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What Is Freelance Ghostwriting
Becoming a successful ghostwriter demands two things: discretion and the ability to work quickly based on someone else's outline. Ghostwriting may not be the most creatively satisfying opportunity in the general field of freelance writing. Many writers donÂt like slapping someone else's name on their words; however, freelance ghostwriting can pay well, and can provide you with some much needed income and networking contacts during lean phases of your writing career.
Being a successful ghostwriter means sacrificing some of your own creative principles and work ethics in favor of the work. A client will sometimes come to you with nothing more than a topic idea and title, or may come to you with full chapter outlines and a directive to mimic the style of a well-known writer. This is where the question of ethics comes in. Ghostwriting is inherently on shaky ethical ground, at least in the publicÂs eye, because the author whose name is on the book or article may not have written a single word. Readers may feel duped if they found out. However you look at it, the essence of ghostwriting is a contract: you're trading your writing ability and your agreement not to claim credit on a work for money, usually a decent amount.
If you're willing to do ghostwriting work, you need to make sure that you're not compromising any of your principles. How would you feel about writing 200 pages "in the style of Hemingway" or working on a project that involves too much research, all with someone else's name on it? If you disagree with any part of a project, then you should pass it up and find projects better suited for you.
Of course, there's always a balancing act: if you stick to your principles and refuse too many ghostwriting contracts, you may not be able to succeed financially as a ghostwriter. You could also miss some good writing contacts. If your "writing partner" is established in the literary field, or he has worked with other ghostwriters in the past, he can possibly connect you with some future assignments or throw well-paying work your way. It's up to you to think about what you will and will not do, and accept or reject offers accordingly.
Whatever the project, though, under no circumstances should you work for free (or for promises of "future royalties"). This is true for freelance writing in general, but doubly true with ghostwriting. If you're doing magazine articles under your own name for free (or for "spec," as it's called), then you have at least some leverage for collecting promised future payments if the magazine turns a profit. Your byline is on the material -- and you own it.
If you're not writing under your own name -- if you are, in fact, selling the copyright to your own work, which ghostwriting often amounts to -- you need to ask the client to pay you in advance, anywhere between 25 and 50% of the total project. Asking for payment in advance is a good sign to many clients that you're serious about your work, and a warning to anyone who's considering ripping you off. If a prospective client isn't willing to pay you a percentage up front, ask why. If you don't like the answer, then donÂt take the project.
If you decide not to collect an advanced payment, then you stand almost no chance of getting paid for work you've done if the client fleeces you. There are many shady businesses and individuals who use online freelancing services or post classified ads asking young, inexperienced writers to write them a book for free. These bogus classified ads promise payment somewhere down the road (as well as promises of a published background, valuable experience, and the like). It's never a good idea to ghostwrite for free. Use your valuable time to ghostwrite for money and always collect an advanced payment before you begin any ghostwriting assignment.
After you have collected an advanced payment for a ghostwriting assignment, you need to adhere to all deadlines and get the work done. Ghostwriting often has short deadlines and strict requirements about content and voice, plus the veto power of the "writing partner" (whose name is going on it, after all.) If you want to avoid rewrites, be scrupulous about sticking to whatever materials the client gives you. If the client doesn't give you anything more than a general directive, you'll have to do a bit more work, but you also have more creative freedom to put more of yourself into the writing.
At its best, ghostwriting is not only one of the more potentially lucrative fields of freelance writing, but one with an unusual degree of freedom, and a chance to get out of your own writing "skin" and experiment. If you keep your head about you, choose your clients carefully, write creatively and professionally, and follow close directions, then you can succeed as a freelance ghostwriter.
BONUS : What Is Freelance Journalism?
Freelance journalism is one of the more hectic forms of freelance writing. If you want to become a successful freelance journalist, you'll need to be comfortable with spending much time hunting down stories, traveling from place to place, and writing under short deadlines. If you enjoy all of that, and if you're interested in some of the best opportunities for personal creativity, then freelance journalism may be for you.
When we talk about freelance journalism, we need to distinguish between two types: newspaper journalism and magazine journalism. As a rule, newspaper journalism involves a much narrower range of subject matter than magazine journalism, significantly shorter articles, and a greater focus on form. Typical newspaper articles follow a hierarchical format: the most pertinent information first, the least pertinent last. For example, an article about a local parade would start with "The X Parade will travel down Main Street at 10:00 Saturday in support of Y," while it might end with "Onlookers are advised to bring umbrellas."
Additionally, writing as a newspaper journalist means that you need the ability to find out about the news. Often, a journalist's day looks like this: the editor assigns the journalist an article topic at 6 AM. By 8 AM, the journalist is making phone calls to various parties related to the topic. For a story on rising gas prices, this may include CEOs of oil companies, local gas station owners, car owners (interviewed on the street or at gas stations), car manufacturers, and local policymakers. Journalists usually interview anyone with a meaningful connection to the topic, and who can provide some good, succinct quotes and information.
Information-gathering goes on for most of the day, usually ending around evening. The journalist then works on the article, fact-checking where appropriate, before submitting it for publication sometime that night, with the deadline depending on the individual paper. Then the journalist is able to go to sleep--until 6 AM rolls around again, and the next article topic comes in.
More leeway is available with the larger "feature" articles. These appear in film sections, lifestyle sections, health sections or other less breaking-news-focused parts of the daily paper. Often newspapers publish these sections weekly, rather than daily, to save on printing costs.
For example, the film section may only appear on Fridays, the food section on Tuesdays, etc. The upshot of this is the freelance journalist has more time to research and to work on an excellent, well-rounded article. Using the same research methods (calling everyone connected to the topic, scheduling interviews, synthesizing succinct points from a large information pool), a feature writer constructs a more in-depth look at a given topic than a news writer can achieve in a short column of text.
