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Gift-giving ideas for ghostwriting clients
Gift-giving ideas for ghostwriting clients With the holidays once again upon us, the topic of client gift-giving has come up. Some ghostwriters send cards to all of their contacts, some send a single type of gift to all of the past year’s clients, and others pick and choose who gets what. There is no one…
Goal-Setting Tips for Ghostwriters
Earlier today, in between client projects, I took a little time to watch a webinar on goal-setting for 2016. Since we’re exactly 30 days away from the start of the New Year, I thought looking ahead to 2016 might be a good use of my time, and it was. Every December, as some of you…
Reasons to Avoid Local Ghostwriting Clients
Reasons to Avoid Local Ghostwriting Clients When we were first starting out, many of us were taught to look first for business in our own backyard. Meaning, there are likely new clients in need of writing services in our own zip code, or not too far away. The fact that they are so close…
Memoir versus Autobiography: What’s the difference?
The Association of Ghostwriters (AOG) receives many requests each month from authors looking for help with their memoirs – only some really mean autobiography. So what’s the difference? A memoir is an exploration of a particular point in time in a person’s life – a moment, or a life-changing single experience. A Marine might…
5 of the Biggest Myths About Ghostwriting
5 of the Biggest Myths about Ghostwriting Many people have heard of ghostwriters but may not be exactly sure what they do and how they work. Ghostwriters are writers who work behind-the-scenes to craft documents on behalf of their clients, typically anonymously. Most people get that. But there are some common misconceptions about ghostwriters and…
Why Staples Should be Our Business Role Model
Why Staples Should be Our Business Role Model “That was easy” has become Staples’ trademarked tagline. A few years ago the office supply chain produced little red “easy” buttons as a promotional gimmick, but the gimmick struck a chord. “That was easy” has evolved into Staples’ brand promise. A promise that when you do business…
RadarOnline Reports Real Housewife of New Jersey Star Uses Ghostwriter
RadarOnline Reports Real Housewife of New Jersey Star Uses Ghostwriter Ok, so which one of us has been ghostwriting Teresa Giudice’s blog and books? Come on, fess up. (I sure hope it is an AOG member!) No one should be shocked that Giudice may have had help with her blog – most celebrities simply…
Ghostwriters: For blog ideas, and laughs, turn to Portent
Ghostwriters: For blog ideas, and laughs, turn to Portent I enjoy writing – I really do – but the pressure of coming up with topics I think will be useful to fellow ghostwriters and freelance writers can add to my stress. So when I lamented my lack of 30 days of blog posts for the…
Why Time Is More Valuable Than Money
Why Time Is More Valuable Than Money When ghostwriters are asked to quote a fee to write or edit a client’s project, the assumption is that there is pure multiplication going on: your hourly rate times the amount of time you anticipate the work will take equals the cost of the project. The process seems…
Who Is Your Role Model?
Who Is Your Role Model? With two teenage children, I find myself thinking frequently about who they’re hanging out with and looking up to. Who are their role models? Who are their heroes? Today I caught myself thinking about this and it occurred to me that I worry more about my kids’ role models than…
Ghostwriters: Can card sorting help you organize a large project?
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net Most of you know that in addition to overseeing the Association of Ghostwriters, I also run my own ghostwriting and freelance writing business. My business name is Layton & Co., Inc., and although I’ve billed through my corporation for decades, I’m just now setting up an online presence for it.…
Ghostwriters: What are your clients’ odds of getting published?
I was just having this discussion with a friend the other day, wondering where people ever got the impression that attracting a traditional publisher is easy. It’s never been easy to convince the likes of Random House, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons, or Simon & Schuster, to name a few, to publish a particular…