Editor! Editor!

“…a pair of wrinkled ears protruded from each side...”– Lot 249 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Wow! The guy had 4, count’em, FOUR ears! Where was the freakin’ editor?

Testimonials

“I have dealt with many ghostwriters, and no one comes close to Marcy’s skill, creativity and professionalism. Proficient, intelligent, and talented, she gets the job done on time and absolutely impresses my clients. She is my go-to ghostwriter from here on out. I recommend her 100%!“ –Alicia Dunams, Book Writing, Publishing and Marketing Coach for Business Owners
http://www.aliciadunams.com
http://www.17daybookchallenge.com
http://www.yourcelebritybrand.com

Marcy Sheiner has a kick-ass wit and cuts right to the heart of whatever she chooses to write about. I’ve enjoyed and benefitted from having her as a collaborator. Her honest feedback has helped me with my own writing.” – Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D,  Sex Worker turned Author/Sexologist. Anniesprinkle.org

I’ve worked with Marcy many times over the years, and am always impressed by her editing talents. I can honestly recommend her to do an inspiring job on any writing project.–Susie Bright, writer, speaker

Marcy is one of the few editors I’ve known who actually listens to writers. She doesn’t insist that her point of view is necessarily best, but engages the writer in  conversation about the work. She’s a pleasure to work with, and to learn from.–Susan St. Aubin, writer

Writers On Writing

“There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” –Red Smith

“Writing is like making love. Don’t worry about the orgasm, just concentrate on the process.”—- Isabel Allende

“Writing is a little bit like prostitution. First you do it for love. Then you do it for a few friends. Then you do it for money.”—Moliére

“The true novelist is the one who doesn’t quit.  Novel-writing is not so much a profession as a yoga, or “way,” an alternative to ordinary life-in-the-world. Its benefits are quasi-religious—a changed quality of mind and heart, satisfactions no non-novelist can understand—and its rigors generally bring no profit except to the spirit. For those who are authentically called to the profession, spiritual profits are enough.” –John Gardner

“I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.” — Peter De Vries

“The art of writing consists of the art of placing the seat of one’s pants to the seat of one’s chair.”– Sinclair Lewis

“Writing is easy; all you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” –Gene Fowler

“In my own experience, nothing is harder for the developing writer than overcoming his anxiety that he is fooling himself and cheating or embarrassing his family and friends. To most people, even those who don’t read much, there is something special and vaguely magical about writing, and it is not easy for them to believe that someone they know—someone quite ordinary in many respects—can really do it.” –John Gardner

“You have to understand, having a good time is not my idea of having a good time.”–Anonymous writer

A woman was having tea with Mrs. (Thomas) Hardy, and inquired, “Did Mr. Hardy have a good day of writing?” Mrs. Hardy replied, “Oh, I’m sure of it. I could hear him sobbing all afternoon.”

‘Language is like a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.’  –Gustave Flaubert

The Poet and the Physician (Sufi Fable)

A poet went to see a doctor. He said to him, “I have all kinds of terrible symptoms. I am unhappy and uncomfortable, my hair and my arms and legs are as if tortured.” The doctor replied, “Is it not true that you have not yet given out your latest poetic composition?”  “That is true,” said the poet. “Very well,” said the physician, “be good enough to recite.” He did so, and, at the doctor’s orders, said his lines again and again. Then the doctor said, “Stand up, for you are now cured. What you had inside had affected your outside. Now that it is released, you are well again.”

“Writin’ Is Fightin””–Ishmael Reed

Saul Bellow, when asked how he felt about winning the Nobel Prize, said, “I don’t know. I haven’t written about it yet.”

