It's very important for freelance writers, editors, and ghostwriters to prove that they have the experience necessary to write and edit for others. They should be able to produce a sterling resume that has been vetted by one or more associations. It gives street cred to the writer and editor, and it brings peace of mind to the client.
I belong to Publishers Marketplace, a forum for the highest level of writers, editors, and agents. I also belong to the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, or NAIWE. Just as you would expect a doctor or lawyer to be board certified, you should expect any writer you hire to have professional credentials that can be verified with a simple Google search.
Remember that very few freelance writers, ghostwriters, and editors advertising on the Internet--approximately five percent--have any real training or experience in writing and editing. They simply hang out their shingles because 1) anyone can do it, and 2) they believe they're "decent" writers because they wrote "good" papers in school.
Beware and due your due diligence.
~William Hammett
See Index of articles for this site in the right sidebar.
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Promote Your Books with Short Stories and E-book Singles
Both indie and mainstream authors have discovered a powerful promotional tool: short fiction. From Stephen King to aspiring authors, writers are tapping into greater sales potential by giving readers samples of their prose and genre by writing short fiction in the range of 25 to 50 pages (and sometimes slightly longer).
Not only does a reader get to sample a writer's work, but the author can also create short stories around existing characters in his or her published novels, whether stand-alone or those that are part of a series. This marketing strategy not only gives an author greater exposure and additional royalties, but publishing short fiction, such as Kindle Singles, enables writers to provide backstory for characters that might disrupt the flow of a novel-length works. Such stories make characters more three-dimensional, believable, and leave the reader wanting to know more about the people they fall in love with in the pages of novels. If a reader hasn't read the novels yet, however, these short stories can serve as teasers that are as effective (if not more so) than ad copy or jacket blurb.
When an author publishes a "single," Amazon and other sellers will recommend the author's other works more frequently. It is free and highly successful targeted advertising courtesy of Amazon's algorithms, and when you kick-start Amazon's algorithms, good things happen. You pull in new readers who become hungry for more of your work.
The bottom line is that short fiction that uses established characters or demonstrates an author's genre, style, locations, or backstory from a novel develops and reinforces a writer's brand.
~William Hammett
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
Not only does a reader get to sample a writer's work, but the author can also create short stories around existing characters in his or her published novels, whether stand-alone or those that are part of a series. This marketing strategy not only gives an author greater exposure and additional royalties, but publishing short fiction, such as Kindle Singles, enables writers to provide backstory for characters that might disrupt the flow of a novel-length works. Such stories make characters more three-dimensional, believable, and leave the reader wanting to know more about the people they fall in love with in the pages of novels. If a reader hasn't read the novels yet, however, these short stories can serve as teasers that are as effective (if not more so) than ad copy or jacket blurb.
When an author publishes a "single," Amazon and other sellers will recommend the author's other works more frequently. It is free and highly successful targeted advertising courtesy of Amazon's algorithms, and when you kick-start Amazon's algorithms, good things happen. You pull in new readers who become hungry for more of your work.
The bottom line is that short fiction that uses established characters or demonstrates an author's genre, style, locations, or backstory from a novel develops and reinforces a writer's brand.
~William Hammett
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
Rimsky Rises by William Hammett
Rimsky Rises is a Young Adult novel (ages 13 to 18) that I published with Word Wrangler Publishing (Livingston, Montana) on February 16, 2015. It is available in the Amazon Kindle store or you may access the book on Amazon by clicking the cover in the right column of this blog. The promotional price is $0.99.
The book description is as follows:
Rimsky Mittendorf receives emails from God. Are the messages genuine or the work of a sophisticated computer hacker?
In this Young Adult novel, Rimsky is a high school student whose life is split in two because of his parents' divorce. His troubles are compounded when the teacher he despises most falls madly in love with his father, while his mother seeks to have his uncle--the only cool adult he knows--locked up in a psychiatric hospital. Rimsky believes that his stressful life might just be bearable if he could only utter more than a few syllables to his classmate, the beautiful Sarah Petrovich. That's when emails from the Almighty start to appear in Rimsky's inbox.
Rimsky Rises is a humorous yet penetrating look at a teen's search for meaning in a world in which sane people appear to be outrageously crazy, while crazy people seem to know the truth underlying the absurd, confusing, and often comic reality called life.
Adult novels under my own name (literary and genre fiction) will be published in March, April, and May of 2015. Check back for further information on new books.
