Category: Education

Appreciating All Sexes and Cultures

Posted on by Sarah Benz

Being a diverse ghostwriter expands your outreach

Every year, June’s LGBTQ Pride month brings diversity issues to the forefront, recognizing broader and more inclusive sexual diversity. Ghostwriters, like companies, do better with a diverse client base.

At Wambtac we know that diversity—not only relating to sexuality, but also America’s amazing scope of religions, cultures, and races—is important all year long. But it’s only recently been explored, much less openly accepted.

Reaching out to groups outside your comfort zone or normal connections creates more opportunities for work, for building community, for understanding your world.

Ghostwriters often deal with a variety of clients, which leads to questions like:

  • How do ghostwriters handle authors who are different than they are?
  • How do you craft characters with different regional and cultural voices?
  • What can make nonfiction more representative?

Diversity is expanding across publishing

Sangeeta Mehta, Diversity Chair for the Editorial Freelancers Association, notes how important diversity acknowledgment is in the editorial world. “Our goal is to support a more diverse membership and promote equitable access for all. We do this by offering a communications platform, resources, events, and a ‘Welcome Program’ specifically with a diversity focus.”

In her thirty years of experience in the book publishing industry, Wambtac’s founder and The Ghostwriting Expert, Claudia Suzanne, has worked with a huge breadth of authors on diverse manuscripts. She always encourages ghostwriters to be broadminded enough to accept projects outside their norm or comfort zone.

Let’s take a brief look at some of the benefits—and challenges—exploring diversity truly brings.

Broaden your market focus

You learned one of Claudia’s key rules: Even solid authors and ghostwriters should take time every year to read at least one fiction and one nonfiction book in a genre they don’t like…maybe even hate.

“It leads to better critical thinking,” she emphasizes, “and that enhances a ghostwriter’s problem-solving abilities and strengthens analysis,” of character impact, memoir insights, or nonfiction messages.

Kids learn more

Since 2012, the founders of Multicultural Children’s Books Day (MCBD) have shown an amazing number of diversified reading lists for kids.

But they’re not just for kids—these ideas will help expand your own thoughts and perspectives:

  • Diverse Biography Picture Books
  • Diverse Graphic Novels
  • Diverse Fantasy & Science Fiction for Kids
  • LGBT Book Lists for Kids of All Ages
  • American Indian Books for Kids of All Ages. 1

Lee & Low Books, a specialist in children’s literature, is also trying to ensure that diversity is understood by leaders in the publishing industry. It admits it didn’t always recognize that “people behind the books serve as gatekeepers.” So in 2015, they started their first Diversity Baseline Survey 2 (DBS 1.0). It revealed that their participants largely fit into mainstream categories: 79 percent of respondents checked themselves as White, 88 percent were straight, and 92 percent were non-disabled.

The one possible plus? Close to 80 percent of respondents were women. That, though, could reveal a reverse prejudice—that it takes women to judge and edit children’s literature.

In the last six years, the DBS showed some progress in that the number of white executives dropped from 86 percent to 78 percent, and leaders with disabilities rose from 4 to 10 percent. Such leadership changes bode well for bringing more diversity into the book industry.

Diversity leads to profit

This is not just wishful thinking. One McKinsey study found that companies with more gender diversity are “21% more likely to experience above-average profitability.”

Among companies that diversify their leadership, McKinsey found “33% [were] more likely to see better-than-average profits.”3

Diversity and inclusion are here to stay

All that said, every ghostwriter is entitled to set their own boundaries. Some refuse to write books that promote violence; some refuse book projects that offend their morals.

Whether you’re simply interested in profits or want to expand the literature by having a broad outreach, your expert ghostwriting skills apply to more than just book writing—they help you attain your objectives and increase your affinity with the world around you.

Help us grow by telling others about a new option for taking Wambtac’s “Intro to Ghostwriting” course. Instead of waiting until January 2022 to begin this prerequisite to the full Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program, take the Intro class asynchronously via LearnDesk.

1 “Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents,” www.multiculturalchildrensbookday.com
2 “Where is diversity in publishing,” Leeandlow.com, 2019 Diversity Baseline Survey, 1/2/20
3 “More Evidence That Company Diversity Leads to Better Profits,” K. Strauss, Forbes 1/25/18

Five Templates to Enhance a Book’s Slinky™ Flow

Posted on by Sarah Benz

Crafting nonfiction is more than just splattering the words onto the page. A critical key to success is figuring out what format—aka which template—will best fit your book’s message.

