Making Money as a Ghost Writer

0 Comments
Join the Conversation
Pen and Paper - Mikhail Gilles
Pen and Paper - Mikhail Gilles
Becoming a ghost writer is a great way to break in to the writing market, get practiced and good at your craft, and get that all important "big break".

Ghost writing is a great way to make a living as a writer, but it’s not easy either. An individual has to really love what they do and be willing to put in many hours honing the craft of writing. It is also important to treat those hours as work hours; no one can afford to work for free.

It is a craft but also a business, a job, and so an individual who sees him or herself as a writer must develop this mind set. Be willing to set aside several hours each day and remind yourself, there is no pay for work not completed.

What is a Ghost Writer?

Any writer, who contributes written words to books, magazines, school papers and web pages, without their name appearing as the author, is what is referred to as a ghost writer.

Who hires Ghost Writers?

There are any number of individuals and organizations who hire ghost writers. Many biographies of famous people are written by ghost writers, and so to have many romance novels. Large corporations may outsource some of their work, as opposed to hiring in-house, smaller business owners use them for creating sales and marketing materials and even university professors may find the need for a little help in completing certain tasks.

The key thing here to remember is anything currently in print, online or off, may have been crafted by someone other than the stated author.

How Much Money do Ghost Writers Make?

According to the Writers Union of Canada, a contract for a 60,000 to 90,000 word book could make a good ghost writer a minimum of $40,000. This author has noted fees offered for other jobs, such as articles, may be anywhere from $.008 per word, to $20 per 700 words, or anywhere in-between these figures.

It is important for each new writer to realize that the “big money” is not likely to come right away, and certainly not before they have put in some practiced hours, blood, sweat and tears (as the saying goes). Taking your writing seriously however, treating it like a true career, with passion, purpose and patience, and the new writer is likely to do well and find that big break.

Where Can Ghost Writing Jobs be Found?

Utilize any search engine, typing in phrases such as, “ghost writing jobs”, and the results returned will be enormous. But to make that search a little easier here are a few suggested resources:

www.writershire.com, www.writersdigest.com, www.elance.com

Self Portrait , Wendy Getchell

Wendy Getchell - I am a retired Registered Nurse writing articles on health as well as many other areas of interest. I have taken the life of a freelance ...

rss
Advertisement
Leave a comment

NOTE: Because you are not a Suite101 member, your comment will be moderated before it is viewable.
Submit
What is 8+7?
Advertisement
Advertisement