Ghost Writing

I must admit I’ve only begun my journey onto this path. At this stage, it’s more of a side-gig than a career. So, I thought I better do research before spouting words of wisdom about what ghost writing is all about.

After gleaning a few articles online, I realised an experienced and quality writer could make a decent career out of ghost writing.

If only I had known, I could’ve seamlessly transitioned from research writing to ghost writing without a thought…once my boys had both gone to school. Imagine the flexibility, working from home and the money. Extra money for house renovations, more trips overseas, and perhaps a caravan for that longed-for lap around Australia.

But such literary adventures were not to be for me at that time.

These blog posts also advised that for landing a good ghost writing contract, a writer needs to prove their skill and worth by having published a book or two.

Now that I have spent the last fifteen years in writing groups honing my skills, have published five books, and recently set up with my writer friends, Indie Scriptorium Self-Publishing Collective, the time has come to investigate the prospect of ghost writing.

The idea arose out of a recent job I acquired to help a friend who is writing a biography of her mother whose family suffered under the Nazis during World War II. Each week she hands me another handwritten chapter which I type up and expand in places. The story is good, it’s there, but needs glue words and verbs in sentences to make it flow.

I realised that I had become a ghost writer. Or was I a hybrid editor?

In this case, although my friend is paying me an amount that they can afford, I’m doing the work as a favour, more in line with the ethos of Indie Scriptorium where a community of writers trade skills to get the work completed, and the book published.

Hiring a ghost writer can be expensive, but let’s say a person does get a ghost writer and has completed the work. Although some ghost writers claim to be a one-stop shop of the publishing process, it is advisable to have the book edited, test read, and proof read by different sets of eyes. In this regard, Indie Scriptorium might be ideally suited to help an aspiring author prepare their completed manuscript as we have the combined skill set to edit, proofread and design covers for their book. A couple of us can even help those who want to self-publish to upload their competed work onto a publishing platform. Done either for an agreed amount of money or in trading skills.

Is there an option for Indie Scriptorium to offer a ghost writer or two in the future? Currently, I personally, am still exploring this possibility. Such a venture, if undertaken to the best of my ability, would be a full-time task, and my other projects such as my novels, would have to be set aside for a time. The reality is, I still have stories in my head that I want to tell. And I am working on my friend’s assignment. Their mother’s story is one I have been waiting ten years to be told and shared with the world.

These are my personal thoughts on Ghost Writing, but for a more professional view about ghost writing here are a couple of articles you may like to look at.

Click on the links below:

Pro writing Aid on Ghost writing

Reedsy on Ghost writing

© Lee-Anne Marie Kling 2024

Feature Photo: Sea Mist © L.M. Kling 2011