10 Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Ghostwriter
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
So, you're thinking of writing a book--but lack the time, ability, or both to do so? Like many would-be authors, you may be considering hiring a ghostwriter.  The question is--how? Do you post on craigslist--and then try to weed through dozens or even hundreds of responses? Or Google to find the right person? Regardless of how you winnow your list, I suggest you ask the following questions of a potential ghostwriter: 1. How many published books have you ghostwritten or coauthored?  Be wary of ghosts who only have a few credits to their ..read more
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Writer's Anxiety: The Curse of the Freelancing Mindset
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
I had lunch with the awesome Cindy Kuzma, an extremely talented and successful freelancer, yesterday and we were talking about the anxiety-producing nature of freelancing. When you're busy with (well-paying) work, it's all good. You may be anxious about meeting your deadlines, but you're not anxious about whether you're making enough money.  Then you hit a slowdown. And that anxiety starts ticking back up. That inner voice kicks in, muttering in my ear:  What were you thinking? Why didn't you market more last month? What if that book deal doesn't come through? Why  ..read more
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Know Your Worth...and Stand Your Ground
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
What's your ideal freelance work mix? For me, it's to be working on a book for a ghostwriting client with a mix of shorter content (mostly health and fitness) for corporations and content agencies thrown in as well. Of course we can't always have our ideal. At the moment, my work funnel is nearly empty. (That means the coming week's priorities are marketing, marketing, and marketing.) Part of the issue is that I've had several potential book projects die on the vine. So I was excited to learn about a possible gig. It's the type of ghostwriting I do; I like the potential client; this part ..read more
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The Easiest Way to Crack Women's Magazines (and 8 Ways to Do It Well)
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
I started my freelance career two decades ago writing for women's magazines. My first sale was to Cosmopolitan; after that, I wrote for publications including Woman's Day, Family Circle, Self, Shape, Redbook, Fitness, Fit, and Woman's World.  I had several reasons for doing so. First off, I was familiar with some of the publications already. I'd been reading mags like Cosmo and Shape for years before I pitched them. I knew what topics the magazines covered and what kind of stories that editors were likely to be interested in.  But even more important, these magazines paid well, a ..read more
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We're ALL Vegetarians...Until the Burgers Arrive
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
At a panel on developing a lucrative side hustle at ASJA (moderated by the awesome Damon Brown), I talked about the importance of using your experience to set yourself apart from other writers. Book authors know we're talking about something called "platform," which in short can be described as '"who are you and how will you sell this book so that the publisher can make money with it".  Platform matters for writers of shorter content, too, whether you're pitching an article to a national magazine or sending an LOI to a content company. See, competition is stiff ..read more
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Six-Figure Freelancing: Upcoming Events (Chicago and New York)
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
Is making more money--even six figures--your goal as a freelancer? If you're in the Chicago area, come see me present on Six-Figure Freelancing at Off-Campus Writers' Workshop in Winnetka on Thursday, April 21 at 9:00 a.m. OCWW is a great organization for writers of all stripes, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about successful freelancing. Let me know if you're planning on coming! I'll also be moderating a panel on Six-Figure Freelancing at this year's ASJA's annual writers conference in New York on May 20 and May 21. (I've posted about the annual c ..read more
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How to Say "No" to a Client You Don't Want to Work For
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
I've found that as a ghostwriter, I get a lot of leads that don't lead to actual work. Last week, I spoke with a potential ghostwriting client by phone. He had been referred to me by another freelancer, a friend of mine who doesn't ghostwrite books. We connected via email, and I asked him my standard list of questions I send to potential clients, which include:  Do you plan to try to sell your book to a traditional publisher, or will you be using a print-on-demand company? Do you understand the pros and cons of working with each?  What’s your purpose in writing the book?  ..read more
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10 Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Ghostwriter
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
Do you dream of writing a book--but lack the time, ability, or both to do so? Like many would-be authors, you may be considering hiring a ghostwriter.  The question is--how? Do you post on craigslist--and then try to weed through dozens or even hundreds of responses? Or Google to find the right person? Regardless of how you winnow your list, I suggest you ask the following questions of a potential ghostwriter:  1. How many published books have you ghostwritten or coauthored?  Be wary of ghosts who only have a few credits to their names. You w ..read more
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Secrets of Six-Figure Freelancers: 5 Essential Attributes
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
Today we're going to talk about one of my favorite subjects: money. My first year of fulltime freelancing more than 19 years ago!),  I made just over $17,000 and netted less than $12,000. My goal—my dream, really—was to be able to make $30,000 to $40,000 a year writing from home. By my sixth year of freelancing, though, I’d far surpassed my expectations and cracked the six-figure mark. Today I work part-time hours (my kids are now 10 and 6, and the latter is only in half-day kindergarten) and make between $30,000 and $60,000/year doing so. It’s challenging, but doable.  So ..read more
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Dollars and Deadlines is Back! And is Ghostwriting for You?
Dollars and Deadlines
by Anonymous
3y ago
Hello, readers, and welcome back...after more than a year on hiatus, I've decided to reboot the blog for several reasons. First and foremost, while the majority of my work these days is ghostwriting books for a variety of clients (with some content marketing, articles, and public speaking thrown in), I have several popular books on freelancing that continue to sell well. All are earning royalties! And that's great--so why not jump back into blogging and continue to rev those book sales?  Just as important, this blog has been one way of giving back to the freelance com ..read more
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