Here’s a question for everyone today.  With the freelance writing rates declining fairly rapidly I want to ask you today, would you take less pay if you were guaranteed work.  As a freelancer I have to admit that bidding on jobs can be quite tiresome and with so many people not even awarding their jobs at the end of the bidding time, bids are being wasted especially on sites such as Elance.  I’m glad that I don’t rely on Elance to provide me with work as I also work for another freelance company too.  The pay is less than what I would charge on Elance but the work is guaranteed and I can take as much or a little as I like.

This company has a number of writers and when we log in to the admin system there is a large list of articles available.  What you do is choose the article you want to write.  The great thing is, that you can’t take another article until you have posted the one you have previously chosen.  You have 48 hours to submit your chosen article too.  What I love about this compared to other freelance companies that I have worked with is the fact that ever article is listed seperately so you never get bored doing keyword articles.

There have been times where I have received freelance writing projects that consisted of 50 keyword articles on the same topic and after you have completed the first 10 they really start to become boring.  With this company there is none of this and like I said you can do as much or as little work as you like.  The pay is low $1 per 100 words but it really does help to fill in the blanks and balance my account at the end of the month.

So I put it to you, would you accept less pay for guaranteed work?

If anyone has anything they would like to add please feel free to comment.

Until next time,

Amanda

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Today I want to talk about the different choices you have when it comes to ghostwriting and getting paid to write.  There are lots of discussions around the internet for each of the methods that I am going to list here so you can do research and find out what is best for you if you want.

If you are just starting out it is easy to get sidetracked with all the different types of ghostwriting jobs.  They can however be broken down into three simple choices.  These are:

• Content Mills
• Bidding websites
• Private work

Content mills is where you write articles and content for different websites and you either get paid on a per article basis, you get a share of the revenue earned or you get a set amount per thousand page views.  There is a lot of bad press related to these content mills but I like to stay clear of this.  In my opinion these websites wouldn’t exist if people weren’t making money from them.

The website that I would be most familiar with in this category is Helium.  I have an account with them and I have no complaints.  Helium pay you per article and you also get money for page views too.  I have to admit, that I don’t use it very often but the articles that I do have on this website continue to earn me money every single day.  The more you promote these articles the more money you will make.  I know that one of my articles that I published on this website earlier this year has already made me over $200 so I guess that’s not bad for a 500 word article.  You have to have $25 in your account before you can request a payment and payment is via paypal.

Other content mill websites include Demand Studios, Suite 101, Associated Content and About.  If writing for these websites sounds interesting to you all you have to do is visit them.  Be sure to read all their terms and conditions and make sure that you understand exactly what you have to do to earn money.

The second option you have is bidding websites.  These are websites such as Elance, Odesk or Freelancer.  You have to sign up for an account with these websites and there is normally a monthly fee.  Then you basically look through the ghostwriting jobs that are listed and you place a bid for the work.  The rates on these websites can vary greatly from as low as $1 per 500 word article to $20 per article.  If the dollar value is worth a lot in your country then Freelancer could be the right choice for you.  This website is very busy and there are hundreds of writing jobs posted each day.  The rates on this website are anywhere from $0.50 per 500 words to $3 per 500 words.  If you require higher rates then Elance is the better choice.  You can usually get at least $10 per 500 words on this website.

Private work is where you look for the ghostwriting jobs yourself.  You will need an up to date resume and samples of your best work. There are websites that list ghostwriting jobs on a daily basis and you can also go through Craigslist and Indeed.  Private work and having people search you out for work should be one of your goals.  You will need a website and you will have to learn how to market and brand yourself too.  If you are just starting out this can be very intimidating and you might like to test the waters and enhance your skills using the other methods first.

I started off with Elance and I still have an account with them.  I don’t use it that often but I like to keep it open so that clients can contact me.

Becoming a ghostwriter is like any other career or profession.  It takes time to build it up and it takes commitment too.  I might go into more details about each of the methods listed here if anyone would like further information.  Just post your questions in the comments section.