“Be regular and orderly in your life so you may be wild and experimental in your work.”–Gustave Flaubert

“It does no harm to repeat, as often as you can,’Without me the literary industry would not exist: the publishers, the agents, the sub-agents, the sub-sub agents, the accountants, the libel lawyers, the departments of literature, the professors, the theses, the books of criticism, the reviewers, the book pages–all this vast and proliferating edifice is because of this small, patronized, put-down and underpaid person.”–Doris Lessing

“Becoming a writer is not a ‘career decision’ like becoming a doctor or a policeman. You don’t choose it so much as get chosen, and once you accept the fact that you’re not fit for anything else, you have to be prepared to walk a long, hard road for the rest of your days.”–Paul Auster

“Writing is re-examining values, and nothing produces more anxiety for the human being than reexamining widely accepted values and searching for a way of justifying and articulating the reexamination. The secret of becoming productive and retaining your peace of mind lies in learning how to harness the anxiety and transform it into ‘productive elation.’”–Kenneth Atchity

“The idea of talent is incredibly overrated. A need to survive is much more important. If you went up to someone on the street with a gun and said, ‘in twelve months’ time you’ll be shot unless you produce a great work of art,’ he would suddenly find the motivation to do so.”–David Byrne

“I shall go on writing. That is my heroism. I shall bear witness, precise witness.”–Victor Klemperer

“The writer’s business is to make up convincing human beings and create for them basic situations and actions by means of which they come to know themselves and reveal themselves to the reader.”–John Gardner

The real writer is one who really writes.

Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire.

Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved.”

–Marge Piercy

Better go down upon your marrow-bones

And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones

Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;

For to articulate sweet sounds together

Is to work harder than all these, and yet

Be thought an idler by the noisy set

Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen

The martyrs call the world.

–W.B. Yeats

“Life is hard–and then you write a book about it.” — A writer’s son

Keeping a Journal

Anyone who wants to write should begin by keeping a journal. The rewards of doing so can be summed up in what I call the five R’s:

• Reinforcement
• Reflection
• Re-evaluation
• Renewal
• Review

Reinforcement: By writing down an incident, insight, or observation, you’re forced to recollect and describe it as accurately as possible. The act of writing functions like an asterisk in your brain: whatever you choose to put down in your journal provides emphasis. Writing about an incident or observation reinforces it, so you’re more likely to learn its lesson, if there is one, on a deeper level. You’re also likely to remember, over time, the incidents you write about more easily than those that you don’t.

Reflection: Writing means spending time – even if just a few minutes – in quiet communion with oneself. It puts you into pause mode, to quiet down and reflect. In a reflective state you might arrive at a new insight, or go deeper into the way you really feel about something. At the very least, it’s a break from the busy-ness and hubbub of everyday life.

Re-evaluation: When the writer Saul Bellow was asked how he felt about winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, he replied, “I don’t know – I haven’t written about it yet.” Writing is re-evaluation of experience. It is not uncommon to reach new conclusions or to change your point-of-view based on what’s included in your journal. While writing, you might suddenly gain a new perspective, or realize that a small piece of information is more significant than you originally thought. In a sense, writing allows us to live twice – once during the actual experience, and a second time while writing about it. Of course, some experiences aren’t always pleasant to live through once, much less twice – which is one reason writing can be painful. Welcome to my world.

Renewal: Even in the case of negative experience, writing is an opportunity to “vent.” It serves as an outlet for self-expression, and can bring about emotional resolution. By writing something down, we get it outside our heads, where it can be more objectively examined. After completing a journal entry you might suddenly be able to think more clearly, free of anxiety or confusion.

Review: A journal is a place to celebrate success, such as evolved awareness and the resulting shifts in your life. Re-reading your journal from time to time will show the direction you’ve been going, how far you’ve traveled, and perhaps point to the way forward. You can review observations and track your progress. A journal is a record of experience that might prove invaluable someday, should you need some forgotten information. Finally, think of the fun you’ll have at 85 when, in the mellow wisdom of old age, you can read about the early stages of a lifelong journey to self-knowledge. Or all your madcap affairs. Or…but I leave you to it.

Common Publishing Myths

Many aspiring authors believe things they’ve heard about the publishing business that are outdated or patently false. Dispensing with these myths will help avoid some common mistakes, and will save you time and energy. The following apply primarily to books of non-fiction: how-to’s, educational and informational books. Fiction has its own set of publishing myths, which I’ll address elsewhere.

Once my book gets published the money will start rolling in.

