And the bottom line is ...
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Not surprisingly those with a story to tell want to know what the procedure is and what the likely cost will be. Let us deal with the procedure first as without it the fees are irrelevant. First of all you need to set your story down; preferably on your computer. Think of it as the longest letter of your life. Structure it. Fiction or memoirs, do keep trivia to a minimum; save your imagination for the exciting bits.
Never worry about how the writing looks to you; a good ghost will edit and correct; add flair, pad it out and sex it up so people want to buy and read it; buyers will want to tell their friends what a great book it is.
Your computer tells you how many words you have written. It will need to be at least two-thirds of its completed size; I can turn 40,000 words into 60,000. Yours could by 80,000 words and I can edit it to 60,000 words. Get my drift? Work out the ghost-writing fees at €20 per 1,000 words.
Size isn’t terribly important. The very successful Mills & Boon range are about 55,000 words each novel. The average paperback is about 80,000 words. Blockbusters are usually unnecessarily big.
I ghost your story in 10,000 - 15,000 word sections, each part of which is paid so you don’t end up with a big bill. You receive each completed segment as the book progresses. On completion it will be 95 percent completed. This leaves just a little tweaking; we both go through it with a fine toothcomb.
At that point it is your book to do as you wish with; self-publish or seek a publisher. My recommendation is that the completed novel or biography is e-mailed to Keidi Keating. Keidi’s speciality is publishing and marketing your book.
She has what she calls her Ruby basic publishing package, which is adequate for most authors. Her competitive fee is £600 or €700. For this your book is typeset and you get a full colour cover design and the proof sent to you for final approval before going to print. It will then receive its ISBN code, which means your book is easily and universally identifiable as your copyright. You receive 20 published copies; order more if you wish.
Your book will also be made available to purchasers through the internet via Amazon and other online sellers. My clients get free conversion to Kindle. 80 percent of books are sold via Amazon Kindle. They do the mailings.
Will you cover your costs or make money? There are no guarantees in publishing but I will be honest with you if I think its potential is zilch. Obviously every copy you sell reduces your outlay. At some point you can smugly say you covered your costs; after that every copy you sell puts the mark-up in your bank account. It is a viable business and there are many first time authors making a good income from their investment. You can rest assured that both I and Keidi will hold your hand every step of the way. Good luck! – Michael
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Local Author's Blockbuster Ambitions
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Congratulations to Will Murphy, ex-London policeman now living in San Miguel. He went that extra mile and is now selling copies of his gripping novel, A Matter of Trust. When Will first got in touch I was sceptical. The storyline seemed fanciful and I was a little dismissive but he was happy for me to get on with it. He knew he had a good story even if I didn’t.
I got stuck in and found it absorbing. At some point I began to think it was fiction based on fact. I even did a search on an incident mentioned in the book. Will was highly amused but nevertheless pleased that the story was so believable that I had been taken in. I congratulated him and at Chapter 3 told him: “So far, so good!” He replied: “So far, so good, you say? I say so far so very good! You inspire me to push on with this twenty-year old project of mine.”
He was actually writing his novel whilst I was hanging on to his tail ghost-writing it. It was a great game of catch-up and we did - at the novel’s end. In the meantime Will was also researching publishers and finally settled on what he considered to be the best deal. His novel, A Matter of Trust, has now been published and is available by ordering direct from Will or through the bookshops listed at the bottom of tomorrow’s press release. Well done, Will (and Sue); you have been great clients and you have become wonderful friends. Thank you! Mike (and Valda).
LOCAL AUTHOR’S BLOCKBUSTER AMBITIONS
Mike Walsh
Those whose reading demands page-turning suspense will welcome local author Will Murphy’s novel, A Matter of Trust. Based in San Miguel de Salinas this master of drama spins a tale in so matter-of-fact way that his proof-reader doubted A Matter of Trust was a fictional novel. You decide for yourself.