Until next time,

Keep writing

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I have an account with freelancer.com (formerly Get A Freelancer) and I have to say it makes me laugh when I read the email notifications that arrive in my inbox every day.  These emails are to notify me of new freelance writing jobs and they probably arrive every 10 minutes.  Yes, there really is a lot of work available on this website but you would have to be desperate to even bid on any of them.

Here’s an example of a job that was posted today at 10am.

Description
Hi,

I need people who I can send articles to and they can send it back to me within two hours. If you cannot do this, please do not bid on this project. Accordingly, I ask that along with your bid you send a PM stating what hours are you free to do this article. If I accept your bid, I will send you an article around those times and if you accept you MUST send me a PM telling me so that I do not give the article to someone. Depending onyour turnaround time, I might send more than one article to you per day. In your bid please write “I’m ready” to show that you read this project. Bids without this will not be accepted.The pay is .002 X words count. If the article is 400 words, the pay rate will be $0.80 USD Please send your times according to the Pacific Standard Time (PTS) Each rewrite must not be more than 10 words less than the original article. At least one word outof every three words must be different. This article must also make sense grammatically.

This is just one example of what this website has to offer freelancers.  Oh, and get this, payment is only by paypal after you reach $10 or two weeks has passed whichever comes first.  It is absolutely ridiculous what these people are expecting writers to work for.

I know you are probably wondering why I have an account with this website.  Well I opened an account back in 2005 and just never closed it.  It is a free account so it doesn’t cost me anything and I like to keep an eye on the way things are going in the bidding world.

This website is really busy and people do bid on these jobs.  It amazes me how these people make any money at all.  Even doing re-writes you have to put the time in and at $0.80 per article you would want to be cranking out a hell of a lot of these in the hour to even make minimum wage.

I guess quality really isn’t an issue for the people posting these jobs and it is no wonder that the internet is getting filled with useless garbage.

What is your take on this?

Until next time,

Keep writing

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When it comes to ghost writing jobs one of the biggest debates has to be that of rates and what you should get paid for your work. We’ve all seen it, blogs where people claim that they are getting $100 per article.

You’ve seen these too right?

I remember when I was quite happy to get $15 per article and then I read a blog post like that.  Suddenly $15 wasn’t good enough.  The enthusiasm I had for my work disappeared and I began to feel like I was being cheated.

I’m sure you can probably relate to this too.

Once you stop appreciating your rates you really do set yourself up for a fall.  One thing that must be said is that high paying jobs are different for everyone.  If you are currently getting $3 per article then a high paying ghost writing job for your could be $10 an article.  This could be peanuts to someone else though.  You see, rates are different for everyone.

Your high paying job is what you choose it to be. For me a high paying ghostwriting job would be $50 for a search engine optimized keyword article.  Yes I would be happy with this and there have been numerous occasions where I have received it too.

The point that I really wanted to make in this post is to stop focusing on what everyone else is getting and take a good look at your own rates.

Are you happy with the rates you are charging?
Do you feel that your rates are justified?

If you can answer yes to these questions you are on the right track.

You have to learn that everyone is an individual and what works for you may not work for someone else.  Those people who claim to get $100 or more per article probably do.  These people probably specialize in a particular niche, have a degree to back it up and they have probably been doing their job for years.

How do you compare to them now?

You see we never know what another writer does or doesn’t do.  We don’t know how long it has taken them to get to where they are today and quite frankly I doubt they would tell you.

Next time find yourself comparing stop and remember this.  You are a unique person, no one is the same as you and you are not the same as anyone else.

Your ghostwriting is different to everyone else’s and what you bring to the table; you need to be happy with.  If you are not happy with how you work or what you charge then only you can change it.

Now let me end with this question:  Are you getting high paying ghostwriting jobs?  I know I am.

Until next time,

Keep Writing.

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Yesterday I shared with you some of the things I missed about working 9 to 5 so today I thought I would flip the coin and tell you what I don’t miss.

