(www.thegoldenpencil.com)

Hi Anne,
I wonder how you demonstrate that you can write well, when everything you write is “authored” by someone else?

I am updating my resume after a year of ghost-writing for a medical communications company, but I can’t figure out how I can showcase my work without stepping on the “author’s” toes. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
MW

Hello MW,

It can be a puzzle can’t it? A couple of things come to mind.

First, how did you demonstrate to this client that you could write? Sounds like you might have some credits you can claim before you started ghosting.

Next, I ask some of my ghostwriting clients if I can use the writing I’ve done for them as samples. I promise not to use their name and not to post or otherwise make public the fact that I did the writing, not them. I assure them I’ll use only enough of the work to demonstrate I can write well and that I will inform the prospective client that what I’m showing them is confidential.

Most of my clients agree; if they don’t, I ask them if I can use them as a reference without stating what I’ve done for them.

Prospective clients understand and appreciate your attention to confidentiality.

Finally, you might consider starting a blog or doing an article or two or three online that you can point to.

It might also help to take a look at an article I wrote called No Clips? No Problem!. Although aimed at beginners, which you’re not, it might spark an idea or a memory that could lead to other items you can use to verify your abilities.

Good luck. Let us know how you work this out.

Do you have a question about freelance writing? Ask Anne, The Writing Pro - that’s me ;) Ask in the comments or send an email and put Q&A in the subject line so I can sort it out from spam and I’ll do my best. Meanwhile, you’ll find some Q&A’s here:

http://www.bizzia.com/category/ask-anne-the-pro-writer/

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
I came close to firing a client yesterday. It’s been a rocky relationship from the beginning, which was back in the beginning of February.

I’ve been ghostwriting for a number of years, and I have a rough process I’ve found usually works. It goes more or less like this:

1. First we do a Visioning which I do on an individual basis for ghostwriting clients.
2. Next I help the client create a 10 Word Purpose for their book.
3. We follow this with a Working Table of contents.

Once these three elements are in place, the ghostwriting usually goes fairly well. I should have stopped when the client couldn’t come up with a working table of contents, or even a simple list of topics to be covered. I didn’t. The client asked for more time to work this out. Eventually we went to weekly phone calls where I acted, come to think of it, as sort of a counselor, and the client in turn tried to counsel me.

Yesterday, in a not very pretty conversation, I laid down the law. The client has a week to decide if they want to work with me; if they do we need to lay out a specific plan that will result in progress. In this case, I define progress as words on paper. If they want to fire me, I’ll support them finding the right writer for their book.

I’m now wondering if I should let this ride even another week. Ah, it won’t hurt, and who knows, maybe a miracle will happen. I’ll let you know. But I promise you, if, next week, I’m not totally convinced I can get the info I need to write the book the client will be happy with, I’m on to the next client.

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu

Arghhh… it’s happened again… spend most of the last two hours taking pictures and posting to a web page… http://annewayman.com/kittens.htm if you’re curious. And if you’re near or in San Diego and want a kitten…

Taking a deep breath, making another cup of coffee and I’m back to work, really… I promise.

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu

Japanese Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina by gmarcelo from http://www.sxc.hu

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Ye gods… we humans do for get pain, don’t we. I mean I’ve long forgotten the pain of giving birth to babies, and I’ve forgotten the pain of giving birth to a book enough to begin another one. It’s been at least year, maybe more since my back “went out.”

Wow! Small wonder I’ve been pretty good about working my abs! And that’s helped; I don’t hurt as much as I did last time, which makes me wonder how I survived the last time. I’d also forgotten how tired pain makes me.

Plus, it turns out that today, probably, is the day the power gets turned off while they upgrade my electricity.

I’m off to the library for some mind candy!

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu

How are you doing on the goals or the vision you set for yourself this year? You did set some, I assume, becuase most of us seem to. I actually believe in Visioning and goal work; I wrote about it at the end of last year in a post called: Sneaking Up on 2008 - Goals for Freelance Writers

For reasons that are totally obscure for me, I didn’t share my goals with you. I just dug them up, and, with some editing, here they are:

• Stay quit from nicotine
• Lose a pound a week which would put at around 120, yes I’m up to 172 at the moment (blush)
• Exercise at least 3 x a week
• Do a 5k walk with kids, maybe two
• Get the how to write a book class launched, which means the first go round of the book.
• Get the links fixed everywhere on my sites
• Finish Dr. XXX’s book
• Two or three more books at roughly $??? each

And you know what, I’m still nicotine free… I’m finally beginning to slowly lose some weight and I really am working out three times a week or more.