When psychic Mary Lawson catches a flight to take her on yet another speaking tour of the United States, a persistent intrusion was no flight of fancy. Her day-dreaming was constantly interrupted by a spirit intent on catching her attention. This unwelcome visitor was a spirit child, whose persistence awakened in the clairvoyant a compelling curiosity.
It sets the scene for a sequence of events, some initiated and aided by the spirit child, which will leave her tour audiences enthralled. A terrorist attack, carried out by a religious zealot, ignites further intense media interest. From this point on the psychic’s public appearances, some of which take place on air, have consequences that go beyond the unexplained.
The plot weaves its way to a point that whereas the revelations of a life hereafter brings immense joy to some, the ‘dead’ child’s mother, a devout Christian, is mortified by the public furore and its repercussions on the lives of her family; her husband and surviving children. The subsequent courtroom drama leads to the duelling duo’s day in court, the consequences of which are incalculable.
The novel, ’A Matter Of Trust,’ was written by retired London cop Will Murphy, who draws on his experiences and interest in the world of spiritualism to provide a gripping tale of the unfathomable.
Is there a Spirit World out there? You may be left wondering having read this highly readable, thought-provoking book. Copies can be purchased in San Miguel at Castilla De Conesa, Bargain Books, O’Neill’s Tavern, The Post Room, The New Tavern and Property Plus. Also at Black Rabbit in Cabo Roig and Carl’s Bar, Los Montesinos or e-mail will-murphy1951@hotmail.co.uk Price: £9.99. Matter of Trust. ISBN: 9781780350097
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The Most Incredible People
Monday, July 18, 2011
Being a ghost-writer is an occupation that has rewards other than financial. It is an opportunity to meet such fascinating people; to learn of their incredible backgrounds and discover how they dealt with it. My first client was an elderly lady. She had been born before the war to an abusive farm worker father when times were really tough. Married at twenty-one to a man twice her age she was making a good fist of it when one bath time evening she discovered her husband being a little too familiar with their niece. What a family furore that caused but rather than learning his lesson he did something similar years on. His weakness destroyed him and his family. The brave woman’s story tells of her epic but futile struggle to help him whilst keeping their kids out of the social services so-called support system: (The Sins of the Fathers).
Another client was a German who had been born in the wrong place (Hamburg) at the wrong time (1938). It was revelatory to share the gripping story of unfolding events in war-ravaged Germany through a child’s perspective. With his mother and brother he ended up in Wales and made very much a success of his life: (Farewell to Hamburg).
I was once contacted by an Irishman whose story was so sensitive he was at first reluctant to talk about it. I took a look at it and as usual re-wrote several pages to show him what I could do. He obviously thought I could be trusted with it and what a story it was.
Like most Dublin working class boys he was a bit of a scamp. In the company of older boys he nicked a few cans of lemonade from a social club. At just ten-years old he was sentenced to nearly five years in a Christian Brothers institution situated in a remote corner of Ireland. The sexual and violent abuse he and other kids received reduced me to tears. There were times when I had to stop writing, such was my distress. At that awful place today there are 141 graves of young boys, and they are just the ones they know about. This by the way happened not in 1760 but in the 1960s: (Devil’s Ireland).
My most recent novel was about a spiritualist who, during an American tour, was contacted by the spirit of a young girl who had died in a school tragedy. It didn’t read like a novel; I actually thought it was a real story, which really pleased the author: (A Matter of Trust).
The strangest story of all reminds us of the saying; truth is stranger than fiction. Although the author had not the slightest idea who I was when he invited me to co-author his book it soon become apparent that years ago, in another country, we had been very good friends. His story was no less strange. Born into a primitive South Sea Islands village existence he loved and fought his way to England; his boxing prowess paying his fare. What a story and what an achievement: (Return to Devil’s Island).
Out there, perhaps reading this, there are the most amazing people with life stories we should be reading about. If you are reading this then please don’t take it to the thereafter with you. Get in touch. – Michael at quite_write@yahoo.co.uk
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Voices From the Past
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Top UK columnist Bel Mooney writes movingly of a new service being offered by BBC journalist Lucy Greenwell and two entrepreneurial brothers. They offer live 80-minute perfectly edited recordings of interviews with loved ones, especially aged parents, to ‘treasure for posterity.’