1. Office Gossip
2. Being too tired to play with my children in the evening
3. Having to look for childcare
4. Spending the weekend doing household chores
5. Having to get home and start cooking late in the evening
6. Office Politics
7. Have to dress appropriately
8. Having to take orders

You might have a couple more that you could add to this list too.  When I think about my life as a stay at home mom and a freelancer I think about how lucky I am.  I get to take my children to school every day.  If they are sick I am at home to look after them.  I don’t spend my entire weekend catching up on housework and I don’t have to look for childcare when my children are on holidays.

I missed out on a lot of things with my daughter Emma during her first couple of years because I was working.  It wasn’t too bad for me because my mother was looking after her but still I missed out. I didn’t miss a thing with my son Conor.  I was here for his first word, first step, first fall and more.

Being a freelance writer allowed me to take Emma to school on her first day and to stay for as long as she needed me.  I didn’t have to rush off to get to work.  I get to sit with Emma every day after school and do her homework and her reading.  We get to play outdoors before dinner much more.

These are little things that we take for granted but children grow up so quickly and in the blink of any eye you can miss out on something important.  You always hear people talking about doing things with their children when they get older but the realistic side of things is that your children won’t want to do things with you when they get older.  They will want to discover themselves. Now is the time and the younger your children the more time they want to spend with you.

I have often had days where I have wanted so much to get client work done and been frustrated when my children wanted to play.  When this happens all I have to do is remind myself why I chose to be a stay at home freelance writer in the first place.

What do you think?  Do you have an opinion on all of this?

Until next time,

Keep writing

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My blog has been online since 2007 so today I thought I would provide you with some links to some of the posts that were featured here in 2007 and to see how many of them are still relevant today.

1. Ghostwriting Jobs – When Clients Turn Bad
2. Keyword Articles – What’s All The Fuss About
3. Why Are Keyword Articles So Important
4. Is Ghostwriting Ethical?
5. When Did You Realise You Were A Professional Ghostwriter?
6. 10 Necessities For Your Home Based Ghostwriting Business
7. 4 Ways To Immediately Improve Your Writing
8. 5 Tips To Help You Stay Focused On Starting Your Home Based Ghostwriting Business
9. How To Manage Your Ghostwriting Time More Effectively
10. Your Checklist For Ghostwriting Effective Articles

Almost all of the articles listed above are still relevant today and whilst you may have read them before you never know what refreshing your memory can do.

Until next time,

Keep Writing

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I know there are so many would be and wannabe ghostwriters out there that struggle with the whole rates thing. I came across a great article online that I want to share with you today. This article has been written by a professional freelance writer and ghostwriter and in it he talks about what ghostwriters charge. I’m sure you will find it interesting and it should help to give you a clearer perspective on what to charge a client who is looking for you to ghostwrite a book for them.

5 Things You Need To Know About Ghostwriting

I’m always a little amazed at the varied views of ghostwriting: what it is, what it costs, what it can mean to you, your personal success, your career or your business. If you look around online or root through your local library, you’ll find an incredible array of opinions about this subject, and you’ll be lucky to find two that agree. So, since I try never to shy away from a good hearty battle of wits, I’m throwing my hat in the ring too! Here are, in my opinion, the five things you absolutely NEED to know about ghostwriting:

What it is: Ghostwriting is anything written on your behalf, that carries your name as the author and/or presents you as the source. That’s the simple bottom line. There’s nothing complicated about it. Based on that definition, it can take just about any form: books, magazine articles, e-zine articles, blog entries, speeches… the possibilities are essentially endless.

What it is not: For one thing, ghostwriting is not limited to the flashy make-the-celebrity-look-like-a-writer “autobiographies” that we’ve all seen flying off the shelves. (Not that I would ever turn down that kind of action, mind you. That’s really good money.) As noted above, it goes far beyond that. And true ghostwriting would never include “as told to” or “with” and the name of the ghostwriter on the cover or byline of the finished product. That’s called co-writing. A ghostwriter remains anonymous, and for good reason, as we’ll see.

