When did it happen?
My enterprising 14 year old son was ghostwriting a blog post for a client he found on Fiverr.com. That is the first time I heard of such a thing. Next, he was offered a gig writing a post about Christian marriage. He was fourteen and felt he had nothing to say about it, but suggested I might like to try. After all, I’m a Christian, and I’m married. I’m actually a pastor that has officiated lots of weddings and done lots of pre and post marriage counseling. That’s how I got started on Fiverr, and that’s how I became a ghostwriter.
Over time I was successful ghostwriting books and articles for very, very, very….very little money. But as my ratings piled up and I climbed the ranks on Fiverr, I would get too busy with writing jobs. I only had time to write in the hours between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m., since I was still a full-time pastor. Whenever I’d get too busy to handle the work, I would simply raise my prices, which would slow the pace of work coming in, but only for a little while. This happened on repeat several times for three years, and then I realized that I had built a legitimate side career.
Now up to this time, I was just having fun and making some side money. Then two things happened. The first is that my wife and I felt a call to leave St. Louis and the beloved church where I was the lead pastor, and move back to her hometown to plant a new church. I would no longer be able to be a full-time pastor, at least for some time, since at first there were going to be only a few families at this church.
Realizing that God had put a full-time income in place with my writing, I was thrilled to be able to answer this call. That was the first thing.
The second thing that changed my writing from a fun side hobby that made money to a true calling was that I realized God had given me a unique set of skills that allowed me to be useful to people who had a calling of their own. In effect, writing, particularly ghostwriting, had become a calling for me.
I know this is true because of the amazing blessing of the feedback I get from clients who are burning with passion to tell the world what God has taught them, shown them, or done for them. Some of them write nonfiction, and some of them write fiction. They feel a calling to do this, but they do not quite have the skill or experience to write. Many of the most passionate and gifted people I’ve worked with also happen to be dyslexic and would not be able to write their book without someone like me collaborating with them.
Another common feature of my writing relationships is that many people with a powerful story or message are not pastors or theologians and benefit from the expertise on biblical application that I can provide. It is such a joy to help them see what they may have known intuitively, that their message was biblical, but they didn’t know just how biblical it was. I have also had the privilege to save authors from making a biblical/theological error. It is especially rewarding to see their desire to honor God and his Word with their book and know that I am a part of it.
I believe I will always be a pastor. My calling to pastoral ministry is a lifetime call, but my ghostwriting/cowriting is just as important to me now. Your calling is my calling! For those of you who have honored me by sharing your vision and message with me and allowing me to participate in your mission as a writer, know that it has been a tremendous blessing and privilege for me. For those of you who are praying about working with ChristianGhostwriting.com, I truly hope that I can help you, and I look forward to the possibility of merging our two callings to make the impact that you and I both dream of making on a world in desperate need of hope and truth. Contact me here if you’d like to discuss it with me in person. I can’t wait to hear from you!