I haven’t done a 5k yet, but probably will in the next 60-90 days. I haven’t launched the class on book writing yet, but I am making progress on the book.

I’ve just started working on the broken links… 90 days?

Dr. XXX’s book isn’t finished, but progressing nicely.

I have contracted for one additional book at a nice fee and suspect at least one more will wander in before long.

I’ve also begun working on residual income and will be setting some firm goals in the next month or so, maybe sooner.

So, how are you doing with your goals this year? What’s worked? What hasn’t? What’s been added or subtracted.

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu

I’ve got a ghostwriting contract for a self-help book by a professional. We’re projecting 12 chapters, and our agreement calls for payment in four chunks. The next payment is due, and was promised, when the call came in. It turns out the author has a partnership arrangement on the book and the partner, who was to pay for half of it, is flaking out. Yesterday, when we talked, neither the author nor I were sure what to do and agreed to talk more. Now that the shock is wearing off, I’m wondering how to approach all this. Here’s what I know:

1. The contract is between me and the author. Although I have talked with the partner, I was told he was a business manager and he was never included in the contract.
2. The author is happy with my work so far.
3. The author has a built in market for the book. (Okay, this isn’t my problem, but I think I can help him understand how to market this book.)
4. I’d not only like to complete the book for the money, but I like the topic and think it needs to be told. No, I don’t like it enough to do it for free, but I might be willing to discount for a significant percentage IF I’m convinced his built-in market is really there and he will work it.

So, I have two questions for you:

• What would you do to rescue the current project?
• What would you add to your contracts in the future to protect against this sort of thing?

Let’s talk about it!

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu

Arghhhhhh!

Last week I drafted another sample chapter for a client who is having trouble deciding exactly what they want in the book I’m ghosting. At least I’m 99% sure I did, but somehow I didn’t save it. I ended up emailing the original sample of that style, which she and her adviser had seen before. They wondered why I sent it and I wondered why I hadn’t heard anything one way or the other.

Makes me slightly crazy, or think I am. And yes, I know it happens to everyone once in a while, and yes, it hasn’t happened to me in ages so I guess I was overdue. And yes, re-creating it will probably result in a better chapter. But darn!

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu

A few days ago told you about a ghostwriting client who broke several telephone appointments and then requested a Saturday appointment even though I normally don’t work weekends. I asked you what you would do.

Most who responded felt there was no need to meet the client on the weekend, although one said they would if it was a well paying client and another felt I should be willing to make a Saturday appointment.

Here’s what I actually did and the result:

1. I sent a brief email saying, nicely, that I don’t work weekends and that I’d lost track of her schedule, but was pretty open the following week.
2. She wrote back asking if, instead of delaying our talk to the following week, she could call me early Thursday morning.
3. I responded, again nicely, that I could make Thursday work. I then pointed out that she’d had a lot going on that resulted in two broken appointments and that when we set an appointment I actually set aside the time and did some prep work, so I wanted to be reasonably sure she could keep the new one she was suggesting.
4. It felt like there was a pause, and then she responded with thanks that I’d held her accountable and assuring me she’d keep the appointment this time.
5. She did and we made real progress on the ghostwriting project.

There’s some sort of balance between being flexible and letting a client walk all over you. It’s not always easy to know exactly what to do when a writing client starts getting flaky or demanding. My personal trick is to simply get quiet for a few moments, asking internally what I should do, how I should respond. Usually it works out reasonably well.

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu

Hi Anne,

I started reading your fantastic blog and have a question for you - how do you recommend people, who are trying to transition into the freelance writing field from another field begin their freelance writing career? I don’t have any copy writing or blogging experience and am wondering how
people usually enter this field.

I do have a blog of my own, which I am trying to update more, but I’ve never been published and don’t know what kinds of gigs or resources are out there for me!

Thanks!
Victoria

Hi Victoria,

Thanks so much for the complements. You don’t say what field you’re coming from, but that’s often a good place to start. Search out trade magazines in that industry and write articles there. Query first, or send complete.

Another logical place is small weekly newspapers. They are always looking for writers to cover very local stuff from new coffee shops to newly blossoming trees in parks. Call the editor and be prepared to briefly pitch a couple of ideas. You might even get paid a small amount.

Finally, update your blog daily… use it as a way to showcase your writing. Build an audience and after a month or two you qualify to apply for pro blog jobs… heck, you can try applying now.

If you’d like your question about freelance writing answered, send me an email (anne@annewayman.com), put Q&A in the subject line and I’ll do my best to get you an answer.

Good luck, and…

Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing - a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision - for those who want to get a book written.