That’s why one of the early lessons you learned in GPDP was about the five manuscript templates that determine a book’s structure. Choosing the correct template gives the book what Claudia calls “Slinky™ flow,” which easily takes your reader from page to page and concept to concept. Here’s a quick reminder for choosing the best template for your book:

1. Linear template—This template has the simplest, most straightforward, flow. Decide on your key points then organize them in a structure that flows easily from point to point. 

Claudia points out, “This template is perfect for linear material like biographies, histories, true-crime exposés, or technology and engineering titles that naturally unfold in a sequence, be it chronological or otherwise.” By the way, fiction usually goes in a straight line, too. 

2. Modified straight-line template—This is a little more complex than the linear template. Your material still needs to flow from A to B to C, but the material includes key digressions, like flashbacks, that take the main focus a bit off the straight-and-narrow.

 “This structure is great for memoirs, humor, and creative nonfiction,” says Claudia. But she warns it works best “ONLY if…transitions or subheads let the reader move smoothly off and [then] back onto the main track.” 

3. Cloverleaf template—Books developed with this template take a more circuitous route. Your thesis is the center and different theories flow from it, eventually wrapping back to validate the primary thesis.

Claudia says this kind of premise-then-prove construction is “useful for possibly the widest number of titles.” First among them, as she puts it, are “Business books, business books, business books. Did I mention business books?” 

Health, fitness, and self-help genres also use a cloverleaf template, as do “written debates, legal briefs, scholarly/academic papers, advertorials, and any sort of entrepreneurial book trying to hammer home a specific principle.”  

4. Radial template—This is also somewhat circular, but there’s a major difference between this structure and the cloverleaf. In the Radial template, the main concept is still central, the rest of the book demonstrates how the concept actually helps. 

 “A lot of books,” Claudia says, “could use EITHER a clover leaf OR a radial template.”

 More than simply saying, “I think everyone should learn how to fast twice a week,” or “Smart business leaders know they should interface with their staffers on a regular basis, and blogs are a great tool for this,” a book fitting a radial template offers steps or examples that prove how fasting twice a week could help or why blogs are a good biz tool.

5. Pyramid template—This is the least commonly used template and works best when a single theory becomes more and more complex. It’s ideal for books about any aspect of STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering, and math. 

“Think of every math book you ever read,” says Claudia. “If you don’t get the ideas in the first chapter, the equations in chapter 6 will likely make your eyes spin in the back of your head.” 

This quick summary of nonfiction book templates is just a tiny insight into what makes a book as enticing as possible. 

REMINDER

Remember to check the blogs on our certifiedghostwriters.com site and to reach out when you need consults to get a client on the right track, help with MLE, or business advice. Help us grow by reminding others about Wambtac’s “Intro to Ghostwriting” course . Last-minute enrollment is still open for March, then there’s May prior to the full Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program (GPDP) beginning in August 2021. 

Interview with a Ghostwriter: Meet Beth Brand

Posted on by Sarah Benz

“I have a friend who’s a prison guard [who] has a Master’s Degree in English. And he’s always like, “You can do anything with an English major.” 

Beth Brand, another of Wambtac’s certified ghostwriters, has certainly proven him correct for almost thirty years. Based in the area she loves—the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina—Brand specializes in nonfiction, specifically business books.

Before she called North Carolina her home, Brand was in Tennessee where her English degree led to writing work. “I worked for a couple tourist magazines, and…for several ad agencies and design firms in Knoxville. I went freelance in ’89, because they weren’t paying DC or New York salaries, obviously.” 

Back to the mountains

Life changes finally brought her to NC. “I moved…and I kept a lot of clients with me. I was doing mostly promotional writing and advertising and PR,” says Brand.

“Then that turned into more long form, just because PR turned into long form. We were doing videos, and then we were doing CDs, and then websites, and then content really came in heavy. I was doing a lot of that and really enjoying it. I [also] got a couple of magazines over here.”

Tiptoeing into ghostwriting

“One of my clients who I’d had forever and ever, wrote a book. And she was working with some publisher, I don’t know who. And she gave it to me,” Brand says, noting, “This is like four weeks before Christmas!” 

