"With the rise in self-publishing and the popularity of celebrity books, demand for ghostwriters has increased dramatically," writes Joni Rodgers, ghostwriter of bestsellers, in a story for Daily Finance: The Art and Economics of Ghostwriting (11-29-2010). "And with the downturn in the publishing industry, many talented, experienced writers are turning to ghostwriting to make ends meet. Truth is, there's risk and reward on both sides of a collaboration." Rodgers offers a primer on the ghostwriting gig:
She begins: "Obviously, baseline writing talent and solid knowledge of the craft are required for this job, but a good ghostwriter is also a good listener, meticulous researcher and all-purpose book nanny, with the ability to keep the client's secrets, build a bridge between the client and publisher, and completely set ego aside. Ghostwriting is a personality type as much as it is a skill set. Natural nurturers are in like Flynn; control freaks need not apply." This is a positive, enlightening story from a woman who makes ghostwriting celebrity memoirs and other books very appealing. It balances some of the more negative stories we hear in the hallways at writers conferences.
Learn more about Joni Rogers at Red Room ("where the writers are") and at Joni Rodgers blog. I like this excerpt from a guest blog Nancy Brinker talks about the writing of Promise Me and the power of stories: "Looking at my life and the breathtaking scope of the work done by Susan G. Komen for the Cure in this broader context, I’m humbled and elated. All around me every day, stories pour down like rain, bringing fresh life to everything we do. When I sit down with friends and strangers in all corners of the world, I still start by saying, 'Let me tell you about Suzy.'"
It works. I'm ordering a copy of Nancy Brinker's Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer.
See: Links to more stories on book ghostwriting and collaboration
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The Art and Economics of Ghostwriting Books
December 6, 2010
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Publish or self-publish? ebook or print? Tim Ferriss's advice
October 26, 2010
Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, writes about the economics and practical realities of being published in print, in e-books, and through self-publishing (vs. traditional publishing) in How Authors Really Make Money: The Rebirth of Seth Godin and Death of Traditional Publishing. Read More
Shatzkin's roadmap for book publishers' future
June 14, 2010
Publishers have to change the way they do business, because digital delivery increases supply even more than it increases demand, so prices have to go down, blogs Mike Shatzkin. He writes that "getting from today (selling content) to tomorrow (selling audiences) depends on using today’s asset to build tomorrow’s." Doing this will require using "content as bait," monetizing "the eyeballs you own," not "the copyrights you own." In A roadmap for the future: 6 suggestions for today’s publishers that many can’t follow he recommends that publishers Read More
Metadata: something else to learn about -- fast!
June 9, 2010
Metadata is the new most important thing to know about writes Mike Shatzkin, IdeaLogical, 6-8-10. A publishing professional asks: What's the best way to index an e-book? As the reader enlarges or downsizes type on the page, the paging in an e-book will change, Read More
Where things are going in book publishing (the latest Shatzkin report)
April 26, 2010
"[A]ll of us, to function, must have a view of how we think things in publishing will change," writes the always-interesting Mike Shatzkin in Part 1 of What I Would Have Done in London, a long blog entry that would have been his talk if an Iceland volcano blowing hadn't cancelled his trip to the London Book Fair. That blog entry is a follow-up to his major Stay Ahead of The Shift Read More
Yale course on magazine and book publishing
April 14, 2010
Yale launches course for the magazine and book publishing industry (to fill the gap left by closure of the renowned Stanford Professional Publishing Course that was offered from 1978 to 2009). First session to be offered July 18–23, 2010, with subsequent sessions held annually, says Publishing Executive 4-12-10. Read More
Online: O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference
March 15, 2010
The O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference explores emerging trends in digital (ebook) publishing. You can watch and listen to many of the talks online. Here below are links for the TOC Conference) 2010. Also:
Round-up Day 1 (Mike Rankin) Read More
Round-up Day 1 (Mike Rankin) Read More
Book Publishing Today
September 17, 2009
In a terrific albeit not cheerful essay about book publishing today, former Random House exec Daniel Menaker, in Redactor Agonistes, talks about insecurity and unhappiness in the book biz, but also explains why and how it has changed so much, and Read More
"$35,000 is the new $75,000," quotes Harper president
May 27, 2009
"...Crains notes that last week's auction for the story of Capt. Richard Phillips, the man who saved his crew from pirates and was rescued from his kidnappers by the Navy, "drew top bids of around $500,000--half the seven-figure advance it had been expected to fetch." There has been no deal for the Britney Spears' Read More