Be a Ghostwriter

For writers who don’t mind someone else’s name appearing on the cover of their books, this is a popular and relatively easy route to sometimes incredibly high earnings.

If you prefer writing shorter pieces, and creating long books leaves you cold, you could specialise in writing articles for business men and women who want to have their work published in trade magazines but don’t want to create their articles themselves. That’s because not all business men and women find writing easy and so, just as accountants, lawyers and advertising specialists are employed to handle other aspects of the business, a ghostwriter is simply another professional to whom the businessman's more tedious jobs can be delegated.

Much the same goes for most of your rich and famous clients - film stars, politicians, athletes, for example - where again not all want to write their life own stories, and not all have the appropriate skills. Nevertheless, these are the people publishers are desperate to promote and to whom much larger advances and royalties will be paid.   Bear in mind that the star is likely to command far higher fees than you might receive, and it's obvious this is a business with lots of eager clients.

That said, it isn't just business people or household names you might work with. Many ordinary people will pay you to write their life stories or to reproduce their family tree into book form. Others, including famous names, might want you to write novels based on a rough germ of an idea provided by them.

Having established a very large market exists for you as a ghostwriter working for famous and relatively unknown clients, next comes the task of deciding who to write for, and ensuring your writing skills are up to the task. For some projects, including novels, academic subjects, historical accounts, some degree of knowledge, experience and interest is essential, and it's in your best interest to avoid any project you don't feel comfortable with, regardless of earnings.

Sometimes the ghostwriter is hired by the author, frequently before a publisher has been found for the finished product. At other times it's the publisher who approaches the writer direct.

A major benefit of being a ghostwriter is not having to research books yourself because clients will usually provide all the relevant information for you.  The business also allows you to remain anonymous, and thereby produce more books under other people's names than the market could possibly bear under your own name.  The reason anonymity is good is that too many books featuring under one person’s name are frequently viewed as rushed and possibly lacking essential research.

Most importantly, remember that really high rewards usually come from publishers approaching you on a regular basis. So until you’re well known, it’s up to you to let publishers known you exist. You accomplish this in much the same way as approaching an editor with articles or publishers with book proposals. Letters should list your previous titles and specialist areas.

Look in Writers' and Artists' Yearbook and Writer's Handbook for appropriate contacts.

Advertising in the trade press can also work wonders. In a recent issue of Writers News, one of Britain's leading ghostwriters suggests advertising in Stage and Variety (the Hollywood equivalent), Britain's Bookseller and Publishing News, and Publishers' Weekly in the United States.