How to Start and Grow a Ghost Writing Business

I really enjoy reading and posting to Twitter.  Besides using it to pass along writing job links, share inspirational quotes, exchange quick hellos with other writers and bemoan the pervasiveness of dangling modifiers in business writing, I’ve been trying to establish Tuesdays as “oxymoron day,” encouraging others to share their favorite oxymora (thank you, spell check, for pointing out the correct way to pluralize that!).  It’s fun when people tweet back with favorites of their own.

 

One oxymoron that I recently posted, and think I made up, was “famous ghost writers;” this got me thinking about the unique dilemmas that ghost writers face.  Unlike other types of writers, ghost writers often must maintain complete anonymity while helping their clients put their thoughts and experiences on the page.  Contracts for ghost writing work may include clauses that forbid the writer to take any public credit for the work, because the client wants to be seen as its true author.  This can make starting and growing a ghost writing career even more challenging than other competitive writing fields. 

 

So how do you launch a ghost writing career or business, and keep it going?  You need to let the world know you’re a writer for hire.  You need to know what kinds of writing you want to do and what kinds of clients you want to work with.  And you need to promote, network and persist.  Some of the ways you can get the word out regarding your ghost writing availability include:

 

1. Having a professional Web site that displays samples of your work; 
2. Using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook; 
3. Checking online freelance job boards daily for writing jobs to bid on (one note of caution here—many “clients” on these sites are looking for bargain basement “writers” that will slam out copy for pennies.  Don’t sell yourself short by bidding on these so-called jobs.  Even if you land them, doing them will not help you build a writing business you can live on.) 
4. Telling everyone you know that you’re a ghost writer, and making sure you have business cards to give to them as well; 
5. Joining writers’ networks or associations, such as the International Association of Professional Ghost Writers (http://iapgw.org), that have job boards for members only (this will help cut down on the number of writers you need to compete with for work).

 

Like all paying writing endeavors, establishing oneself as a ghost writer takes time and consistent effort.  Stick with a promotion strategy, especially in the early going, and you may just end up with more work than you can handle.  Would that be nice?

 

Here’s to your writing success.

 

Mary Anne

P.S. Interested in learning more about building a ghost writing career?  Go to http://iapgw.org , sign up to receive the association’s free newsletter, “Invisible Ink,” and you’ll receive a copy of my free report “The Ghost Writer’s Guide to Getting More Clients.”