Ghostwriting What is Ghostwriting? Ever seen a book cover where an author is listed as having written "with" someone else? That's sort of like ghostwriting, but in that case the co-author is visible. In most ghostwriting, however, a ghostwriter is invisible, other than perhaps being mentioned in a thank-you on the dedication page. Ghostwriting is nothing more than a writer taking some else's ideas and turning them into polished prose. It's partly editing, but it's also much more. It's actually a form of collaboration. Maybe you have a great story or concept for a book, but you just don't know how to go about pulling it off. Or perhaps you realize that while you're extremely adept at developing a plot, you don't have a clue about dialogue, character, or narrative structure. What you may need is a ghostwriter, someone who can not only help you develop a structure, voice, and tone for your story but who can also get it written for you, keeping you involved in every step of the process. Here are a few examples of ghostwriting projects I've worked on: • Transforming a series of How-To seminars into an instructional book • Speechwriting • Narration for a series of infomercials on ethnic cooking • Transcribing a series of sermons into a book The thing that all these projects shared was that, after determining on the front end the purpose, scope, and structure, I built the project the client wanted. How Does Ghostwriting Work? As a ghostwriter, I can handle as many or as few aspects of your project as you wish. In the past, I've both pulled material from recorded interviews and conducted the interviews myself. I've ghostwritten letters, press releases and interviews for medical schools, hospitals, and doctors' offices, written and edited music and book reviews, and even created a series of articles for a monthly column on exercise and nutrition. The key to good ghostwriter is the ability to maintain a certain "voice" that sounds exactly like the client wants.   The price for ghostwriting varies, but it is generally calculated based on a number of variables: How much work, if any, has been done on the project already? Have you already written an outline? Or is it all still in your head? • How closely do you want to monitor what's being done while it's in progress? Generally, as a project progresses and the client's confidence in my work grows, there's less of a call for back- and-forth interaction. • How soon do you need your project turned around? Obviously, a quick turnaround requires more work, but if you have a longer deadline it's easier to estimate your cost. In fact, I can even give you a quote by project phase: first pass, second pass, etc. If you think you have an idea that might be right for a ghostwriter, contact me here.  To see a list of general fees for editorial services, go here.  Copyright ©  2011, Court Street Media