“And [my client] said, ‘Could you just read this? Because it’s going to print now. The publisher has seen it, the editors…’.  I got it and I’m like, ‘This is horrible! You cannot put your name on this!’” 

 “What she had done ,” Brand explains, “is taken a bunch of her blogs and just stuck them together.” That’s a fairly common practice nowadays, but it’s very unlikely to sell.

“Each [blog post], on its own, was very good. She was a good writer. But all together they weren’t a book. I mean, there was repetition in it,” she says. 

“So I fixed that for her in [about] three weeks, for some ridiculously low price, like $3000, because I had no idea what I was doing. But I really enjoyed it.”

“Then another person asked me to research and ghostwrite a section of their research book. So I guess I was writing [something like] a 100-page section of the book,” says Brand. 

Yes, I do need training

Brand said she had so much fun doing that second project, she decided it was time to start looking around for info on how to be a true ghostwriter.

“Ghostwriting was a very silly term to me. I’d only heard of it in passing [and] I was almost embarrassed to say it,” says Brand. “But…I started looking around and I found Claudia [Suzanne’s] class. And I thought, ‘Well, I know how to write a book, but what I didn’t know was the business side of it.’” 

“So, I took Claudia’s class, and I thought it was going to be like a night class for adults and not hard,” she says. Laughing, she admits, “It was so hard! But…it was great.”

What Brand didn’t know is that the extensive Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program (GPDP) is not only about sales, royalties, and other business issues. “What [Claudia’s class] really [gets] you used to…[is] when you’re doing a book, it’s a lot of pages. It’s not like you just write a press release and it’s done, or you just write an article and it’s done.” A book project takes a lot of time “because there’s so much volume. So that was a lesson in itself,” says Brand. “And…her editing… I could listen to her edit all day long,” Brand adds.

Getting Down to Business

Most authors don’t know any of the complex business side , she says. “That’s the reason people come to me. They don’t know [these things], nor should they. It’s very complicated.” 

Thanks to the extensive GPDP class, Brand could offer more than just ghosting a full book. “I start off with a book fundamentals package, and that’s like several thousand dollars, and they get [walked through] everything they need to start writing. Then I sell deadlines as part of my coaching package. The client submits so many pages and I edit them [within] a deadline. They have to start off with a package of 10, and then they can buy five deadlines at a time after that.”

Who did you say you are?

Brand admits she gets one standard reaction when she tells people she’s a ghostwriter. “People are always like, ‘I can’t believe [that]. Don’t you feel cheated? Don’t you want to put your name on it?’ And [I’m] like, “No.” 

It’s that simple, she says. “Even when I’m really proud of the work – and there are some books that I’m very, very proud of – it wasn’t my idea. It wasn’t [even] my voice. It was my client’s voice. All I did was craft it.”

To explore how to be a master crafter in ghostwriting and get the only available certification, sign up for the “Intro to Ghostwriting” course on ghostwritertraining.com. This six-week session offered in March and May is a prerequisite for the full 13-month Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program (GPDP) begins in August 2021. 

Interview with a Ghostwriting Graduate

Posted on by Leah Weinberg

“I was always interested in books and had aspirations in that area.” 

So says Lorraine Ash, a Ghostwriting graduate, who admits that before she actually got into writing books, she already had a writing career. “More than 20 years ago”, she says, “I was a long-form journalism writer, a narrative writer. So I was used to working with photographers, videographers, and graphics people, all clustered in a team.”

Unlike high-speed daily journalism, Ash’s work involved in-depth insights. “We spent time on a story,” she says. 

She was already attending conferences relating to books in the 90s. Then, first a miracle, followed by sadness, transpired. “In 1999, when I was 40, I went to deliver my daughter, my first child, who I anticipated being my only child,” Ash says.

But it wasn’t to be. “She was stillborn. She died of Group B Strep, which was transmitted to me in the C-section,” she says calmly, adding that she was herself touch-and-go for a couple of weeks.

A different birthing process

The key segment of her transformation was writing a memoir, one she called, Life Touches Life: A Mother’s Story of Stillbirth and Healing. “I then started teaching ‘Writing to Heal,’” she says. “I did it across the nation at various grief and perinatal loss conferences.”

Gyrating towards ghostwriting

“So, when someone approached me to ghostwrite a book, I sat down and thought about how I’d go about it. And I thought I’m going to get training in this. I saw a lot of weekend training and online quickie courses, but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted to get serious, intense training. I wanted somebody fabulous to teach me.”