Taking advantage of the service by making a recorded interview with her 90-year old father the journalist says: “The voice is so familiar but there is something magical and moving about hearing my father telling the story of his life.”
Ghost-writer Michael Walsh says it is a wonderful scheme and matches a similar service he has pioneered. “Memoirs of any kind used to be only for the rich or famous. Now the personal computer and internet allow anyone to set down the story of their life and experiences for posterity.”
Mooney, once married to Jonathan Dimbleby, says: “With every family there must be so many memories like his. I listen to my father talking about watching the great sailing ships leaving Liverpool as a boy; about stamp collection being the way by which he could travel in his head, and about the moments when his mum was dying and calling him by his baby name. I hear him tell of how he coped with my brother’s terrible car accident when just 19 years old. Listening to this and much more, I know that ordinary lives are all extraordinary.”
During the narrative her father revealed aspects of social and family history that in this fast moving world left her speechless. Walsh of michaelwalsh.es says many clients are not necessarily interested in getting their book published. The written record of their lives or the lives of their families will be a ‘This is Your Life’ bound and illustrated documentation of an ordinary yet remarkable life; a family heirloom.
He believes the written word is far superior to recordings. CDs can’t be guaranteed useable for more than ten years; a book if kept as a family heirloom will last for centuries. A correspondent says: “It made me realise that I must write all my memories in a memoir for my children and future grandchildren, in the event that anything should happen to me.”
The main advantage of having a life story written down rather than voice recorded is the volume of detail. It is difficult to ram a life story into a 90-minute recording; a small book memoir of perhaps 20,000 words will provide much more information. It also gives opportunity to express one’s innermost feelings. “I asked my grandfather to write out his life story many years ago,” writes Mary. “It describes how he ran away from school at eight years of age, to work on a farm. It later describes how he survived in the trenches of the First World War where he was serving on the front. It is more precious to me than I can describe.”
Yesterday’s history is tomorrow's mystery. Michael Walsh says it is only a matter of time before people realise that everyone can, with their ghost-writer’s help, write down their own memoirs. The cost is not exorbitant at all. He says a well written co-authored novel based on fact, or a memoir, can be as little as €400; half the price of the CD version.
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WOTS RONG WIV MY RITING
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Business owners spend thousands of euro investing in their business; their website shop window displays don’t come cheap either. Sadly, the written content of websites is often so childish it actually puts buyers off. If everyone was good at writing there would be no such thing as professional writers; copy-writers, editors, proof readers, journalists and ghost-writers. English is a complex language and marketing content calls for flow and flair; it needs ‘body language’.
Good marketing copywriters are so much in demand that agencies charge many hundreds of euro for website and brochure content. They are worth every penny. A well presented professional website or brochure will generate sales amounting to tens or even millions of euro. Could you imagine any real business having their website content casually written by a family member or mate?
A poorly written website or brochure will have the opposite effect to that intended; it will put customers off. Appearance is everything. It is the difference between professional and cowboy businesses. Some websites actually scream: “I am an amateur.’ Would you dine at a restaurant with filthy tables or use a garage in which porn-pictures are displayed? Would you buy from a scruffy sales person or trust a mechanic who drives a shed?
There is a reason for such stupid shortcomings. Because I owed an estate agent friend a favour I offered to professionalise his company’s website editorial. Quite honestly it looked as though it had been pulled together by a twelve-year old. My friend was horrified: He told me his wife had written it. Thinking she was perfect she would be most offended at any suggestion that it was laughable. It was then that the penny dropped. The reason why over 60 percent of Costa websites are badly written is because the owners can’t see the faults. If they could then the faults wouldn’t be there.
It’s crazy! Business owners spend incredible amounts of money setting up their business but shrink from spending less than €100 on giving their website professional appeal. It is called spoiling a ship for a ha’porth of tar. It is small wonder that the Costas are notorious for their tacky image?
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