event.

This event is at a "members only session" for the ASJA. In other words, you have to be a member of this organization (about 1400) and have registered for the conference and traveled to New York City for the event (an even smaller number).  Several other workshops were going on at the same time but I had a good number in this session.

Originally I scheduled four speakers and at the last minute one of them got ill and could not attend. Yet her information is in the handout. Here’s the handout for this event. I found this document insightful and hopefully you will as well. It is nine pages of solid information and insight.

I give it to you in hopes it will help your writing life.

Imitate Good Ideas

I am constantly looking for good ideas that I can imitate and apply to my own writing life and publishing work. This entry on The Writing Life is going to cover a number of ideas. My hope is that you will apply these insights to your own writing situation.

First, I want tell you about something that I had heard about but never actually seen until yesterday. You've probably heard about the book Mistaken Identity because of the intense media on television about it. It was the theme of yesterday's Oprah Show. Howard Books was the publisher for this book and a former colleague sent me a short email that Mistaken Identity will be at the top of the New York Times bestseller list on April 13, 2008. OK, today is April 3rd so how did he know that information? I've heard these lists are compiled about 12 days out from the actual publication date. The email announcing the news about this book included a PDF attachment. At first, I opened the PDF, saw the placement and celebrated. Later in the day, I looked closer at this attachment and printed it. This document was the full extended New York Times list for April 13. It was a new experience for me.

If You've Written A Memoir...

A couple of days ago, Alex Mandossian interviewed Julie Andrews. You can listen to the interview now in replay or look at this page for the replay. The book is a memoir yet notice what they are giving away to people who come to this book tour website. It's not a portion of the new book but instead it is a series of tips about how to get the most out of reading with your child. Yes the site pushes people toward the memoir but Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, also have a series of children's books. Notice this sort of cross-marketing effort that I found fascinating. My question if you are pitching or writing a memoir. Can you imitate this good idea for your project?

If You Have A Book To Promote...

I've pointed out Book Tour in some past entries but not for some time. The creators are from Wired magazine so savvy about using the Internet tools. It's free and I did a bit of experimentation. With some simple HTML, you can make your profile as well as the events "clickable" or so they open a new window and lead someone to another website. Here's my author profile on Book Tour. It didn't take much of my time (always something writers seem to be concerned about in this marketing area) yet I believe it is well worth doing. I updated my profile with my forthcoming travel schedule for this year and included the various conferences and speaking dates. Take a few minutes and imitate this idea for your own writing work. You never know how it will pay off for you.

If You Need A Platform...

Whether it is in the queries or book proposals that come across my agency work or the questions I am asked at a writers conference or in any other setting, most writers seem to understand publishers are looking for authors with platforms. I want to be clear because publishers are not building platforms but looking for authors who already have built the platform. This situation has been true in nonfiction for some time but it is also secondary but important for fiction authors. Many writers groan when they hear this news, feel rejected and slink off somewhere to moan to each other. In my view, they need to stop such actions and begin to build their platform. Yes, it will take time. It takes time to learn your writing craft and marketing skills and many other things. Start a newsletter and then regularly build your audience. Again I'm going to point to this PDF resource which is a 150-page FREE Ebook. You have to take action, get this book, print it out and study it. Then start your own newsletter and audience building for your own platform.

I've mentioned this example in the past but please bear with me because I've got some updated information--so read carefully. In this platform area, I've mentioned New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber. Several years ago I was at a conference with Debbie and she orchestrated a mob scene for her book signing at the local Barnes and Nobles in Amarillo, Texas. If you haven't done it, check out her guestbook and the data that she is collecting. About a year ago, a Seattle newspaper interview mentioned that Debbie had over 70,000 names on her list. An article in the March 31 issue of Publishers Weekly shows that Debbie continues to grow this list of readers and now it is over 100,000 strong. Notice the amazement of her fellow novelist in the article but also how Debbie is using this list. First, she has grown this list over 25 years in the business and second, she uses the data to tell people about her book signings in a particular area of the country and build new readers. I believe it's another good idea that any author can imitate. It will not happen overnight but begin to take some steps in this direction for your writing life.

Some of these practices are easy but will take time and investment. Are you willing to chisel away at it and make it happen? I'm encouraging you to take action and imitate the good ideas that come across your path.

Mysterious Bestsellers

If you have not seen it, make sure you catch this article from the New York Times several days ago called The Greatest Mystery: The Making of A Bestseller.

The article is interesting because reporter Shira Boss interviewed a number of key players in the book publishing business. My conclusion after reading it remains the same: while you can point to different variables and factors, it is impossible to predict how a particular book will land in the marketplace. Yes the author can be active and make considerable effort but the results are unpredictable.