Sunday, July 22, 2018

How to Hire a Ghostwriter



Download a free copy of my book HOW TO HIRE A GHOSTWRITER from my website at William Hammett -- Independent Ghostwriter. This book is a "must read" for anyone looking for a professional ghostwriter since the profession has no oversight or regulation. Don't trust your book to amateurs, moonlighters, or the inexperienced ghosts on the marketplaces where people post brief resumes filled with grammatical errors.

Also beware of ghostwriting companies, which subcontract their work to inexperienced writers across the country (contrary to their claims that their writers are on-staff or work in-house). I personally know most of the writers working for companies, and they're not centrally located or employees of these corporate entities.

You should also be aware that most ghostwriting companies recruit writers and categorize them as "student or apprentice" ghostwriters. Some companies are even establishing ghostwriting schools and academies in order to get more subcontractors to do their work. These rookies have no writing credits and have never written a full-length book or engaged in ghostwriting for money.

Companies show glowing testimonials for bestselling authors, but this is a case of bait and switch. A few  clients who can pay $75K to $150K may get a top writer, but the other 95% of their customers get a writer with few if any credits and no publications under his or her own name. Also, companies now advertise that they are known and respected by agents, editors, and publishers, but this simply isn't the case.

In HOW TO HIRE A GHOSTWRITER, you'll learn who the ghostwriters and companies really are--the ones advertising online. You'll learn the marketing strategies of ghostwriters and companies, their business models, and their POD and promotional package deals that are ineffective and designed to take your money while capitalizing on your ignorance of ghostwriting and publishing.

You'll also learn about my own background, how to more intelligently target your ghost, write a query email, how the ghostwriting process works, what you need to know before emailing prospective ghostwriters, and learn what your publishing options are. Do your due diligence. Don't spend thousands of dollars on a bad writer. Educate yourself and learn how to select a writer who is the right fit for your book. You'll only get one chance, so learn how to hire a ghostwriter.

I've been one of the country's leading ghostwriters for the past twenty years, and I know the profession from the inside. Thanks for stopping by.

~William Hammett

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Looking for a Ghostwriter on Google? You're Wasting Your Money

If you're searching for a ghostwriter and are looking on Google, you're looking at paid ads put up by ghostwriting companies, freelancers, or ghostwriting marketplaces like fiverr, Upwork, and Odesk.

Ghostwriting has no oversight or regulation, and only 4% of people claiming to be ghostwriters are qualified to write a book. The websites you see in a Google search are filled with grammatical errors, even those with slick sites like the ghostwriting companies. Ghostwriting companies all call themselves "industry leaders." It's a lie. They subcontract work to freelancers all over the country, and these, according to one sales rep from a company I talked with recently, are "student and apprentice ghostwriters." Some companies have as many as 200-300 inexperienced writers who will write for low wages because they are moonlighters or unemployed and are desperate for money. They can's write.

How do I know this? Because I know who the ghostwriters are and have spoken with them. I have called the companies as a "mystery shopper" and discovered their secret, dishonest business models. I know the business from the inside.

Some companies claim that their writers are "on staff" and "in house." This is a lie. Again, I know their writers, and they are spread across all fifty states and other countries. And their writers produce some of the worst prose ever written.

As for the marketplaces, I've read thousands of resumes posted on these sites for years. I have never read a single one that was free of a major grammatical error and didn't have awkward phrasing in the one-paragraph pitch. These are the worst ghostwriters in the world.

As for most independent ghostwriters, their writing is pretty awful and filled with basic errors committed by grammar and high school students. And they know almost nothing about publishing. The reason that all of these people advertise is because the internet allows them to do so, and when people see their websites, they assume that they are legitimate or that Google somehow screens the sites for honesty and fair business practices. Google has no interest in anything except making money. Only 2% of those on Google are professionally trained writers who are qualified to be ghostwriters. But if you can't spot grammatical errors and know nothing of the publishing industry, you're not going to be able to select a competent writer.

I talk with people every week who tell me that they are interviewing several online ghostwriters. The problem is that everybody they interview is unqualified as a writer and ignorant of the publishing industry. No one they interview is remotely qualified to write a book. Millions of dollars are wasted every year since online ghostwriting is a scam industry except for the extremely small number of ghosts who are actually trained to write and edit, who know publishing, and who have a stellar track record.

But here is where the problem lies: people searching for a ghostwriter are always looking for a bestseller for the cheapest price they can find. But great ghostwriters don't work for low or "affordable" rates. People ignorant of writing and publishing invariably end up with bad work, and the irony is that they may not even know just how bad of a manuscript they've received because they can't spot the errors. The bottom line is "Gimme something cheap."

Most people want traditional publishing, but they don't understand how to get an agent or that getting an agent is next to imposible. They know nothing of small, regional, and independent presses, and they know little about Print-On-Demand. I have always tried to educate people on my website about the above issues, but people have been taken in by ghostwriting companies, thinking that a corporate image, as well as the hype and lies on company websites, means that they're about to become part of mainstream New York City publishing. This is as ridiculous as it is sad. Ghostwriting companies are nothing more than glorified POD companies.

And if you see glowing testimonials on company websites, it's because the companies use bait and switch techniques. They will give a very small number of celebrities or CEOs a good writer for a price of $75,000 to $150,000. This is to lure people into thinking that they are major players in the publishing industry. But the truth is that most clients pay small fees to inexperienced writers--subcontractors--all over the country.

If you don't educate yourself about ghostwriting and publishing, you're going to choose a bad writer. And almost everyone is bad because online ghostwriting is a business model, not a craft or an art. I am amazed at how few pages people read on my website, pages that alert people to these hard facts. They want a cheap book, and that's what they get: cheap.

Caveat emptor. Buyer beware.