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Ghostwriting tips: Editor's Notes #299
October 30, 2019
Hello,

The Midwest is like a ghost in my life.
It's present as I look out the window now. I see Texas, but if I close my eyes and look out the same window, I'm back in my hometown in Worthington, Minnesota,
and I cherish those values and that diction.

—Tim O’Brien


In this issue:

1. Tips on ghostwriting
2. Tickled my funny bone
3. Interesting Web site
4. Writing prompt

1. Tips on ghostwriting
If you have strong writing skills, consider ghostwriting. Some people make a career out of this lucrative side of writing where one writer writes and another takes the credit.

Ghostwriting tip #1: Have a written agreement (contract) that spells out who does what on what timeline and at what fee.

Ghostwritng tip #2: Consider asking for a percentage of sales if you think the book will sell well.

Ghostwriting tip #3: If you will do research, include a fee for that.

Ghostwriting tip #4: The timeline should have a series of deadlines to keep both parties on track.

Ghostwriting tip #5: Enforce deadlines for the person who must sign off on each section as it is completed so that you are not left with a huge amount of rewriting to do at the end. (I find that including a clause for a rush fee usually takes care of that. My personal rush fee is three times my regular rate.)

Ghostwriting tip #6: Collect payment in a series of advances. One sum as you begin and others spaced at intervals that make sense to both parties. Do not continue to work until you are paid for work already done.

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2.Tickled my funny bone
Haunted French pancakes give me the crêpes.

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3. Interesting Web site
Ghostwriters write in the voice of someone else. Gender is part of identity. Marcia Yudkin’s "Marketing Minute" included this tool for checking whether your writing comes across as male or female. Even if you don’t plan to ghost write, it’s useful to know how you come across to readers.
https://app.readable.com/text/gender//

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4. Writing prompt
Collect as many thoughts as you can about the word ghost. When you find a slant that appeals to you, write. I’d love to see what you come up with.

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