Let all things be done decently and in order.
— 1 Corinthians 14:40 (NKJV)
This page explains the process for getting your book ghostwritten, edited, or published, or all three if that’s what you need. If you have already written your book, you can skip over the ghostwriting section and read the editing and publishing sections.
Ghostwriting
I understand that folks want their books written as quickly as possible, so I’m open to adjusting the process as needed. Having said that, following is the general process for ghostwriting.
First I determine what I will be writing the book from. Many authors send me notes, rough drafts of either partial or complete manuscripts, audio/video recordings, media articles, journals, blogs, and other scattered pieces of information. If it’s a teaching topic, I can research it myself. If it’s a personal story, and the author doesn’t have any material to send me to start the work, I conduct phone interviews around the author’s job, unless the author is retired, and then the phone-interviewing schedule is usually more open.
Next, I usually create an outline from the information I have, though sometimes I find that outlines aren’t necessary. If I’m writing from audio/video recordings or phone and email interviews, then I usually just write as I go, asking the author questions along the way.
I normally start by completing the first 8,000 words of the book because that’s about the minimum number of words needed to be able to print and bind a paperback, and I want to make sure you have enough copy to publish the book if, in fact, it can be finished with the first 8,000 words.
For longer books, this is not necessarily the first 8,000 words that will start the book, just the first 8,000 that I get finished, although I try to get as close to the beginning as I can. I just find that as I write books from “scratch,” copy naturally gets moved around according to its appropriate placement in the book, and the author and I can’t always predict that in the beginning.
If you want to pay for additional writing work upfront, that’s fine. It’s just always important for the author and me to be on the same page. I don’t want to write 50,000 words and then discover it isn’t what you wanted.
After the first 8,000 words have been written, I will send the copy to you for review and any changes that need to be made before writing more of the book. The “back and forth” review cycle will continue until the book is finished.
I also give progress updates once a week, usually on Fridays.
Editing
If you have already written your manuscript, and it doesn’t need rewriting, I offer all levels of editing, including developmental/comprehensive editing, as well as copy editing and proofreading, the definitions of which are on the Services section of this site.
First I will ask you for the word count of your book and at least some idea of the type of editing you’re looking for. While I can determine the level of editing for your book, again I want to be sure you and I are on the same page before I start the work. The most important part of any process is to do what my clients want.
Next, I will quote a price for the job. The fee will be due to start the project, and I normally use PayPal for billing, unless you want to use another method of electronic payment.
After you pay the fee, you will send me the manuscript, and I will start the editing work. I give progress updates once a week, usually on Fridays, just like I do for ghostwriting. Turnaround time depends on the level of editing done and the amount of copy in your book.
After I finish editing your book, I will send it back to you for review and any final changes you want me to make. At that point, the manuscript is ready for publishing.
Publishing
After your manuscript has been written, fine-tuned, and polished, I can then format it for print and ebook and send the formatted book to you for review and approval before publishing. All formatting is done in InDesign and you will receive PDFs for review and publishing purposes.
Covers (front and back cover and spine) are done last. If you do not have a print-quality photo (300 dpi or better) for the front cover, I will supply one. I will also ask you to send me a photo, a short bio, and a brief summary of the book for the back cover. After I design the covers, I will send the cover file to you for review and approval.
After the book has been formatted and covers have been designed, I will publish your book on Amazon and release it to the world for your customers to purchase.
Contact Me To Get Started
Please visit the contact page so you can let me know what you need. I’m looking forward to working with you. 🙂