I have found success as a ghostwriter. There is not one particular cause for this, but a catalogue of skills that I happened to collect throughout my life and experiences. Here are a few things you have to be able to do in order to make money as a ghostwriter:
You must be able to write sentences logically so that they make sense to whoever is reading them.
You must know enough grammar to be able to edit your writing, because it is often required.
You must have the soft skills for the interaction with clients. It helps a lot to like people and to be likeable yourself.
In Christian ghostwriting, you must have a knowledge base of Scripture and theology. Many people come to me, because they want those biblical gaps filled in.
You must enjoy research, because it often goes with the territory.
You must be creative. I have never ghostwritten a novel that I didn’t have to come up with a significant portion of the plot line and character development.
There are probably some things I’m forgetting.
But there is one quality that I could say is the super power that is the difference between myself and thousands of other writers who meet the above criteria. That is RELIABILITY. You would be amazed at how many people I’ve written for who had already tried another ghostwriter, or two, or ten, but it had not worked out, because the other writer did not do what they said they were going to do. They did not deliver on time. They did not keep their appointments with the client. It can be little things. They said they would call the next morning, and they simply didn’t do it. Maybe they called two or three days later.
It should not be all that special to say you will do a thing, and then do it. It takes no skill. Writing is hard. Advertising to find clients is hard and costly. Keeping a promise is, in theory, easy. You almost always have the power to keep your promise, so in most cases, you are the one to blame if you don’t.
Underpromise and over deliver. If you are even halfway good on the other stuff, you will succeed. If you say you’ll do something that you know you can’t just to placate someone temporarily or to secure the contract, shame on you, and thank you, because I am writing for your client now. ***
I have never missed a writing deadline. Ever. That is one of the few things I can control. And if I do miss it, you know I am probably unconscious or dead. Please call my wife.
***Disclaimer: I am not actually as mean as I sound like I am right now. I’m just trying to make a strong point.