I hate to break the news, but making a fortune on a book is an unrealistic dream—and that is an understatement. Only a small percentage of published books actually bring in the bucks, and mostly to big-name writers. Writing a book is no get-rich-quick scheme–but a published book can lead to money if it’s connected to a product or service. Think of the book as a calling card or a marketing tool that supports your core business, or serves to promote yourself as an expert in some area. That’s where the money comes from.

I’ve done my part, I wrote the book, I don’t have to do anything else.

Sorry, pal, but your work has only just begun. Gone are the days of the solitary hermetic writer who pounds out words on a typewriter and sends them off to be dealt with by a vast army of editors, publishers, and publicity agents. Nowadays an author is lucky if a book is diligently edited in-house, rather than by hiring an independent editor. If you want to sell your book, and, incidentally, drum up business, you’ll have to create your own publicity campaign.

An author should create advance buzz on the book before it’s even published.

Don’t do it! You lose credibility when you tell people you’re going to do something before you’ve actually done it. Additionally, you can dissipate your energy talking about the book rather than actually writing it. Never say you are writing a book, or plan to write a book, or want to write a book. Tell people you have a book. It’s all about action.

Self-publishing is for losers.

Do you mean losers like Mark Twain? Edgar Allan Poe? Deepak Chopra? New writers tend to look down on self-publishing, but such snobbery is unwarranted. Yes, fifty years ago the best and most popular literary works came out of Random House or Simon & Schuster, but with the advent of new techniques such as desktop publishing, print on demand (POD), and e-publishing, things have changed dramatically. It isn’t unheard of for self-published books to get picked up by big houses. Some contemporary self-published books:  The Celestine Prophecy, The Joy of Cooking, What Color is Your Parachute? Chicken Soup for the Soul, Spartacus. Losers, huh?

You can’t judge a book by its cover.

Maybe not – but you will attract more potential buyers with an eye-catching cover than with one that’s boring or aesthetically unappealing. A great cover is worth the investment. On the other hand, it is not true that…

The inside of a book should be interestingly designed.

Some people, accustomed to the flashiness of websites, think that books should have lots of illustrations, color, and formatting—but a book is not a website, and all those bells and whistles cost money. A good book sells; a fancy book just prolongs the manufacturing process, delaying revenue. Spend your money on marketing instead.

My publisher will send me touring around the country for book signings and local radio and tv shows.

You might go on a book tour, but again, you need to be realistic. To begin with, publishers pay for very few book tours these days, so your travel expenses will probably be your own responsibility. You might also have to set up your own iteinerary, which is a lot of work, and the returns aren’t that great: book signings don’t sell all that many books. The locals who attend them don’t come to shop, but for free entertainment. You can sell more books in front of your computer, creating online demand through blogs, viral video, and social networking venues. This doesn’t mean you should not do a book tour. If you have the time, money, and stamina, a tour can be a lot of fun, is publicity, will sell some books, and is something that every author ought to experience at least once.

A book has to be on television to get anywhere.

Yes, getting onto Oprah’s show is the hottest ticket in book selling – but that’s because it’s Oprah, not television. When she likes a book, she pushes it, and she has a huge audience of serious readers who value her opinion. Other than that, though, television is dead air as far as book-selling goes. You can sell more books on Twitter than on the fourth hour of the Today show. Period.

Respectable, successful books are only sold in bookstores.

In recent years there’s been a paradigm shift in the publishing world, partly due to increased volume. Over 400,000 books get published each year, far too many for Ye Olde Book Shoppe to accommodate. Unless you’re John Grisham or Danielle Steele, or your publisher pays for front-store placement, a few copies of your book will be quietly shelved in the back of the store, spine out. So where do books sell? Online. In supermarkets. In specialty shops (cookbooks in Williams & Sonoma; lawn care books at Home Depot, etc.). Out of the back of the author’s van…and anywhere else you can think of where they agree to sell it.

A good book always finds its audience.

Purely magical thinking. Books don’t walk around all by themselves tracking down readers. In fact, these days publishers look for books that have a built-in audience. It’s up to you to identify your audience and gear your book towards them. If you can present your book to a publisher coupled with a clear idea of your target audience, you’ve gone a long way towards building an effective PR campaign.

Like rich cream, a good book will always rise to the top.