“I found Claudia and heard her give a couple of talks which were excellent, and the main reason that I enrolled in the complete ghostwriting class. “I could tell, from class one, that this woman was exceptional,” Ash says. “In addition to having worked so many years as a journalist, I’m also a published author and playwright. I know a lot of people in the field. And she is in the top 1%,” Ash emphasizes.

The teacher gets an A+

What brings this enthusiasm? Ash describes Claudia’s teaching:

“She has passion. She cares a lot about what’s on the page—that it’s true, that it’s real, that it is presented and structured in the best possible way. She cares about the quality of literature. Ash says. 

Since Ash took the ghostwriting class and became a ghostwriting graduate, she has deepened and expanded the services she offers through her company, which includes Analysis and Recommendation reports, manuscript development, Musical Line Edits, ghostwriting, one-on-one coaching, and memoir writing workshops and circles. During the pandemic, she has moved her one-on-one sessions and workshops onto Zoom, expanded her offerings, and signed on new clients eager to work on their books during the quarantine. 

Ash puts her experience with Claudia and the class this way:

“Claudia is very devoted to the students. I believe she is, in addition to being a literary genius, a master teacher. Those are two different things. She’s both. And that combination is pure gold.” 

You can find out more about Lorraine on her company website, Lorraine Ash Literary Enterprises. 

Ghosting Perspectives: Insiders’ POV

Posted on by Sarah Benz

Accepting Anonymity As A Ghostwriter

We love getting insights from our GPDP grads and hope you’ll check out the great in-depth profiles we’ve already published. In this series of roundtables, we want to offer you perspectives on dealing with anonymity from several Certified Ghostwriters and from The Ghostwriting Expert herself, Claudia Suzanne.

Making your decision

Ghostwriting is for those who do not yearn for the spotlight. 

In her Introduction to Ghostwriting class, Claudia tells writers and editors, “I get it. It’s taken years, even decades to achieve [your] status, to accept you’re not a 9-to-5 person, to get your family and friends to recognize your gifts and talents. Now that you finally have their respect, or at least understanding, why in the world would you want to give it up?” 

“Ghostwriters deliver literary products uniquely personalized not only to the author, but to the…reader, and…industry… needs,” [1] says Claudia. “Our operative image is…100% about our customer.”

Certified Ghostwriter Kate Early says, “If you’re someone who wants their name on the book, then go write your own books. I don’t know why you’re writing somebody else’s.”

“As an editorial service provider, your job is to provide a service to the author,” says Derek Lewis, one of the country’s leading business Certified Ghostwriters. “If you go into it because you want to make a name for yourself, and you want that acclaim, then you aren’t entering a relationship with the author to provide them the vision that they want. … You’re primarily…[trying] to ride their coattails, and that’s not a reason to get into [this] profession.” 

It’s not just the money

Ghostwriting is a skilled service career, but a well-paid one. 

“The motivation for ghostwriting is not fame,” says Certified Ghostwriter Lorraine Ash. “It’s the chance to help someone artfully get their story or big idea into the world, rise to an intellectual challenge, and learn about someone/something new. Every book is an education in life.” 

Kate agrees. “I am driven to help people,” she says. “I want to help them write their books and I don’t want my name on it. I’m not the person who wants the spotlight. I’m happy to be backstage.”

Knowing the Boundaries

Many people are confused if you can’t talk about your book projects. 

When Aunt Martha or your former teacher isn’t clear what ghostwriting is or why you can’t tell them what you’re working on, you can explain what you do but not who your clients are or what their books are about. Instead, talk about understanding book industry classifications, analyzing manuscripts, interviewing, editing, coaching, and mentoring.

“I never talk about [a client’s] project, process, or anything they’ve shared with me. That’s strictly confidential, as it should be,” says Beth.

Gaining a win-win

Anonymity in ghostwriting contracts can vary.

Derek created a business-savvy contract with options for new clients. “Whenever I’m negotiating with my authors, I have my flat fee for what it’ll take for me to ghostwrite their book. I offer them a discount if they’re willing to [show my name].” One choice he offers is to include “with Derek Lewis” on the cover of their book.

