WRITER'S FORUM

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” - Richard Bach.”

Most people have a story to tell. It may be a novel, a chronicle of personal experiences, an anthology or collection of poetry, family history, business experiences or advice, a fiction, imaginary tale. The opportunities are endless and the length irrelevant.

SO WHY DON’T THEY?

Most never get round to it because they cannot write well. By being partnered and advised by a ghost-writer you find the modest outlay recoverable because the enhanced quality of the book puts its cover price up.

THE GHOST-WRITER

Eighty percent of celebrity bios and forty percent of conventional books are ghost-written. Your ghost-writer repairs poor English and by adding imaginative flair brings your story to retail quality.

SELF PUBLISHING

Conventional publishing costs are about 35 percent of the cover price. After retailers absorb 35 percent of the cover price the author is left with 30 percent profit. However, distribution costs can be costly. By self-publishing you eliminate the conventional publisher who will give you just 10 percent of your book’s cover price. More books are now self-published than are books published by conventional publishers.

ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL PUBLISHING

E-books are books that can be downloaded and read online. EBooks now outsell conventional books. You avoid publishing costs and cost of distribution. You simply forfeit an agreed part of the cover price. Amazon typically allows you to harvest 70 percent of the cover price.

YOUR GHOST-WRITER

Assessment is free. The fee required for ghost-writing is be €20 per 1,000 words. This is payable in 10,000 word stages (€200). Upon completion I can recommend a lady who specialises in designing a book’s cover at €100. Steve Gledhill, if you wish, will put your book on Amazon-Kindle and provide you and your book with your own website for just €250. (usual cost is about €1,000).

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

For many people writing a novel, bio or anthology is like a promise to one day learn a foreign language; it remains an unfulfilled wish. If you are serious then let’s take a look at what needs to be done. You then decide if you wish to proceed. Thanks for being in touch.

MICHAEL WALSH. A published author and professional writer-journalist, Michael Walsh may be Mediterranean Spain’s best known ghost-writer. Titles completed include Still Running, Mickey Finn’s memoirs of a child convict. The Sins of the Father, Cynthia Paddick. Dieter Rudolph’s Farewell To Hamburg. Swedish author Britt Arenander chose Michael Walsh for her great fiction Lux Divina. Chris Nand’s Return to Devil Island is likely to be filmed. Other titles completed include A Matter of Trust, Swinging Doors, Rutter’s Raj, The Perfect Murder, Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, The Golden Triangle.

When the subject of his memoirs came up, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan wryly remarked, “I hear it’s a terrific book. One of these days I am going to read it myself.”

Of course the statesman had not written it but he was hardly alone in employing a ghost-writer whose name never appears on the book’s cover. Interviewed by Vanity Fair about her autobiography, Ivana Trump warbled: “I find I have a great imagination. I don’t say I am the Shakespeare, but it’s not just about the beautiful people and the gorgeous yachts and the fabulous homes and lots of sex. I tried to put in more the feelings.”

It was great sales spin but she reportedly paid ghost writer Camille Marchetta $350,000 to write For Love Alone. Whatever the ethics involved in ghost writing, Michael Walsh, who co-writes for those who lack writing flair is matter-of-fact and asks. “Does anyone really believe that barely literate celebrities have the time or the skills needed to set down their life story?”

A ghost is a professional writer who collects first hand information about the subject and writes the book. Embarrassing mishaps occur when the supposed author, during an interview reveals they have not even read their book. Big Brother personality, Pete Bennett, was pulled up sharp when, during an interview, he expressed surprise at the contents of ‘his own book.’ His publicist tartly commented: “You really should have read it, Pete.”

John Blake, of Blake Publishing estimates that as many as 80 percent of celebrity books are ghosted. Walter Winchell was America’s top newspaper columnist but it was Herman Klurfield who for twenty-nine years served as his ghost writer.

For many in government and show business having one’s own co-writer is regarded as a status symbol. Lucie Cave who penned Jade Goody’s My Autobiography says; “It is a must-have accessory for anyone who has reached a certain level of fame. Obviously these people cannot write their books themselves, so they need someone else to do it for them.”

The list of names adorning the spines of books is often impressive but their true authors are rarely known. Earl Conrad ghosted Errol Flynn’s My Wicked, Wicked Ways. It would seem that Dorothy J. Mills penned much of the output of sports historian Harold Seymour. The hapless Arthur Porrit who lamented ghosted W. G. Grace the cricketer legend: “Getting material from Grace was heartbreaking.”

