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A Writer’s Scam Thwarted
The best emails writers receive are from potential clients expressing an interest in working together. So, when someone who represented themselves to be an individual named “Alice Smith” emailed about a potential project, with a subject line of “Writer Services Needed ASAP,” I, of course, wanted to learn more. Alice Smith said: Top of the…
The 2025 Ghostwriting Industry Report
Despite being one of the oldest professions on record, ghostwriting as an industry continues to evolve and grow. This past year was no exception, thanks in good part to technological advances and shifts in reader preferences. Seven of the developments having the greatest impact on book ghostwriters in 2025 included the following: 1. Artificial Intelligence…
How Ghostwriters Can be Marketing Geniuses for their Authors
By Jennifer Locke As Julie Andrews sings, “a bell is no bell until you ring it.” And a book is no book until people read it. Before they write the first word of a manuscript, ghostwriters should ask authors this question: “How do you plan to market the book?” Writing a book takes an enormous…
Why You’re Not Getting Responses from Ghostwriting Prospects and What to Do About It
I’ve had a few conversations with Association of Ghostwriters (AOG) members recently about job leads and how best to respond to increase your chances of hearing back. Whether you’ve heard about a project through the AOG, ASJA, Author’s Guild, EFA, or through a colleague or agency, here are some recommendations to help your response be…
Guest Post: Navigating the Financial Ups and Downs of the Ghostwriting Industry: 10 Suggestions and Safeguards
By Alice Sullivan I’ve been in the book publishing industry since 2001, primarily as a ghostwriter. While I’ve experienced a few bumps in the road throughout my career when it comes to managing project loads, the rare unhappy client, and the stress of rate negotiation, I’ve never had financial whiplash so bad as over the…
Does Cold Calling Work for Ghostwriting?
Contacting people who don’t know you to ask if they might be interested in your ghostwriting services is not a new marketing tactic, and it is still used today because it works. More than 100 years ago, Alfred Fuller, who later founded the Fuller Brush Company in 1906, began selling household cleaning brushes door-to-door. He…
Guest Post: Tips For Getting Started As a Ghostwriter
By Wintress Odom Although the practice of ghostwriting reaches back to antiquity when scribes toiled over papyrus scrolls, the ghostwriting industry is growing today more than ever—for a variety of reasons. The rise in SEO, eBooks, self-publishing, and social media means that more and more people are looking to communicate their ideas, even when they…
What is the Association of Ghostwriters?
At the inaugural Gathering of the Ghosts convention in NYC in early 2024, I was surprised by how few attendees had heard of the Association of Ghostwriters (AOG). Granted, a solid percentage of those in attendance were already AOG members, but the rest generally had not heard of the professional association for the industry. After…
Why the Association of Ghostwriters Instituted Membership Auto-Renewal
The Association of Ghostwriters (AOG) has been very fortunate to attract as members professional writers who aspire to become ghostwriters or who are already earning money from their ghostwriting work. The community is active, members are kind and forthcoming with information, and most remain members for years. We offer a private Facebook group for discussions,…
Always Go to the Original Source for Verification
Most writers understand the importance of finding the original source of information before using it in a book, article, blog post, report, speech, infographic, or anywhere else it may be cited. Those who attended journalism school likely had it drilled into them, while others learned through other methods, such as books or workshops. The core…
The Art of the Initial Client Interview: 11 Questions Every Ghostwriter Should Ask
When issues arise between a ghostwriter and their author-client, on reflection, the ghostwriter almost always admits that there were red flags during early conversations that they ignored. Sometimes, those red flags are as minor as a questionable comment or off-hand remark that the ghost chose to ignore. Other times, the red flags emerge as the…
Building a Ghostwriting Portfolio When You Can’t Share Most of Your Work
Ghostwriters face a marketing conundrum unique to the industry: How do you market your services when you can’t talk about previous clients? Many authors demand that their ghostwriters sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and/or confidentiality clause that prevents them from talking about their work together. This means that some of the most capable and qualified…