~William Hammett
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
The book description is as follows:
Rimsky Mittendorf receives emails from God. Are the messages genuine or the work of a sophisticated computer hacker?
In this Young Adult novel, Rimsky is a high school student whose life is split in two because of his parents' divorce. His troubles are compounded when the teacher he despises most falls madly in love with his father, while his mother seeks to have his uncle--the only cool adult he knows--locked up in a psychiatric hospital. Rimsky believes that his stressful life might just be bearable if he could only utter more than a few syllables to his classmate, the beautiful Sarah Petrovich. That's when emails from the Almighty start to appear in Rimsky's inbox.
Rimsky Rises is a humorous yet penetrating look at a teen's search for meaning in a world in which sane people appear to be outrageously crazy, while crazy people seem to know the truth underlying the absurd, confusing, and often comic reality called life.
Adult novels under my own name (literary and genre fiction) will be published in March, April, and May of 2015. Check back for further information on new books.
~William Hammett
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
Circling Goes the Wind by William Hammett
Circling Goes the Wind is a middle reader (ages 8 to 12) that I published with Word Wrangler Publishing (Livingston, Montana) on January 31, 2015. It is available in the Amazon Kindle store. You may also purchase the book by clicking the book cover in the right column of this blog. The promotional fee is currently $0.99.
The book description is as follows:
Ten-year-old Nathan Caulder thinks he might be going crazy. He can't remember his childhood, he hears voices when alone on the Nebraska prairie, and a mysterious woman he encounters on the road tells him that he will soon learn dark family secrets.
But there are clues that guide Nathan in his search to unravel these mysteries: a gypsy fortuneteller speaks to him in a trance while gazing into her crystal ball; he has recurring dreams of touching the winter moon; and his eccentric grandfather begins calling him Jake. Ultimately, the secret to Nathan's past lies in a steamer trunk in the attic, where the family retreats during one of Nebraska's worst natural disasters of the twentieth century.
Circling Goes the Wind is a book that speaks of magic, forgiveness, and the quiet inner voice that guides us when we strive to learn what is lasting and true in our lives. It is a coming-of-age story in which Nathan not only confronts his past but also encounters a power beyond human understanding that seeks to guide him towards a destiny enabling him to heal the wounds of others.
Another middle reader under my own name will be published in the summer of 2015. Literary and adult genre fiction under my own name will be published in March, April, and May of 2015. A book on the art of writing is scheduled for publication in 2016.
Enjoy the book!
~William Hammett
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
The book description is as follows:
Ten-year-old Nathan Caulder thinks he might be going crazy. He can't remember his childhood, he hears voices when alone on the Nebraska prairie, and a mysterious woman he encounters on the road tells him that he will soon learn dark family secrets.
But there are clues that guide Nathan in his search to unravel these mysteries: a gypsy fortuneteller speaks to him in a trance while gazing into her crystal ball; he has recurring dreams of touching the winter moon; and his eccentric grandfather begins calling him Jake. Ultimately, the secret to Nathan's past lies in a steamer trunk in the attic, where the family retreats during one of Nebraska's worst natural disasters of the twentieth century.
Circling Goes the Wind is a book that speaks of magic, forgiveness, and the quiet inner voice that guides us when we strive to learn what is lasting and true in our lives. It is a coming-of-age story in which Nathan not only confronts his past but also encounters a power beyond human understanding that seeks to guide him towards a destiny enabling him to heal the wounds of others.
Another middle reader under my own name will be published in the summer of 2015. Literary and adult genre fiction under my own name will be published in March, April, and May of 2015. A book on the art of writing is scheduled for publication in 2016.
Enjoy the book!
~William Hammett
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
New Books by William Hammett
I'm happy to announce that out of print and previously unpublished books under my own name will now be available to purchase in the Amazon Kindle store. The books will range from children's titles (middle reader and Young Adult) to novels in many different genres I have written over the years. A minimum of six titles will be available in the next few months. The books may be purchased by signing into the Amazon store or going straight to the Amazon site by clicking the covers in the right navigation column of this blog.
The titles are published by Word Wrangler Publishing (Livingston, Montana) and will be available on the publisher's new online store (coming soon). The titles may also be reviewed on Goodreads starting on Monday, March 9, 2015.
Circling Goes the Wind and Rimsky Rises are now for sale. Street Magic (thriller, suspense, horror)and The Ghost of Richard Brautigan (literary) will be available in March, 2015.
I hope you enjoy the books!