One would need to wade through 529 pages of Hilary Clinton’s autobiography to discover that her speechwriter was responsible for most of it. In 1957, John F. Kennedy was accused of using a ghost for his Profiles of Courage and Why England Slept. Fay Faurote wrote Henry Ford’s My Philosophy of Industry (New York Coward McCann 1929).

Many famous authors are heads of writers’ syndicates that churn out novels on an industrial scale. These include Edward Stratemayer (1862 – 1930) series Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Over Boys, and The Bobsey Twins, a total of 1,600 volumes.

Many others lend their names to the work of lesser-known authors. These include Andrew Neiderman, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Naomi Campbell, and Clive Cussler. Clancy’s publishers say, “Tom Clancy creates the ideas for these series and the writers execute Clancy’s ideas. All are subject to his supervision.”

It is thought that 40 percent of books are ghosted but is it ethical. Michael Walsh says, “If there were no co-writers there would be few books. We take advice in fixing our cars, having our photographs taken; why stop there? “There are hundreds of fascinating people with interesting stories to tell or experiences to pass on, but few who can bring life to them. If a co-writer achieves that then everyone benefits from the partnership.” ©

* A published author and professional writer-journalist, Michael Walsh may be Mediterranean Spain’s best known ghost-writer. Titles completed include Still Running, Mickey Finn’s memoirs of a child convict. The Sins of the Father, Cynthia Paddick. Dieter Rudolph’s Farewell To Hamburg. Swedish author Britt Arenander chose Michael Walsh for her great fiction Lux Divina. Chris Nand’s Return to Devil Island is likely to be filmed. Other titles completed include A Matter of Trust, Swinging Doors, Rutter’s Raj, The Perfect Murder, Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, The Golden Triangle. To contact Michael quite_write@yahoo.co.uk

I received an e-mail from my Spanish friend. Being single he is looking for a senorita with whom he can settle down. He explains to me that he is cutting his eyes open until he finds the right senorita. Living a loveless life isn’t everyone’s idea of fun but slashing one’s eyes until a relationship is formed seemed a little extreme to me. After giving it some thought I realised what he meant: ‘I am keeping my eyes peeled until I find a pretty woman.’ How do I explain to him that we peel potatoes but not our eyes? If you think learning Spanish is tough think how difficult learning English must be.

So you have written a book and had it published online. Now you face the challenge of what to do next. There are a number of things that the author can do that will really help so make the move from writing to marketing and take these actions:

This is something that most publishers do for you but there is no harm in sharing lists and helping out. If you have self-published you will certainly have to focus on this. Don’t forget the many online sites that review books.

Amazon is highly influential and the reviews matter so encourage anyone who says they enjoyed your book to place a review.

Most radio stations are looking for interesting interviews and the author of a newly published book has a good chance of getting on air. You need a publicity letter which says something interesting or controversial about the book and off you go. If you have the budget you can use a professional PR company to target radio and TV programs.

Ideally you should have a separate website with an address that features the book title. Now you can exchange links and drive traffic to the site with comments, blogs, quotes and extracts. Be sure to show people how they can buy the book. Encourage user feedback, comments and reviews. Michael Walsh offers this service. Your own website for just €100.

Take a couple of your best chapters and turn them into pdf files. Let people download them for free. Think of this as the equivalent of letting people browse through your book at a bookstore.

Start a blog and quote from the book. Lift sections and acknowledge the book as the source. Build a community of interest around the topics in the book.

Become a reviewer on Amazon. Use your own name accompanied by ‘author of the book……’. Review other books and when people read your reviews some will click through to your book.

Encourage people to subscribe on the website and then send out an occasional newsletter with interesting new material in this book’s field. But you cannot just plug your book – you have to add value with new information and comment.

Use the book as your calling card. Give copies to potential and existing clients. Encourage them to read it and pass it on.

Local radio shows, magazines or societies will often be interested in running competitions and will give you valuable publicity if you give them a few books to give away as prizes.

Some authors do book signings in local bookstores but, unless you are very well-known, this activity is unlikely to produce worthwhile results. Finally, you could consider using the book as a platform for launching your speaking career. You will need a different set of skills to succeed here but the book can make an excellent starting point and every talk will help sell more books.