How To Become A Ghostwriter
Ghostwriting once considered a shady cousin of plagiarism, has lately come into its own. Busy public men have found that by hiring ghostwriters to hack out their letters, speeches, and books, they can obtain leisure for philosophy and politics. Moreover, ghostwriting performs a social service by doubling and tripling the number of documents each officials signs, ghostwriting not only provides employment for writers but also for stenographers, printers, mailmen, archivists and librarians….. (ghostwriting and history 459)
From the above excerpt you already know the perception that once surrounded this profession called ghostwriting.
In this article as an aspiring ghostwriter you’ll discover:
- Who a ghostwriter is
- Type of ghostwriting jobs
- Why choose the role of a ghostwriter
- How much does a ghostwriter makes
- How to become a ghostwriter
Let’s dive in….
Who’s A Ghostwriter?
A ghostwriter is someone who writes for private individuals, authors, businesses, and politicians, who are either too busy to write or do not feel confident with their writing skills without taking credit as the author. From our excerpt you find out that ghostwriters were professional writers who, ”hack out letters, speeches, and books,” for busy men.
In addition to this, a ghostwriter is someone….
- Who tells stories
- Who does not bear the cost that comes with book publishing
- Who does not make major decisions
- Who is at liberty to work for more than one client
- Who is at liberty to part take from book royalties or other royalties as copywriters do
- Who performs a social service
- Who work remotely
Examples Of Ghostwriting Jobs
There are several areas you can function as a ghostwriter and render your services. Here’re 18 ghostwriting jobs you can choose from and there meaning:
- White paper
- YouTube scriptwriter
- Speeches
- Social media posts
- Scriptwriter
- Press release
- Music lyrics
- Manuals
- Emails
- Newsletter
- Case studies
- Books
- Blog posts
- Bios
- Memoirs
- Articles
- Outlines
- Poems
Why Choose The Path Of Ghostwriting?
Certain things can motivate you to become a ghostwriter, thus you can choose to become a ghostwriter for the following reasons:
- To quickly develop your writing skills.
- To grow your passion.
- To earn a decent living from ghostwriting.
- To be free from your 9-5 hours job.
- To have more time to carry out other leisure activities.
- To have more time to be with your family.
- To be the boss of yourself.
Pro tip ~ as you step into the world of ghostwriting, your motivation should be your driving force.
How Much Do Ghostwriters Make?
As an aspiring ghostwriter, don’t hope to earn much at your early stage, however there’s always a room for growth.
I would advice that you should focus on how to improve as a budding ghostwriter rather than the paycheck however here is a link to AWAI’S 2024 pricing guide click download.
How To Become A Ghostwriter
To become a ghostwriter is not a rocket science, it’s easy thus, here are some basic steps you can take to get started today:
- Decide on a niche: this is absolutely the first step to take as an aspiring ghostwriter. A niche is an industry or an area of service. I have listed 18 jobs these are what they call niches. However there’s a simple exercise you can carry out to aid your decision making:
- Create a box with two sides.
- On the left side write all you’re curios about.
- On the right write about your expertise.
- Cross both sides and you’ll eventually see where your niche lies.
- Have a plan: a plan is an orderly step by step guide that helps you achieve your goal. When you get connected with expert ghostwriters you’ll surely hear them talk about the power of planning. However here’re some importance of planning:
- keeps you focused
- makes things clearer
- helps you have a definite goal
- quickens your learning process
- Have some basic training: I know as an aspiring ghostwriter, investing in trainings might be off your budget, however you can connect with expert ghostwriters like Tanmay on X and get some basic trainings for free.
- Practice: there’s no point calling yourself a ghostwriter if you don’t give room to practice to sharpen your skill. Here’re some ways to practice:
- watch YouTube videos that relates to your niche
- give yourself exercises that will keep you on your goal
- read a lot
- create a writing schedule
- improve content in your niche(articles, blogs, emails, eBooks etc.)
- stay focused
How Can You Get Gigs As A Ghostwriter?
If there’s any thing that is posing as a challenge to aspiring ghostwriters, it’s how to get gigs and here’s you quickly get gigs as a ghostwriter:
- Social media – Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook groups such as cult of copy board, copywriting jobs, and their likes act as an arena where ghostwriters source for gigs. You can take advantage of these platform to get gigs. However the best ways to make good of these platforms to attract gigs are:
- create a good profile that depicts your crafts
- reply to comments meaningfully
- write value filled posts
- be consistent
- Sign up freelance sites: Upwork, and Fiverr are sites where people post writing jobs and ghostwriters apply for them. You stand a chance to get gigs from these sites when you create an account.
Pro tip: don’t rely solemnly on these sites, learn to diversify.
- Guest posting: there’s a good chance to get gigs after guesting posting in other sites. This is why you must endeavor to write articles that can rank well on google. Examples of site that accept guest posting:
- Tech Wyse |write for us|
- The Blog Herald |post submission |
- B2B marketing |get involved|
- Write for free: this is a traditional method of getting gigs and it’s the best. As an aspiring ghostwriter I would advice you consider taking this route. However you must be able to sell your offer.
- Cold pitch: you can go with cold pitching to get gigs. There’re 2 types of cold pitching – Email and Dm. All you need is either the email of your prospect or a connection.
- Network: You can tap into your network to quickly get writing gigs. All you’ve to do is a simple message like this – ”Hey [name] this is what I do now, [mention your service] I was looking to know if I can help you handle your [mention them] or if you can hook me up with someone who might need my service.”
- Coach: I have heard freelance writers in the copywriting industry give testimonies that there coaches helped them to get their first gigs. This is also possible for you, if you have a coach that will refer you.
Lets wrap up
Ghostwriting is not only a fulfilling venture but also lucrative, however to turn out successful, you’ve to continuously improve yourself and focus on your goals. Above all I wish you all the best.
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