How it works: Generally, a ghostwriter will begin by offering a free or low-cost consultation, which allows the ghostwriter and the potential client to discuss the client’s needs in depth. A rough timeline and outline may be drafted during this meeting to allow both to get an idea of the scope of the project, and to facilitate the ghostwriter’s fee calculations. Once both agree they’re a fit for the project and a fee is agreed upon, one or more further interviews are usually arranged based on the amount of client input needed. Drafts are written and submitted to the client according to the pre-planned schedule and feedback is provided and acted upon until the client is satisfied with a final product. A good ghostwriter will make this entire process easy and painless, handling it like the professional service it is.

What it costs: Both extremes are scary. If you look around online, you’ll find writers on some freelancing sites willing to write a book for you for $1 a page or less. In all honesty, that’s pretty scary. Just using some round numbers, let’s agree an average soft-cover book has about 250 words per page and has about 250 pages. That’s 62,500 words. Considering that the average-to-good typist can type around 50 words-per-minute, that comes out to just under 21 hours of straight typing. Roughly $12 per hour. Which isn’t horrible for typing. But, if you want your writer to actually think about what’s being written, to talk to you a little bit to get your thoughts on your book, to spend some time outlining, drafting, proofreading, editing and rewriting what he’s writing, well, it’s going to take a little more time. And how comfortable are you working with someone who values their time at $2 an hour? Of course, the opposite extreme is difficult to accept also. While I know enough about the value of a well-ghostwritten book, $75,000 would be tough for me to swallow. But some are charging that much and more. Let’s just leave it that a high-quality ghostwriter is going to be figuring their fee by valuing their time at anywhere between $60 to $120 per hour, and it’s going to take some time to really do the job right. But a high-quality ghostwriter is also going to know how to perfectly translate your thoughts to the printed page as efficiently as possible.

What it’s worth: A well-ghostwritten article or book can, quite literally, make you an expert in your field of choice! How valuable is that? Only you and your imagination can limit it. Just imagine being “the guy who wrote the book on…” whatever. Or being able to put “Published Author” on your resume. Can you reasonably expect increased income? Job security? A promotion? How about your self-esteem? Your confidence level? Your ego? Don’t downplay how valuable THAT can be!

Justin P Lambert is a freelance copywriter, ghostwriter and speechwriter who offers his thoughts on all-of-the-above and more with each daily post on his blog: http://justinplambert.wordpress.com. Come join the fun!

I hope you enjoyed this article and please feel free to leave your comments and questions.

Until next time,

Keep writing

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I have spent two glorious weeks on holidays with my husband and two children. During this time I had no internet connection.  It was tough to begin with but after a couple of days the urge to constantly check email and social networking accounts wore off.  Needless to say, that when I returned I had a lot of email to go through.  I have spent the past two days weeding through all the emails in my inbox and there was one in particular that I wanted to share with everyone.

I have won an award.  Yep you read that right.  This is what the email said:

Congratulations! Emma Lee here, and your blog, Ghost Writing Uncovered, has received our 2010 Top 40 Freelance Writing Blogs award!

You can see your name amongst our winners here at:
www.onlinephdprograms.com/top_freelance_writing/#Ghost_Writing_Uncovered

I still can’t believe it and I really wanted to express my gratitude to all my readers.  It is you guys who made this possible and I want to say a big thank you.  I never imagined something like this would happen and I am so honored to have been chosen for this list.

When I began this blog back in 2007 my aim was to help others.  I wanted to share my experiences and hopefully encourage those of you out there who are looking to start a writing career online.  I have to admit, there have been times during those past few years when I strayed or let my blog slip.  Work took over and I forgot about my readers.  To be honest with you, I didn’t really think I had that many readers.  How wrong was I?

This award has opened my eyes and made me realize that what I am doing here with this blog is helping people.  I really am humbled to receive this award and to all the readers who voted for this blog, thank you so much.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

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This week I had the pleasure of reviewing an excellent book and I would like to share my review with you.  I am not affiliated with this book in any way.  The link that you will find here in this blog is to Amazon and yes I do have an Amazon affiliate account so if you purchase through this link I will receive a few cents.

The Gettysburg Approach to Writing and Speaking Like a Professional – By Phillip Yaffe

I must admit, I am not normally a fan of books that claim to teach you how to write.  I believe that writing is personal and you either have a passion for it or you don’t. That being said, I am so glad that I chose to read this book.  It gave me an edge that I hadn’t realized I had been missing and I discovered a lot of really great information about the different aspects of writing that I had neglected to learn.

