by Amanda on September 21, 2010
One of the things I love about being a freelance writer is the fact that I can work anywhere in the world. My husband and I are planning a trip to Australia for his 40th birthday next year and I am really looking forward to it.
He made enquiries with our local travel agent and the cost was absolutely ridiculous. Putting on my research cap I decided to look online and see how much money we could save. There are plenty of accommodation websites but one that seems to be particularly good is Go Accommodation.
One of the things that stood out for me is the simplicity of this website. You just click where you want to stay and everything is there on the page. I have to admit, I was really shocked at the difference in the prices on this website compared to what the travel agent had quoted. We were saving nearly 40% on the accommodation. This website is so easy to navigate and the choice of accommodation is fantastic and you can choose from hotels, resorts and apartments. As we are treating ourselves we will be booking into different hotels for the duration of our stay but even at that the price is amazing. If you are on a budget you can choose cheap accommodation and if you are splashing out like we are there is luxury accommodation.
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by Amanda on July 30, 2010
by Amanda on March 8, 2010
A question that I often get asked is, “what is ghostwriting?” You really would be surprised at the amount of people who actually think that I spend my days writing about ghosts.
According to the dictionary, a ghost writer is:
–noun
a person who writes one or numerous speeches, books, articles, etc., for another person who is named as or presumed to be the author.
Most people assume that ghost writers only write novels and biographies for celebrities but this is not the case. The ghostwriting industry has really developed and this is partly due to the internet. Ghost writers today do a lot more than write novels although I must admit; this is still where the big money is to be made.
There are often times when ghostwriting and freelance writing overlap. This is especially true when it comes to writing for the internet. In fact most of the freelance writing jobs that are advertised are in fact ghostwriting jobs. Your clients want you to write articles, website content, sales pages, ebooks or more and they want you to hand over the copyright for this on receipt of payment. You are not getting any credit for this work and therefore it really should be classified as ghostwriting.
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by Amanda on April 27, 2009
This week is set to be an exciting week here on the Hidden Writer. For starters I will be adding a series of articles on the bidding website Elance. This is a series of 4 articles which will include.
Why You Should Have An Elance Account
Connects and Subscription Fees Explained
How To Choose A Writing Job To Bid On
How To Word Your Bid For Better Success
Also this week I am working on a review for Get A freelancer which as you know is a free freelance writing jobs website where again you have to bid. My research for this post started yesterday and each day I will be checking out the jobs, placing bids, and reporting my results after 7 days. So keep an eye out for the post next week.
I am also busily preparing for the launch of my new e-book which focuses on multiple streams of income for writers. Currently I am interviewing a number of top freelance writers to get their views and opinions on some of the topics I will be covering in the e-book. If you are interested in taking part in this email interview just head over to my main website Ghostwriting Uncovered and send me a note via the contact page.
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by Amanda on February 24, 2009
When you first decide to become a freelance writer or ghostwriter, you read, you obtain knowledge and you put it all to work for you. One of the things that you are advised to do is have a web presence. Web presence is essential for getting your name out there, for attracting new clients, for building your reputation, and much more. But the question I want to ask you today is, what happens when you get too busy to blog?
Web presence for most freelancers consists of a website and blog. They work hard at building up their blog, building up their traffic and readership and that’s great. I’ve done it myself but the thing I struggle most with is keeping this up. You get weeks where you are extremely busy and paying clients come first. Paying clients get priority and your blog gets neglected.
You will probably notice that this has happened to me in the past couple of weeks, my blogging has been slack, and that is because I have been extremely busy with new clients and coaching work.
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by Amanda on January 7, 2009
Here’s a very useful tip for all ghostwriters and it deals with communication.
When you are working on a ghost writing assignment, you should remain in constant contact with your client. I have highlighted the word “should” and I really mean this. I am going to give you an example.
Say you have a batch of 50 articles to complete and your client wants them forwarded in batches of 10 as they are completed. What do you do? Do you just send an email to your client every time you complete 10 articles?