Additionally, there's occasionally more freedom in the choice of subject matter. Perhaps you know about an excellent local band in need of a profile? Maybe you volunteer in a community organization that does interesting work and deserves a write-up? How about writing an article on the health benefits of soybeans? A newspaper's "features" section can be an excellent venue and a personal one, which can be rare in freelance writing. Additionally, feature articles don't depend heavily on the hierarchical "news" format, making your job much easier (or harder, if you find it difficult to structure an article without set guidelines.)
Magazine journalism is similar to the "feature" style of newspaper journalism, albeit with much more generous word limits (and often more generous pay rates.) The downside is that a magazine may not have as many opportunities for publishing your work. The broader subject matter of a magazine may also result in topics that require more legwork and potential travel expenses (hopefully paid for by the magazine) than just a profile of a local policymaker. To be an effective magazine writer, you'll need to look much harder for article ideas, but the payoff can be well worth it.
How do you scout out freelance journalism jobs? For newspapers, have some sample articles written, a good working knowledge of style guides (especially Associated Press style), and a willingness to work on whatever is available until the editor or publisher promotes you to working on more enjoyable assignments. For magazines, it's best to research your articles and write them in advance; afterwards you can send query letters to the appropriate editors in hopes of becoming published. In either case, submission information is printed on the staff page of magazines and newspapers. You can also find submission information online at the publications web sites.
The career of a journalist isn't for everyone. Whereas many freelance writing projects are about a predictable routine of research and writing, the variety and novelty of writing news and feature articles eschews all routine in favor of a constant flurry of ad hoc interviews, phone calls and general information-gathering. But to some people, this is far from a drawback. If you're one of those people, start developing your portfolio now, get in touch with some editors (either by appointment or by query), and prepare yourself for a successful career in freelance journalism.
Freelance journalism is one of the more hectic forms of freelance writing. If you want to become a successful freelance journalist, you'll need to be comfortable with spending much time hunting down stories, traveling from place to place, and writing under short deadlines. If you enjoy all of that, and if you're interested in some of the best opportunities for personal creativity, then freelance journalism may be for you.
When we talk about freelance journalism, we need to distinguish between two types: newspaper journalism and magazine journalism. As a rule, newspaper journalism involves a much narrower range of subject matter than magazine journalism, significantly shorter articles, and a greater focus on form. Typical newspaper articles follow a hierarchical format: the most pertinent information first, the least pertinent last. For example, an article about a local parade would start with "The X Parade will travel down Main Street at 10:00 Saturday in support of Y," while it might end with "Onlookers are advised to bring umbrellas."
Additionally, writing as a newspaper journalist means that you need the ability to find out about the news. Often, a journalist's day looks like this: the editor assigns the journalist an article topic at 6 AM. By 8 AM, the journalist is making phone calls to various parties related to the topic. For a story on rising gas prices, this may include CEOs of oil companies, local gas station owners, car owners (interviewed on the street or at gas stations), car manufacturers, and local policymakers. Journalists usually interview anyone with a meaningful connection to the topic, and who can provide some good, succinct quotes and information.
Information-gathering goes on for most of the day, usually ending around evening. The journalist then works on the article, fact-checking where appropriate, before submitting it for publication sometime that night, with the deadline depending on the individual paper. Then the journalist is able to go to sleep--until 6 AM rolls around again, and the next article topic comes in.
More leeway is available with the larger "feature" articles. These appear in film sections, lifestyle sections, health sections or other less breaking-news-focused parts of the daily paper. Often newspapers publish these sections weekly, rather than daily, to save on printing costs.
For example, the film section may only appear on Fridays, the food section on Tuesdays, etc. The upshot of this is the freelance journalist has more time to research and to work on an excellent, well-rounded article. Using the same research methods (calling everyone connected to the topic, scheduling interviews, synthesizing succinct points from a large information pool), a feature writer constructs a more in-depth look at a given topic than a news writer can achieve in a short column of text.
Additionally, there's occasionally more freedom in the choice of subject matter. Perhaps you know about an excellent local band in need of a profile? Maybe you volunteer in a community organization that does interesting work and deserves a write-up? How about writing an article on the health benefits of soybeans? A newspaper's "features" section can be an excellent venue and a personal one, which can be rare in freelance writing. Additionally, feature articles don't depend heavily on the hierarchical "news" format, making your job much easier (or harder, if you find it difficult to structure an article without set guidelines.)
Magazine journalism is similar to the "feature" style of newspaper journalism, albeit with much more generous word limits (and often more generous pay rates.) The downside is that a magazine may not have as many opportunities for publishing your work. The broader subject matter of a magazine may also result in topics that require more legwork and potential travel expenses (hopefully paid for by the magazine) than just a profile of a local policymaker. To be an effective magazine writer, you'll need to look much harder for article ideas, but the payoff can be well worth it.
How do you scout out freelance journalism jobs? For newspapers, have some sample articles written, a good working knowledge of style guides (especially Associated Press style), and a willingness to work on whatever is available until the editor or publisher promotes you to working on more enjoyable assignments. For magazines, it's best to research your articles and write them in advance; afterwards you can send query letters to the appropriate editors in hopes of becoming published. In either case, submission information is printed on the staff page of magazines and newspapers. You can also find submission information online at the publications web sites.
The career of a journalist isn't for everyone. Whereas many freelance writing projects are about a predictable routine of research and writing, the variety and novelty of writing news and feature articles eschews all routine in favor of a constant flurry of ad hoc interviews, phone calls and general information-gathering. But to some people, this is far from a drawback. If you're one of those people, start developing your portfolio now, get in touch with some editors (either by appointment or by query), and prepare yourself for a successful career in freelance journalism.