I was captivated from the first page of this book and found it to be a truly remarkable read.  The book explains everything you could possibly need to know about writing both creatively and expository.  From characters and plots to dialogue and scenes, everything was covered and no stone was left unturned.

This book will teach you how to get your readers and listeners to want to read and listen to what you have to say.

The book is divided into two sections.  In part one you will find the fundamentals of writing which covers both fiction and nonfiction.  Part two of the book covers oral presentation and details how to get readers and listeners to hear and read your words.  It explains how to organize your information, how to gain interest in what you are saying and it gives you all the proper techniques that you should be using.  I found this section really remarkable.

The book is really in-depth and covers everything which is something that you very rarely find.  The author also approaches every subject with common sense and explains in detail what you should or shouldn’t do.  This book is a great companion to anyone looking to write or speak to an audience.  It covers absolutely everything and I am so glad that I took the chance to read this.  It has given me more focus and I now understand so much more about the writing process.  As for giving a speech and speaking in public, after reading this book I am more confident about my ability and I know exactly how to formulate my speech and the key ingredients it needs to contain.

I would definitely recommend The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking Like a Professional to all writers and public speakers.  There is something to learn for everyone.  This is one writing guide that I will be referring to again and again.

Until next time,

Keep Writing

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I have been absent from this blog for a while now and I do apologise for this.  All I can say in my defence is that I have been extremely busy with client work.  This is of course great news. I have also been focusing on some of my own personal writing projects too.  Today I wanted to share a piece of my writing with you.  This is a piece that was written in 1999 but a piece that I feel very proud of.  It captures a lot of feelings that I had at the time and it is what I like to call conscious writing. Please feel free to leave your comments, good or bad.

Awakened Pain

It is gone, like the flowers of summer, one touch of frost and everything is gone.  The beauty, the color and the picture of happiness, everything has faded and I feel numb.  I continue to ask myself over and over how it could happen and why.  We had shared happiness, we had shared laughter and now all that is left are those tears, the poor frightened girl sobbing uncontrollably, like a leaf in a gale force wind blowing and blowing until she fell.  That brave front had been shattered and all that remained was the little girl inside crying for a love that was lost.  A love that could never again be felt, death had stolen it from her and grief had consumed her.  Hiding deep beneath the surface, the little girl had become suppressed and the woman you know had taken her place.  A woman, shadowed by her past and yet still living.

What had you thought, I could only imagine.  My world crumbled in front of you and yet I can still remember your soft comforting voice and the feeling you cared.  Was this a charade, was this yet another part of the game we had embarked upon or did you really care, I would never know and so I ask myself why we had started it, what was it all about this game that had now ended, ended without a word.  For there were no words left; no words could ever explain the events of that night.  The pain, the tears, the suffering once suppressed, now at the forefront of my mind, now alive once more, uncovered by you.  I guess I had always known deep inside that eventually it would all come out but not this way, not in front of you.  This was my personal grief, a grief that only I knew and a grief I was not willing to share.

Six full years of emotions surfaced on that night and you saw her, the sad lonely girl hidden inside suffering so badly.  Why did she surface?  Why couldn’t she have remained hidden, why didn’t she stay buried, why?  The tears flowed so freely, my pain was so clear; the love that was lost had all resurfaced on that one night.  You saw my pain, you saw the hurt I carried, and all this hurt from one great love.  A love that can never be forgotten for that love was the greatest love of all, the love of a little girl for her father.  A man who had been her world, a man she thought was her hero, a man who destroyed her as he destroyed himself, a man who took a part of her with him when he ended his life, a man she called Dad.

Our game must end now.  For never again can I let you inside, never again can you know my inner thoughts, my dreams or the love I feel for you.  I can never be faced with the prospect of losing another; I can never relive that nightmare called death.  I can never be told that I am once again alone, alone in life, alone in love.  This little girl will cry no more.

Until next time,

Keep writing

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