- We recently had a manuscript come in
that was written by a ghostwriter
and the client hated the book.
He said, "It's not my voice
"and the writer put his own spin on the subject
and I don't like it."
So, he hired us to fix it
and we tried to keep some of what was there
but we couldn't keep much
and really, we just said, "It's easier to start over."
If you're hiring a ghostwriter to work on your book,
stick around for this video
to make sure that doesn't happen to you.
(energetic guitar music)
Hey, I'm Julie "The Book" Broad, an award-winning author
and the founder of a fantastic company
called Book Launchers.
We're your fabulous, professional self-publishing team
helping you write, publish and sell non-fiction books
that grow your business and make you money.
Many people can't or don't wanna be the ones
to put the words down on paper
when it comes to writing a book,
whether you're busy, you hate writing, you're dyslexic
or you just don't wanna do it.
Hiring a writer
to help you write a book can be a great solution.
We've already talked about what a ghostwriter does, here,
and how to find a good one, right here.
I have a fabulous new ebook to download for free
to help you with all of this.
You can get that at booklaunchers.com/getaghost.
Today, I'm gonna give some tips for working with your writer
so that you can get the best possible results
with your book.
First, a little caveat.
How we do ghostwriting
at Book Launchers is a little different.
We actually call it a writing assist.
And, I chose that name very deliberately.
Our writers give our authors an assist
to get the manuscript done.
But our writers are not doing research
or driving the content.
The content of the book is 100% coming from our authors,
whether they have interviews that they transcribe
or talks that have been transcribed, training programs,
articles they've written, podcasts.
The author is providing the material,
the stories and the expertise.
The writer is providing the words
and teasing out some additional content
through questions and discussions.
So, the advice I'm giving you
is based on that kind of ghostwriting
because it's what I know really really well.
With that in mind, here are five tips
to help you get a great result
with the writer that you hire.
Number one,
know your hook and ideal reader before you begin.
Our clients work with a story expert on our team
to uncover what makes them cool and unique,
what the big benefit for their reader is
in reading their book, the hook,
we've talked about that a lot around here
and develop an outline or a treatment for the manuscript.
Once that's complete,
we pair our author with a writer
that's a great fit for their project.
The plan is essential, though,
and without the plan in place before our writer begins,
your project can take a wrong turn.
Number two, organize your materials in advance.
We had one client give our writer 300 pages
of transcribed podcasts
and expected the writer to find the nuggets in those pages.
The client was frustrated
with how long the project was taking
and the writer was frustrated
with trying to figure out what was cool and interesting
for each chapter out of 300 pages of conversations.
It was a bad experience for all
and now, we prevent that from happening
by having our books planned out before they go to a writer
and the client provides the material organized
by what will go in what chapter and section.
It's not the writer's job to find what's most important
because you are the expert,
so you should be guiding that process
and the writer follows your lead.
Number three, read the first chapter
or the first 5,000 words of your writer's work
before you authorize the writer to move on.
When you read these first pages,
ask yourself, "Is this my voice
"and is it the one I wanna use or the tone I wanna use?"
"Does it fit well with my hook?"
"Will my ideal reader be engaged and interested"
Don't worry if every word is one you'd use.
At this point, you're looking for an overall tone
and feeling that the words are the ones that you would use.
If the writer's way off, now is the time to coach them
and try to fix it.
And if you coach them and try to get them to fix it
and they don't,
it's time to move on, now, not later.
Number four, be involved but don't micromanage.
We had one client who wanted to speak
to our writer twice a week
and see the words hitting the page in real time.
But that was really taking away
from the writing time for our writer.
Writers have their own processes and need space to think
and write and read and reword material.
This situation was one part fear
and one part just super enthusiasm
on the part of our client
but we have to politely ask him to just step back
and let the writer do their work.
So, while I want you to be involved enough
to know if the book is going the wrong direction
or your voice is getting lost,
I also want you to give your writer enough space to work.
Number five, remember your writer is not a robot.
They have feelings.
Most of the clients we work with at Book Launchers
are pretty awesome people.
Every once in a while,
we seem to get someone who seems to forget
that there's humans working on the book.
And they also forget
that human beings tend to work harder
when they feel liked, respected and appreciated.
That's not to say
you avoid giving your writer hard feedback.
It's your book, tell them when they are missing the mark
and pull the project from them if you have to.
But do everything with kindness and respect.
And if you love what their doing,
tell them, thank them.
Ghostwriting is in many ways a thankless job.
They don't get credit, and in many cases,
they can't even tell anyone they wrote your book.
So, treat them like the amazing secret weapon they are
and be forgiving of little things
and complimentary of the great things and direct
but respectful of the things they need to do better.
All this assumes you've clearly communicated timelines,
expectations and expected results from the start
and you've hired someone that can do job to meet all that.
But if you do that and follow these five tips,
I'm confident you'll be much more likely
to have a manuscript
you're happy with at the end of the process.
And that's another quick point.
You're not getting a book from your ghostwriter,
You're getting a manuscript.
The manuscript is still going to need editing,
and more editing and design work
before it's actually a book, remember that.
Have you hired a ghostwriter?
Or are you a ghostwriter with tips on how to work with you?
Share that in the comments below.
And when you comment, the day a video is released
you'll be entered to win some sweet Book Launchers' swag,
like this noboringbooks mug.
Like this tip, smash that thumbs up button.
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when new videos come out.
If you wanna learn more about finding
and hiring great ghostwriters,
check out this video right here
or if you're looking for the video
that YouTube thinks you most need to see next,
that is right here.
Either way, click one
because I'm so excited to keep hanging out with you.
See you over there.
(energetic guitar music)