As my grandma used to say, “From your mouth to God’s ear.” Sad to say, the literary world is not a meritocracy. I’d bet the farm that quite a few extraordinary books are at this very moment languishing in their authors’ file cabinets, and will die with their creators. This has always been true, but it’s even more so now, since very few publishers care more about quality than about hot topics and personable authors who are good at selling them. Additionally, many readers are looking more for useful information than for great literature. If your book, for instance, is about a new method of knitting, which is currently enjoying a huge resurgence, a publisher is more likely to grab it over an amazingly written book on an obscure topic. Creating something people want and tapping into the market gives your book the best chance of rising to the top.

Hire an expensive PR agent.

Trying to pass the publicity buck isn’t going to work. The irrefutable fact is, you are it. The traditional, formulaic marketing processes still relied upon in the industry are antiquated and mostly ineffective. Sending out a few review copies and hoping they’ll lead to an appearance on The Today show is no longer the only – or the best – way to sell books. These days every author, self-published or not, has to take the marketing end of the business into his or her own hands, create a marketing strategy, and network like crazy– primarily online.

In order to sell, a book has to be really great, and get rave reviews.

Again, a non-fiction book is a calling card – and selling it isn’t about content, but marketing. When it comes to selling, marketing is almost more important than the book itself – so it makes sense to put a lot of time, energy, and resources into this area.

I am the only person who can possibly write my book.

Maybe you’re the only person who has your exact information, but a good editor can whip that information into shape. If you want to take it even further, a ghostwriter can write the whole thing from introduction to index. We ghostwriters know how to pick your brain, read your ideas, and transform it all into clear, concise, readable prose. If writing isn’t your forte, you should definitely consider this route. It is well worth the investment, and remember – you get what you pay for.

Tips on Book Writing

Writing a full-length book is what I call ‘long-distance writing.’ Unlike blog posts, essays, poems, or stories, a book spans time—anywhere from three months to three years, and in some cases, many years. Thus, a bit of psychic preparation is necessary before you even begin. Think of it like preparing for a marathon run, only instead of getting into shape physically, you’re psyching yourself mentally for the long haul.

It helps to know in advance what to expect—but, there being nothing like experience, most writers don’t learn until they’ve done it at least once, and usually more than once.

Some of the things I do or don’t do while writing a book—such as not reading books in the same genre I’m working in—represent a real sacrifice. It’s one reason why I tell students that if they don’t feel absolutely compelled to write, they shouldn’t. Be prepared to sacrifice for the muse. A few other things I’ve learned:

• Unless you’re a genuine night owl, hit the computer first thing in the morning (permission to make coffee first is hereby granted).

• Get dressed every day. Even if it’s just sweats or jeans; just don’t spend the day in pajamas or whatever you wore to sleep.

• Start work early, and take frequent breaks to get up and move around. Save household chores to do during breaks — walk the dog, wash the dishes or the floor, get the mail, do yoga, cook, eat, etc.

• Cultivate discipline in the writing part of your life. Stick to a schedule (within reason), and always meet your deadlines, even those that are self-imposed.

• Be regular and orderly in your life, like a bourgeoisie, so that you may be violent and original in your work.—Gustav Flaubert

• Keep a notebook and pen next to your bed at night.

• Cultivate an ability to see things from more than one perspective.

• Recharge your batteries as needed: travel, even if just for a day; take yourself  some place you’ve never been and stay in observation mode.

• Do paperwork in the evenings.

• If possible, receive email at a different computer / location from where you write. If that’s impossible, stick to a strict email schedule: read and write it only at specified times—no more than twice a day.

• If you’re writing non-fiction, from time to time stop—especially if you get stuck—and ask yourself the basic journalism questions: Who, What, Why, When and Where? If you’re writing fiction, the Why? is the most important piece of the equation—but even with fiction the other questions can sometimes work as triggers.

• When writing fiction, visualize the characters and the action, almost as if you’re writing a script for film. This will make your prose more vivid.

• When you reach a place in your writing where you need to do research, but the work is rockin’ and you don’t want to stop, BOLD the words and/or make them a different color (using the same color or system for all research notes). When you’re ready to do it, you’ll easily find the places where it’s needed.

