How Not to Become a Ghostwriter

Ghostwriting is a lucrative business.

Beyond the obvious living one can carve for themselves by slinging words, there is another wonderful (rather quiet) advantage in that there is enormous opportunity to write on all sorts of topics I normally would have no chance to write about.

The old adage, “write what you know,” doesn’t apply to the world of a ghostwriter and I see many of my future fictional characters knowing the ins and outs of many of the SEO subjects I’ve written about.

Since deciding I wanted to ghostwrite for a living, I’ve read all kinds of advice on how to get started with a ghostwriting career.

Sorry, I have to call bullocks to the bulk of them.

Here are a few commonly passed suggestions my personal experience leads me to disagree with. Of course this is just my experience. Yours may vary.

1) Bid for writing jobs on contract sites such as Elance.com. Um… no. I’ve melted more minutes than I care to admit on job boards, crossing my fingers in vain hope I’ll score a job where I might be paid a few pennies less than I’m appreciated.

2) Post responses in forums with a signature advertising your services as a professional ghostwriter. Okay, perhaps if I develop insomnia I’ll give this a try. While I agree with this more than the bidding idea, I’d  feel disingenuous joining a forum simply to spread my spam. I’d rather spend my time adding to the body of my work than I leaving footprints on the floorboards of every other forum.

3) Create business cards showcasing your ghostwriting business and pass them out every chance you get. Um… no with an exponent. Ghostwriting is private. Most larger projects require a ghostwriter/client non-disclosure agreement before they even start.

So what do I think is the best way to get your ghostwriting business off the ground?

Work as hard as you can to be the best writer you can be, while establishing the fact that you’re a ghostwriter for hire whenever you have the chance. Your initial growth might be slow, but the clients you gather will have respect for who you are and what you do, meaning they will be more likely to pay.

It’s what I’ve done and I’m happy with the results.