 “Are they more comfortable with me staying behind the curtain?” says Derek. “I’m benefited either way; either financially or marketing wise, it’s the same to me.” 

Getting more business

Anonymity doesn’t deter business. 

When he finishes a project, Derek always asks, “’Do you mind if, privately, whenever somebody reaches out, that I refer them to you? Or, even more convenient for you and me both, would be to allow me to show them an excerpt, a selection, of the work that I provided. Again, that would be privately, confidentially, not on my website, not anywhere else.’ I don’t think I ever had one client who said no to that.” 

“Most of my authors thank me in the ‘Acknowledgments’ section of their book—so that’s kind of public,” Certified Ghostwriter Beth Brand. “Many provide me with a testimonial to use in my marketing. Most talk about using me as a ghostwriter or coach openly to friends. And they refer their colleagues to me. So, it’s not that anonymous.”

Identity Shift

Becoming a Certified Ghostwriter is a choice you make for a brighter future.

“You can be happy to give up your original training and essentially start over,” Claudia says, “if you want your gifts and talents to generate a higher, steadier income.”

To check out the less-than-anonymous Wambtac Certified Ghostwriters quoted in this article, here are their websites:


Derek Lewis, a million-dollar business grad based in Baton Rouge, LA

Lorraine Ash, a leader in beautiful memoirs based in Northern NJ

Beth Brand, a health and tech specialist based in Asheville, NC

Kate Early,  a broad-spectrum self-help, business, and fiction ghost based in the Boston, MA area

Check out the 2021 schedule for our 6-week prerequisite “Intro to Ghostwriting” course offered in January, March, and May before the full Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program (GPDP) begins in August 2021. We look forward to showing you the book industry from the inside out and helping you learn a new online, lucrative, and creative career!

 [1] Slide 11, Intro to Ghostwriting class.

COVID Mindset Re-set

Posted on by Sarah Benz

It’s been a crazy six months with people all locked away together. No one can blame you if your education, inspiration, or motivation has been on hold.

As we wind down into 2020’s last quarter, now’s a good time for a new perspective and gaining momentum to complete an otherwise crazy year. 

Try this COVID re-set for a few quick personal and business perspective shifts that can help move a sad acronym into a glad acronym:

C is for checking your website and other marketing materials to decide what needs updates

O is for outlining 10 blog posts for book or business promotion and scheduling them into your editorial calendar

V is for varying your workout pattern so it stays exciting and challenging

I is for immortalizing your time at home by taking selfies and writing flash fiction about each one

D is for donating your writing skills to help a non-profit, church, small biz, or others 

Want even more inspiration? Create your own definitions for that acronym and share it with your friends, followers, and fans. Who knows, maybe they’ll jump into the game, too!

Need even more help to get moving? Start planning for 2021 now, when our next Intro to Ghostwriting class starts. Great way to get your feet wet.

Procrastination 101

Posted on by Sarah Benz

Your normal structure is gone and without any timeline for zipping out the door (at least not safely), it’s easy for procrastination to set in.

Not only is everyone at home, it’s not temporary. We’re all cramped together ‘til who knows when. That means not only do we face production challenges, many other factors have escalated, creating all sorts of reasons to walk away from work:

  • Increased interruptions. Beloved Grandma (Nana, Abuela, etc.), who didn’t even have your work number before, now thinks you’re suddenly available 24/7. “Why haven’t you called? Don’t you think it’s important to talk at a time like this?!” Or your partner figures this is the best time to start cleaning out the garage (your workspace, the basement, etc.) and not only creates a ruckus but may ask for your help or opinion or …
  • Welcoming distractions. Normally, you’d set up (and learn to stick to) your schedule, rules, or workspace specifically to avoid easy slides into postponing real work. Now, you easily justify your focus drifting into other tasks; e.g., you’ll get to work right after you’ve washed the dishes, or watched the news, or read your child a story.
  • “I’m just catching up.” Time’s flying by…but not on your work. You’re using On Demand to finish catching up on Veep. You’re trolling social media to find the cutest doggie vids, best pot roast recipe ever, or 10 sit-down exercises. 

  • “I’m not close to deadline.” You start procrastinating, so your work isn’t done. Because your work isn’t on schedule, you’re intimidated, depressed, or anxious. Now you feel overwhelmed and fearful. But while you’re in depression or denial, deadlines keep getting closer. So, what do you do instead of putting fingers to the keyboard? Something like, “Well, I can’t handle this now. I’ll just call Aunt Matilda; she’s fun. I’ll work afterward.” But afterward never comes.