• Read the classics as often as you can.

• Learn to read as a writer (see post).

• Try typing out passages of writers you admire. Caveat: If you’re highly susceptible, as am I, to the influence of other writers’ styles, don’t read the genre in which you’re currently working. I once channelled Margaret Drabble for six pages before I realized what I was doing.

Reading As A Writer

Next time you read a book, pay attention to the following:

Fiction:

Whose point of view is presented? One character? Many? Omniscient narrator?

Does the author change vocabulary when attention is on different characters?

Notice if and how the author “shows” rather than “tells.”

Note use of sensory data.

How does the author handle situations you’d find difficult?

Does the author give clues to the ending?

Notice the rhythm of the prose.

Notice how the characters change from scene to scene.

Notice how the author handles the passage of time.

Non-Fiction

• Does the book explore new territory; if not, how does it  compare to others on the topic?

• Does it accomplish what it sets out to?

• Is there a compelling reason that people need this information?

•  Is the information accurate? If not, how do you know?

• Does the book convey any message/values/politics/philosophy?

• Does the book present a fresh perspective?

• Does it put a new spin on an old situation?

• Does it move you to see the world in a way you hadn’t before?

• Did you learn something new?

• Was it well written? Did it paint a vivid image? Could you feel it with your senses?

• What about the rhythm of the language? Did the prose feel like poetry?

Suggested Exercises

Write a synopsis of the book.

Write what you liked / didnt like about it.

What still stands out days after you’ve read the book? Weeks later?

Can you figure out why (with regard to the above)?

Sex Writing

What We Talk About When We Talk About

Writing Sex (with apologies to Raymond Carver)

When I began writing sex stories circa 1979, there was no such genre called women’s erotica, or even just erotica, unless you count the ubiquitous Anais Nin. I called what I was writing exactly what I and everyone else I knew had always called it: pornography. Later, in the mid-eighties or thereabouts, Pornography versus Erotica became a hotly debated issue that I found irrelevant and tedious. None of the definitions of these supposedly opposite genres made sense to me, and I continued to call it, with delighted defiance, porn. I did this for a long time, until I and everyone else had become so bombarded by the term erotica that it eventually came tripping off my lips.

By the mid-nineties, when sex anthologies had grown into such a booming cottage industry that it had sub-genres like sci-fi, vampire, horror and fetish erotica, I had to concede that the term pornography was insufficient–but so was erotica. In my introduction to Herotica 5, I addressed the need for an expanded vocabulary, and coined the term ero-lit for what I and most of the writers I knew were doing–but it never caught on. Nor have any other new nouns been adopted to describe the multiplicity of fictions that erupted once we had permission to be sexy in print. For lack of a snappy word, I’ve been going with the somewhat cumbersome but precise phrase, sexually explicit literature.

Some dictionary terms may be useful:

Erotica: Literature or art intended to arouse sexual desire.

Pornography: The presentation of explicit behavior, as in photography, intended to arouse sexual excitement.

Sexual: Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of sex, the sexes, or the sex organs and their functions.

Explicit: Expressed with clarity and precision .

Literature: Imaginative or creative writing, esp. of artistic value.

Of course, different dictionaries offer different definitions; the anti-porn crowd went orgasmic when they discovered the root of the word pornography comes from the Greek term for female slaves, enabling them to loosely translate pornography as writing about female slaves or prostitutes. Half the anti-porn philosophy is based on this detail.

I’ve been known to frequently say, The Sex is not the Story. That’s because the longer I wrote and edited sex stories, the less inclined I was to select those that were thin on plot and characterization, no matter how ragingly hot they were. My favorite stories are those in which sex is an essential or even central factor–but never the entire story. If there’s a drawback to this approach, it’s that I sometimes forgot the primary purpose of sex stories.

I wasn’t always such a curmudgeon – it’s just that by the time I’d read thousands of submitted sex stories, not to mention re-reading, editing and proofing hundreds of accepted ones, it began to get old. I was once a naïf whose heart beat wildly to racy passages; now it’s a rare story that turns me on. In fact, if on first reading a story affected me, it usually meant automatic acceptance—as long as it also met my minimal requirements for plot and character.

