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Ghostwriting

ndmellen

Minstrel
So, I just got my first agent rejection letter. I choose to be exhilerated rather than down in the dumps; after all, I'm in the game, now. The agent basically told me straight up "you don't have a name"...but told me to look into ghostwriting. (For full disclosure, I went after an agent well above my pay grade... I figured go big, or go home.)

Now, as for ghostwriting...I'm open to the idea, but have no idea how to proceed.

Thoughts?
 

Trick

Auror
I personally could not bring myself to ghostwrite. I'm way too prideful. However, it is viable and people make money at it so, to each their own. If the agent thought you're writing was good, start getting your work to lower level agents maybe or try small publishing houses. How else would you get a name other than by putting your name out there?
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
I made some decent money a few years back doing some ghost writing. I looked around on freelance sites like Elance and others (just search for freelance job sites and you'll find them).
 

ndmellen

Minstrel
You know, I went back and forth about the idea. My ego- and don't lie to yourself; if you've poured your heart and soul into a book, you have an ego- wants the credit for it. All of it. But if you consider the business side...the foundation you would build, the connections you would make...You see a title on a shelf that says "James Patterson and 'You'"... There's a certain pride in that, as well...I'm willing to give it a shot, I just don't know where to start.

And all this time, I thought writing the book would be the hard part.
 

Trick

Auror
You see a title on a shelf that says "James Patterson and 'You'"... There's a certain pride in that, as well...

Though the situation with Patterson is somewhat unique, it is not ghostwriting; it's co-authoring (more like doing all the work and getting 25% of the credit but hey). Ghostwriters get no credit by name. They get paid and their name may come out later, especially if the person credited for the work doesn't mind but that's a separate thing.
 

ndmellen

Minstrel
Trick-

The irony- and I'm willing to admit that maybe this was maybe my ego acting- is that I got contacted by DAW for my manuscript. I figured "hey, if it's looking like I'm going with to be with a big ass company, I want a big ass agent for representation...because I sure as s*** don't know how to navigate these waters."

Honestly, I can't imagine how many manuscripts these people go through. How many aspiring are authors standing around them screaming "look at me! look at me!" It's gotta be stressful.
 

Trick

Auror
I got contacted by DAW for my manuscript.

In that case, don't you need a media lawyer? An agent will get you in contact with publishers and try to make a deal but, if you already have a deal and just want to make sure it's a good one for you, a media lawyer can review it for a fee and give you legal advice. Just a thought.
 

ndmellen

Minstrel
Honestly, I truly don't know...like I said, I thought that writing the book would be the hard part. Honestly, I anticipated that it would go like this: send it out, send it out, send it out. Rejection slip, rejection slip, rejection slip. Oh! Someone likes it!

What I've learned is exactly how much I don't know about the factors of publishing. I write for a few MMA websites, but the process is pretty simple: I write. I send it in. They post. This is different, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm in alien territory.

As for DAW, I won't get allow myself to get excited until I sign a contract.

Thanks to you both; I appreciate the advice.
 
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