Tips to keep you on track

Assert some rules for yourself and your family:

  • Set a work timeslot and tell loved ones you need to focus from 9a-12p and 3p-5p, for instance.  And re-emphasize that with every interruption. 
  • Set a “social media alarm clock.” 

For example, access social media only during lunchtime or after the official workday.  Set an old-fashioned kitchen timer or a unique alarm on your phone (dog barking, bugle, etc.) to signal when to start and end your time limit.  

  • Lose the guilt by turning negatives into positives. 

Psychologist Alicia Clark says, “If you feel afraid, envision yourself feeling excited, elated, or just simply relieved after you’ve finished the project.” 

“Imagine replacing a feeling of failure with a feeling of success.” 1

Building a room with a more positive view

Times are so challenging now that beating yourself up about what you’re not doing only makes things worse. Give yourself strokes for everything you get done, even if it’s as small as, “I outlined that next chapter” or “I set up the document,” or “I’ll do in-home walking during commercials.”

Getting started is the hardest step. Use these ideas for inspiration so that—for a few minutes each day—you can minimize procrastination and achieve that more positive outlook.

 1 “Stop Procrastination and Eliminate Anxiety,” by Alicia H. Clark PsyD, PLLC www.FindaPsychologist.org, 3rd bullet point under “Top Solutions” 

An Eye That Landed on the Ghostwriting Prize

Posted on by Sarah Benz

“I was originally a business copywriter,” says Derek Lewis, Certified Ghostwriter, “and I came across an online ad for somebody who wanted a business book written. And I said, ‘Oh, well, that can’t be that much harder.’ Poor naïve little me.” 

We’re not in Kansas anymore

Ghostwriting and regular journalism, says Lewis, may both be “black words on a white page,” but that’s about all they have in common.  As he progressed in his original project, he came to realize that [these types of writing were each] a different skill set, a different mindset,” and ultimately, “a different business altogether.”

“I stepped back and said, ‘I probably need to learn what I’m doing.’ So I went on Google and looked for ghostwriting coaches, ghostwriting teachers, ghostwriting courses. And that’s how I came across Claudia’s website.” 

He ultimately became a ghostwriting success story after taking Claudia Suzanne’s ghostwriting course. 

Facing ghostwriting challenges

 “I just didn’t appreciate how much emotion is tied to a book,” Lewis confesses. “And how it’s one thing to copywrite a blog post or a magazine article for somebody. I mean, of course they come up with the content and they approve it, but there’s not an emotional attachment to it. 

“With a book, there is so much more scrutiny on getting it right. Because a book just naturally carries more weight than a blog post or a magazine article.”

Lewis says he welcomed the more in-depth author involvement but didn’t expect the painstaking process of book writing. “Fifty thousand words of a manuscript is not the same as a 5,000-word article ten times. It’s not a commensurate amount of labor—it’s far more.

“I didn’t know there was going to be that much back and forth,” he says. “I didn’t even appreciate that it was a different writing skill altogether.” 

Gearing up the skills set

“Claudia taught me how to be a real ghostwriter,” says Lewis. He loved the challenges and the way it stoked his own insights. “I don’t say ‘quantum leap’ very often, because that’s over-used and it sounds a little hyperbolic.” But that’s how strong a transformation process he experienced as he moved from traditional copywriting into ghosting.  

“With Claudia’s course, I realized that I was severely undercharging,” Lewis says. “I immediately raised my prices, on a scale of five or six times. I realized that I was in a whole new industry. It was a whole new craft.”

“I could mark the [class segment] where I [first realized I] had the confidence, I had the knowledge, I had the tools, I had the craft, to appropriately quote my value,” says Lewis. “In fact, with just my first project, I made more on that than my previous year and a half of copywriting put together.” 

What makes Claudia so good, and how do you work through a class like that? “Just her sheer amount of experience and industry insider knowledge. I think the way she says it is, ‘I’ve done everything you can do wrong, at least five different ways.’”

The dream didn’t wait too long

“I guess [it’s] probably true in just about any business or career, but…you [can’t] just hang your shingle out one day and be making money the next,” Lewis advises. “It takes a little bit of time to establish yourself…to get the sales and marketing parts kind of up and running. I tell people if I had to do it over again, I would have been a lot smarter about it.”