What I do in this situation is type the first article. I then forward this to my client for his/her comments and approval. What this does, is to allow me to make sure I am on the right track and it also lets the client see what my writing style is and the way I am tackling their project. If there are any problems they can let me know there and then instead of telling me when I have 10 articles completed. Makes sense now doesn’t it?
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by Amanda on December 15, 2008
There are so many different reasons that you can choose to start Ghostwriting so listed below I have stated the 5 most obvious ones.
1. Ghostwriting Means No more 9 – 5 and spending hours stuck in traffic
You can sit in front of your computer at 5am and start working, or if you are a night owl you can write from midnight into the early hours of the morning. Being in the comfort of your home you can dress how you like, tracksuit, shorts and t-shirt or you could even just stay in your pyjamas. It really is up to you. You control when you work and how you work.
This is probably one of the most obvious reasons and it can relate to any work from home business. You choose your hours and being out of the 9 to 5 traffic rush can be very important especially if you have small children at home.
2. Ghostwriting Means More time with the Family
This is really important to me especially because I have two small children. I worked 9 to 5 when my daughter was small and even though she was cared for by family I still missed out on a lot. When my second child was born I had already made the decision to work from home and I had begun ghostwriting too. It really has made such a difference to my life. When you choose to ghostwriter you can choose how much or how little ghostwriting work you take on. This means that you have more time with your children, your wife, your partner, or just you time. You can do what you want when you want. You write around the things you need to do.
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by Amanda on November 3, 2008
It’s a tough ask being a ghost writer, a job where you do the work and others take the credit. Of course, they do pay you well, but there are times when seeing your name on the cover of a bestseller beats making a ton of money ghostwriting for others. Ghost writing is not for all writers; in fact, it takes a certain kind of skill and talent to be able to make a success of writing using pseudonyms and aliases. So how do you know if you have what it takes to make it as a prolific ghost writer?
• When you’re in it for the money alone: A ghost writer can never hope for a byline, so if you’re writing to market yourself, think again. The gigs you take on do pay good money, so if that’s compensation enough, then you’re bound to enjoy ghost writing and be satisfied with your career. If not, you will feel disappointment and resentment creeping in at someone else hogging credit for your work and enjoying the fame it brings.
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by Amanda on October 29, 2008
Here’s a great ghostwriting article for anyone who is interested in writing books for a living.
Seven Useful Tips To Ghostwrite Books For Clients As A freelance
Writer
by Brian Scott
Serious freelance writers know their income may come from other sources, not just writing articles for magazines or clients. Ultimately, their freelance writing leads to writing books or e-books for themselves or as ghostwriters. If you decide to ghostwrite e-books and trade paperbacks for clients, consider the
following:
If a client hires you as a “work-for-hire” ghostwriter, then the client pays you for your work, and he owns all rights. Make sure:
1) You receive a 50% retainer before you begin the work; and 2) You receive the balance at or right before delivery. That’s it. If the book turns out to be a great success, great! That’s wonderful! You should be extremely proud — but from a distance! To be a successful ghostwriter, you must enjoy your glory as a ghostwriter in the shadows. Many ghostwriters prefer it that way.
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by Amanda on August 19, 2008
Well it’s Tuesday morning and first off I have discovered another freelance writing scam. Below is an excerpt from the sales page which I think you should probably read first before I explain why I think this is a scam.
“As soon as you log-in to our exclusive, members-only area, you will get to choose from 1,000′s of article / writing job offers, neatly organized by the type of writing each company desires…
That’s 1000′s of companies ready and willing…right now…to pay you amazing well for the specific content writing tasks that they urgently need done for them.
And with dozens of new writing jobs being added each day, you will never run out of great, high-paying content jobs to sign up for, which means there’s…
No looking for jobs. Never a shortage of jobs.
It’s a never-ending supply of high-paying, simple and easy writing jobs to YOU…
As you can see, this website seems to be offering a jobs database so you don’t have to spend a large amount of time each day searching for freelance writing jobs. This is what caught my attention and there was no mention of bidding for jobs either which is an additional bonus.
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