Collaborators and Ghostwriters are an integral part of many different areas of writing today. When I began writing professionally, over thirty years ago, ghostwriting was very hush, hush. Collaborating on a nonfiction book was often done.

Today is very different. There are a lot of writing avenues that a writer can choose from. Here is a basic introduction to both collaborating and ghostwriting. I will explore each of these areas more thoroughly in separate articles.

Collaborator

A collaborator in writing is someone who joins one or more other writers to create a book, article, course, or any number of end products. A good example is Chicken Soup for the Soul. Jack Canfield started collecting the many stories he used in his business at the time. Mark Victor Hansen then joined Jack and added another 30 or so stories to bring the total to 101.

Usually, collaborators both have their names on the work as authors. You can be a collaborator for books, magazine articles, courses, ebooks, website material, and blogs to name a few. Just as most movies are written through collaboration of several writers, almost all other forms of professional writing can benefit from collaboration as well.

Ghostwriter

A ghostwriter, on the other hand, does all or most of the writing for someone else. Years ago, all ghostwriters were under contract to not divulge that they wrote a certain book. Today, however, you have a few books ghostwritten with credit given in the acknowledgment section of the book.

Many celebrity books are ghostwritten as well as many other types of nonfiction books. Ghostwriters today can also write ebooks, training material and website content. The definition of Ghostwriting today includes any writing you do for another person or persons where you do not get the credit for writing.

Ghostwriters are paid either a flat fee for their work, a percentage of sales or a combination of both. Many ghostwriters are accomplished writers who have not been able to have their own works published.

I loved ghostwriting when I was doing it. I learned so much from the people I was writing for. I don't think there is any amount of money I could have spent to have had such a wonderful and full education in so many different areas of life. Plus, I loved writing. Back then I was not ready, personally, to write my own books.

I gained experience not only in honing my craft , but I also gained experience is watching how the public responded to books I had ghostwritten. I was able to progress as a writer, as well as learn about publicity and promotion.

Having the ability to work with editors and publishers and stay behind the scenes while helping someone else get their book written, has been a marvelous experience for me. It also helped me to gain confidence in my writing ability while allowing me to discover, through practical experience, the kind of writing I like to do today.

I highly suggest that you try both collaborating and ghostwriting. You can try it to expand your horizons, or use one or both to help you earn more money.

Enjoy your writing!




Follow @ThriveandGrowMe