By the time I edited my last anthology to date, I’d gotten to the point where I sometimes skipped the sex scenes altogether until seeing if I liked the plot. It’s easier to fix a sex scene than to breathe life into another writer’s characters. Or patch up an implausible plot. Or create a plot where none exists. Or–the one thing that simply can’t be edited into shape–bad writing, period.

These are the kinds of things I talk about when I talk about writing sex–stories in which the sex drive informs the characters’ behavior, and where sex fantasies and fetishes lead them into situations that make for a good read. Stories in which the sexual dimension of life is placed front and center, without obscuring other facets of life and relationships. Exploring, via fiction, all aspects of human experience, without deleting sexuality–or any other areas of human interaction.

It’s not that mainstream fiction never includes sex; almost every writer dabbles in the hot stuff at some point, though usually in a more subtle way than in explicit fiction. A few great writers, like Isabel Allende and Philip Roth, even write explicitly. (John Grisham, one of the wealthiest writers in the world, makes it a point of honor to never, ever write sex—a revelation that made me lose the modicum of respect I once had for him.) The key difference is that, in porno land, sex is the prism through which we choose to explore the human condition. We’ve discovered it’s a medium that yields up interesting psychic and psychological insights—and, by the way, we do want to get our readers off.

I’m not saying that sexually explicit literature is superior to either erotica or pornography–or even, for that matter, to smut (defined, in dictionary land, as to make obscene). My purpose in clamoring for better terminology is simply to be linguistically precise.

Before I start coming off like the William Safire of smut—he bores me to death—I’d best conclude these ruminations. My purpose is merely to spark readers’ thought processes, and I hope I have. What words do you use when you talk about writing sex? Do you talk about writing sex? If not, why not? All points of view welcome.

Affirmations For Writers

From the Mentoring/Tutoring Department of Bookbuster:

I first learned about using affirmations when I took a writing workshop with poet Joan Larkin many years ago. I’m not a big fan of hokey New Age methods, but I have to say, these really do work—or at least they did for me.

You can use these affirmations in lots of different ways: make signs and tape them around the house; make them the first line in a freewrite exercise; say them to yourself in the mirror, or—and this is what I did—make an audiotape of them to play back to yourself, sort of like self-hypnosis.

I recorded them a few different ways: in the first (“I”), second (“You”) and third (“Marcy”) person; once with background music, and once without. There’s  something very powerful about hearing your own voice saying, “You are an excellent writer,” or “Everyone wants to read Marcy’s work” with Chuck Mangione’s saxophone in the background.

You can also create your own highly personalized affirmations. Just think about whatever interferes with your writing, something that does you in time after time. Say, for instance, you’re terrified of criticism, so much that you’re sometimes prevented from writing by thoughts of unfavorable reviews.  One contradiction for that is the third affirmation on the list below–and that’s the way you create your own affirmation.

Try it, you’ll like it! What do you have to lose?

Affirmations For Writers

I am an excellent writer.

Everyone wants to read my work.

My work always meets with acceptance and understanding from everyone who reads it.

I always finish everything I start with ease and pleasure.

My writing time is always well spent.

My writing improves with every breath I take.

It is safe for me to share my work.

The more I give my work to others, the more it nourishes me.

The more I reveal myself in my work, the safer I am.

It is safe for me to risk rejection. I respect myself, therefore I can never be truly rejected.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of my writing.

My writing enhances my experiences and my life.

I am willing for my ego to fail so that I can be open to universal inspiration.

I can write wherever, whenever and whatever I want.

My writing is always better than I realize.

I have all the time I need to write successfully.

My friends and family support my writing.

I receive full cooperation from everyone for my writing success.

Everything I do for enjoyment feeds my writing.

My writing is worth more than money.

I have something important to contribute with my writing.

I deserve to nourish myself with my writing.

FAQs

FAQs: Editing and Writing

Q. How much do you charge, and when do you get paid?

A. When it comes to fees for writing services there are no fixed standards among writers, editors and ghostwriters, so prices are all over the map. The Editorial Freelancers Association provides a pretty good list of guidelines.