Lewis does have one regret: “I wish that I would have come across [Claudia’s] ad probably six months, eight months earlier. I was in a position where I had a full-time job, but I could have moonlighted as a ghostwriter and established myself, and made a smooth transition of going from being employed full time to being self-employed full time.” 

“Of course, this was 11 years ago,” he laughs. “I was younger and full of vim and vigor.”

Gain Ghostwriting Recognition via a Cost-Effective Media Outlet

Posted on by Sarah Benz

Say “marketing” to many small business owner and they’ll say, “I don’t have an advertising budget.” But every business should have a marketing budget. More importantly, they should understand that marketing and advertising are not synonyms; ads are just one form of marketing.

One truly cost-effective outlet for marketing your ghostwriting business is radio. Most guest spots will cost you (Are you ready?) ZERO. That’s right—zilch, nada, nothing!

If you think radio as a marketing tool has died, think again.

In one survey, Nielsen found that 93% of Americans tune into AM/FM stations.

Radio had strong listening trends during the 2016 election and the first Trump term, but after that Nielsen found audience numbers were still solid; in fact, they’d risen—7.4% of listeners ages 25-54 in 2017 rose to 8.3% in January 2018.

Getting past ghostwriting’s restrictions

Certified Ghostwriters who successfully completed the GPDP program with Claudia Suzanne know that signing an NDA is the first step in developing a client’s trust. Once you’ve signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with your author/client, you’re legally bound not to reveal anything about the project.

So, be careful how you promote your ghostwriting business. It’s tempting to talk about a fabulous life story or business method your client has, especially when a good interviewer asks probing questions. But resist!

Instead of talking about specific projects, offer listeners insights or tips about what ghostwriters offer, the pros/cons of using a ghostwriter, or how to work with a ghostwriter. How can they get started? How do they choose a ghostwriter? What other writing services does a ghostwriter provide?

Keys to attracting bookings 

You’re used to doing the interviews but getting others to interview you successfully requires other skills. Here are five simple points to get you on the air and make your advice worth listening to:

  1. Go looking for the gig—Sounds obvious, right? Yet many potential guests dismiss radio, even though it’s an extremely cost-effective way to promote their business. 
  2. Focus on local markets—Unless you’ve penned a major leader (and have permissions to name it), you’re not going to be immediately picked up for key shows like Ellen or The 11th Hour with Brian Williams. It’s usually easier to find local outlets interested in interviewing someone in their market. 
  3. Pick a SPECIFIC topic—The contact person gets too many calls with generic pitches, like, “I can talk about social media.” Yeah, so? Pick a platform you’re good at and can easily discuss, like LinkedIn or Instagram. What about it? Starting and moderating a LinkedIn group? Easy tips for getting LI news noticed? Know how to gain Instagram followers?
  4. Get prepped—Even if you’re allowed to prepare questions ahead of time, expect segues, additional questions, perhaps interruptions. Have extra info—like stats or examples—to embellish your talk (and enhance your reputation). And don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” No one knows the answer to everything and being honest increases your credibility. Mention your website and you could build a mailing list. But avoid sounding like a commercial; the moderator will talk about your bio and contact info.
  5. Are you able to provide any offers? Giveaways (like an e-book or a free 30-minute review of what the client needs) can be solid enticements. 

Don’t just walk away

When the interview’s over, find out how to get a link to the show’s recording so you can post your own blog and social media news alerts. Remember to ask if you need special permissions to use the recording as a giveaway.

And make sure you send a thank-you to the host and/or press liaison. You can use eCards; there are quite a few free sites with a great variety. Of course, you can always write and send an old-fashioned paper note.

The bottom line: As we teach in our Ghostwriter Professional Designation Program (GPDP), no matter how good a ghostwriter is, they can’t just expect clients to come to them. Every business needs to reach far and wide to link with potential authors and writers.

Radio’s great promotional potential helps authors and Certified Ghostwriters unite!

For a solid look at a career in ghostwriting, sign up for the next Intro to Ghostwriting class that begins October 5th via ghostwritertraining.com and discover if it’s right for you.

Know anyone who wants to learn more about becoming a ghostwriter? Tell them about the next Intro to Ghostwriting class beginning June 15th at ghostwritertraining.com