~William Hammett
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
The titles are published by Word Wrangler Publishing (Livingston, Montana) and will be available on the publisher's new online store (coming soon). The titles may also be reviewed on Goodreads starting on Monday, March 9, 2015.
Circling Goes the Wind and Rimsky Rises are now for sale. Street Magic (thriller, suspense, horror)and The Ghost of Richard Brautigan (literary) will be available in March, 2015.
I hope you enjoy the books!
~William Hammett
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
The Latest Ghostwriting Scams: January 7, 2015
Always perform your due diligence when searching for a ghostwriter.
I've already described in detail how most ghostwriting companies are really vanity publishers attempting to get POD clients by offering to ghostwrite books for prospective customers. And then there are clearinghouses such as odesk and elance, claiming to have thousands of professional ghostwriters and editors to choose from, writers and editors who are moonlighters and can't write a single sentence without a grammatical mistake.
Now, however, there is a new scam. Individuals advertise themselves as independent ghostwriters--accomplished men and women who will work for you personally--but when one examines their websites carefully, it becomes evident that these individuals are just "front men." Scroll down far enough or click on enough pages, and the site visitor is suddenly reading about "our staff of talented writers" or "our creative team."
One site now up on Google for "ghost writing services" ("ghostwriter" and "ghostwriting" are one word, folks) has a picture of a handsome man on its home page, and the text beneath talks of published books and how "I can help you turn your ideas into books, novels, and plays." There is no name associated with the picture. Read further, and the "I" suddenly becomes "We can also help you publish your book and give it the marketing muscle it deserves." We? Publish? Market? No wonder the man in the pic has no name.
The individual who is really a company--that's the newest scam. Ironically, these sites warn against the unethical and deceptive practices of companies, such as subcontracting books to writers across the country.
I was the first ghostwriter to alert people to the fact that ghostwriting (online) was becoming a scam industry. Each time I place a new warning on my site or blogs, my competition (which studies me carefully) finds a new business model to try to get around their misleading advertising, poor writing, and unethical business practices. Or they echo my own warnings to mask that they themselves are the offenders. It appears they've done it again.
~William Hammett
Index of Articles
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
I've already described in detail how most ghostwriting companies are really vanity publishers attempting to get POD clients by offering to ghostwrite books for prospective customers. And then there are clearinghouses such as odesk and elance, claiming to have thousands of professional ghostwriters and editors to choose from, writers and editors who are moonlighters and can't write a single sentence without a grammatical mistake.
Now, however, there is a new scam. Individuals advertise themselves as independent ghostwriters--accomplished men and women who will work for you personally--but when one examines their websites carefully, it becomes evident that these individuals are just "front men." Scroll down far enough or click on enough pages, and the site visitor is suddenly reading about "our staff of talented writers" or "our creative team."
One site now up on Google for "ghost writing services" ("ghostwriter" and "ghostwriting" are one word, folks) has a picture of a handsome man on its home page, and the text beneath talks of published books and how "I can help you turn your ideas into books, novels, and plays." There is no name associated with the picture. Read further, and the "I" suddenly becomes "We can also help you publish your book and give it the marketing muscle it deserves." We? Publish? Market? No wonder the man in the pic has no name.
The individual who is really a company--that's the newest scam. Ironically, these sites warn against the unethical and deceptive practices of companies, such as subcontracting books to writers across the country.
I was the first ghostwriter to alert people to the fact that ghostwriting (online) was becoming a scam industry. Each time I place a new warning on my site or blogs, my competition (which studies me carefully) finds a new business model to try to get around their misleading advertising, poor writing, and unethical business practices. Or they echo my own warnings to mask that they themselves are the offenders. It appears they've done it again.
~William Hammett
Index of Articles
Contact: wmhammett@aol.com
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
New Website Content
My ghostwriting website now has new content. It may be viewed at William Hammett: Independent Ghostwriter.
The text on most pages has been replaced, with a new bio (About William Hammett), a testimonials page, editing page, a slideshow featuring a few of the books I've edited, and a new home page with info on publishers and agents.
Thanks to past and present clients, those who follow this blog, and all newcomers.
~ William Hammett
Contact wmhammett@aol.com
Index of Articles
The text on most pages has been replaced, with a new bio (About William Hammett), a testimonials page, editing page, a slideshow featuring a few of the books I've edited, and a new home page with info on publishers and agents.
Thanks to past and present clients, those who follow this blog, and all newcomers.
~ William Hammett
Contact wmhammett@aol.com
Index of Articles
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