I charge by the project, aiming for $50, more or less, an hour. It’s somewhat difficult to estimate total cost before actually seeing a manuscript, so I might give an estimate based on what a client tells me, and it might change after I take a look at it. Editing a short story might cost $50; ghostwriting a 60-70,000-word book runs into thousands of dollars. If the client has a written draft, the price will be on the lower end; if more time is needed to produce a book based mainly on verbal communication, it will be higher.

I prefer to be paid one-third of the total fee upon signing of a contract, one-third at the mid-point of the project, and one-third when it’s complete.

Q: What does the ghostwriter’s fee cover?

A. The fee covers interview time between writer, client, and any other participants necessary to obtain information. It includes research time, writing, editing, and rewriting. The ghostwriter’s fee does not include travel or lodging, although travel time is included.

Q: Just how does this work? How do you know what to say in MY book?

A. We’ll begin with a conversation, during which I ask questions and take voluminous notes. You send me any notes, outlines, rough drafts—any and all words you’ve ever written down pertaining to the topic or the book. From there, I might start by writing an outline, and send it to you for feedback—or I might jump right in with an introduction.

I’ll send you the finished first draft of each chapter or section with notes and questions for clarification; when you send them back to me, I revise. If we’re lucky, and working well, I won’t have to return to these until the entire manuscript is finished, at which time I’ll do a final—hopefully lite—revision.

Q: Do you handle all genres, or do you specialize?

A: I prefer working with full-length books to shorter pieces. In terms of non-fiction, I’m fairly eclectic, but some topics interest me more than others. I know a little bit about a lot of things, and a lot about a few. Areas of some expertise are disability, baseball, motherhood, and human sexuality. I write in every genre, with the exception of screenwriting (which I’ve done, but badly) and I can work with anything other than heavy technical language.

Q: How long does it take you to ghostwrite a book or edit a manuscript?

It mostly depends on the size of the job. An editing project can take anywhere from a few days to two or three months. Writing a book usually takes four to six months. A faster turn-around may be possible, but might raise the fee. If you have a draft of your book, or extensive notes, the work can go faster. If a lot of research is required, more time is needed.

Q:  If I’m a good writer, why do I need an editor?

See my post Every Writer Deserves an Editor. Notice use of the term Deserves, rather than Needs–but feedback from a good editor/writer is not only invaluable, it’s necessary, even if your name is Stephen King. Doris Lessing, who won the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature, once said, with genuine regret, that she has to scrutinize her own work carefully, because editors no longer edit her (out of fear I suppose; again, read the abovementioned post).

Q:  What if I’m not satisfied with your work?

There’s a clause in my contract allowing either of us to cancel our agreement at any point in the process. I do expect to be paid for work already done, but if you decide my writing—or my New York accent or deep voice—doesn’t work for you, there’s no obligation to continue.

Q: Do you guarantee publication?

No. It’s impossible for me—or anyone—to do that. The vicissitudes of publishing are too complex and uncertain for any guarantees. But I can help you produce a more publishable book.

Q:  Do I need an agent?

If you want to publish a novel with a major publishing house, you will definitely need an agent. If your book is nonfiction and geared towards a specific market, you might not absolutely need one—but it’s still advisable. If you plan to self-publish or publish electronically, you don’t need an agent, nor do you need one to submit shorter pieces such as stories, articles, or poems. In my experience, it’s almost as difficult to find and get the right agent as it is to get a publisher.

Q: Will you be my agent?

No. I am not an agent. An agent either lives in New York or goes there frequently to chat up editors and publishers at lunch and cocktail parties. I admire people who have those networking skills, but unfortunately I’m not one of them. What I can do is make your book the best it can be. I can also recommend a few agents and editors for you to approach.

Q: Do you use a contract?

Yes. My contract is adaptd from one recommended by the National Writers Union for Independent Contractors. It includes the working title of the book, amount and schedule of fees, copyright agreement, and confidentiality clause. It also includes stipulations regarding termination of contract, arbitration in case of disagreement, and miscellaneous matters such as complimentary copies and deadlines for portions of the book, if any. Contracts are open to negotiation; the client can suggest additions or changes before signing.

Note: FAQs pertaining to other services are forthcoming.