In Today’s Journal
* Dan’s Seven Rules for Ghostwriters
* The Numbers
Dan’s Seven Rules for Ghostwriters
a guest post by Dan Baldwin
I have written more than 100 published books, but nine of ten have someone else’s name on the cover.
A few have an “With Dan Baldwin” or “As Told To Dan Baldwin” on the cover, but my credit line, if at all, usually appears in the Acknowledgements printed upside down in the Cuneiform alphabet. And that’s okay.
Credit lines are a commodity and they’re useful if you can get them, but ghostwriters are in the business to make money or to gain the experience that will lead to making that money.
Once a ghostwriter has shaken hands and has a signed agreement, he enters a journey in many ways similar to Frodo’s trek to Mordor. You’ll find adventure, betrayal, fun ‘n games, danger, and if you keep your head while all about you are battling imaginary orcs, a good payoff at the end.
If you’re considering ghostwriting, here are a few rules I’ve come up with to help keep you on track to that profitable and emotionally satisfying payoff.
Rule #1. You’re Not the Author: You Only Write the Book.
You’re not the author; you only wrote the book. Keep your ego out of the project.
That goes for your desires to win the Golden Ghost Award for Best Acknowledgement, your personal opinions or cause du jour, or what you think your author really ought to say. It’s his (or her) book. You’re being paid to keep it that way.
It’s likely that your author will at times be pushed and pulled in directions that take him off track. Part of a ghostwriter’s job is to make sure the trek follows the straight-and-narrow path to completion.
Rule #2. KISS Your Author.
Keep It Simple, Stupid. Most books are written at the eighth-grade level. Why? Because just about everyone in America has at least graduated from the eighth grade. Everybody gets the message (or at least can read the message) when you write at that level.
Ghostwriting is not an excuse to show off your skills at turning a phrase or in the use of obscure words and terms – unless you’re asked to do so by the author.
Rule #3. Make Sure the Price is Right.
In the real world the fee for your services is determined by a single factor: How hungry are you?
The amount of writing, research, client handholding, hassles, and expenses will vary from project to project. Get a handle on as much of this as possible before quoting a price.
Know how much you need to earn from a given job, add in what I call a potential hassle factor and then offer your quote.
Long-term success as a ghostwriter is a life of negotiating. Have a rate or a fee in mind, but don’t hesitate to adjust according to the level of rumbling in your stomach.
What’s a hassle factor, you ask?
If you hear the phrase, “I’m pretty famous for my memos around here, heh-heh” or “You’ll be working closely with BettyPam; she got straight Bs in high school English” or “I’ll run everything through marketing” – double your fee.
Rule #4. Your Client Must Be Involved.
I had a potential client tell me, “Just go to the Internet and you can get everything you need there.”
My response was, “Well, then what do I need you for?” Fortunately, the potential client was a friend who took my response in the right frame of mind.
The writer carries the heavier burden in terms of work, but the project must be a collaborative effort.
In general, the writer and the author develop a core message and a chapter outline. The author then provides the information so the writer can do his job.
I usually help develop the core message. It’s amazing how many authors haven’t a clue about their core message. As a ghostwriter, part of the job is to help him focus his thoughts and arrive at that message.
I follow up with, “What are the ten, fifteen or twenty things you want to say about that message. Those thoughts become the chapter heads. It’s a simple process, but one that requires full participation of author and writer. It’s the author’s book; he must earn that name on the cover.
Rule #5. Maintain Your Objectivity.
Provided you remember that you are the writer not the author, a Republican can ghostwrite for a Democrat. A Christian can write for an atheist. A “My Country, Love It Or Leave It” guy can ghostwrite for a “We Are The World” guy.
If you feel as if you’re helping a cause you just can’t stomach and feel a desperate need to wash your hands after every interview, perhaps the project isn’t something you should have taken on.
In that case, resign, but not until you have checked with the rumbling in that stomach. When you take on a ghostwriting project, you are hiring out your skills as a writer.
Obviously, each of us has a line that we will not cross regardless of the payment. Hold to your core beliefs, but once you accept the job, understand that you can be loyal to your client without being loyal to his cause.
Rule #6. Sometimes Things Go South.
As the Boy Scouts say, “Be prepared.” Something inevitably comes up to extend the agreed-on deadline, foul the research efforts, shut down the writing process, or get between you and that final payment.
Clients do have unexpected events do a number on their doorstep. Provided the client doesn’t abuse the privilege, put up with as much as you can, finish the job, get paid, and earn something worth its weight in gold – a good referral.
I have on rare occasions walked away from a job, but in a way that maintained a level of respect, courtesy, and integrity. I have also finished and been fully paid by clients I will never work with again.
One of your best ghostwriting resources is a mental file labeled I Will Never Work With a Guy Like That Again. As best you can, expect the unexpected, because it will happen.
Rule #7. Clients Pay as They Go.
My agreement calls for an upfront payment, a mid-way payment, and a payment upon completion. That first installment is critical.
As Dr. Laura said about promises of marriage made in the steamy back seat of a sedan on a lonely road, “Lady, if you don’t have a ring and a date, you don’t have squat.” Your client must be financially invested in the project.
“Invested” is the key word. Unless he has financial skin in the game, the client isn’t fully invested psychologically in the project. Reflect on Rule #6. Those unexpected events provide an excellent excuse for the client to slow down the process or to even walk away from it. That upfront payment is a tremendous inducement to continue the project to completion and in a timely manner.
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Great info. Thanks, Dan.
Talk with you again soon.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 1170
Writing of Blackwell Ops 49: Wesley Stark
Day 1…… 2381 words. To date…… 2381
Day 2…… 3283 words. To date…… 5664
Day 3…… 2934 words. To date…… 8598
Day 4…… 2305 words. To date…… 10903
Day 5…… 3356 words. To date…… 14259
Fiction for October………………… 37815
Fiction for 2025…………………… 616352
Nonfiction for October.…………… 8260
Nonfiction for 2025……………….. 219370
2025 consumable words………… 828153
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 15
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 32
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 119
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 306
Short story collections……………………. 29