It's fine to hire a ghostwriter to tell your
story, but make sure your voice isn't left out.
“There's an old saying that you should never
judge a book by its cover. Today, perhaps, that conventional wisdom has rarely
had more meaning.” -- Robert McCrum, "The Guardian"
A book or guest article in a leading
publication will take any expert and turn them into a thought leader in no time
flat, right? It’s not quite as simple as that.
In the world of PR and business, “thought
leader” is a term which is thrown around quite loosely these days. Many
industry leaders are publishing guest articles and books with the aim of
raising their online social proof and reinforcing their personal brand.
However, while business experts have piles of valuable information they want to
share, few have the skills, time or energy needed to put pen to paper and write
the book or article. Consequently, more than ever ghostwriters are being hired
to shoulder the burden of extraction, ideation and writing. And all too often,
authors’ books are being left devoid of their own voice and personal brand.
We are living in the "on-demand"
era. As thought leadership and ghostwriting is on the rise, so are platforms
and startups like CreateSpace and Upwork, which are offering the option of
hands-off, "book in a box" style ghostwriting or self-publishing
contracts. Through these services, clients can pay for a finished piece of work
on a set theme or topic, with very little input or inclusion on their part.
But if someone else writes your book or your
content without meeting or speaking to you, what are the chances of that
material conveying your true voice and expertise? I spoke to TED Talk
contributor and Blooming Twig founder, Dr. Kent Gustavson about the best
tactics for “working with a ghost” to create valuable content that will really
make an impact.
Write for a reason.
Between 2010 and 2015, the number of print
books published per year in the United States rose from 114,215 to 573,965.
This massive increase of books published can be explained by a number of
factors, including on-demand printing providers, such as CreateSpace, Lulu, or
LightningSource, which enable users to print books inexpensively, as well as
the rising popularity of on-demand service providers, like UpWork,
Freelancer.com or even Fiverr, where users can pay as little as $5 for editing
or copywriting services. Nowadays, pretty much anyone with an idea, story or in
need of a shot of publicity, can directly contract writers to write content,
whether for guest articles in leading publications, or full-length
‘traditional’ books.
Just because you publish a book, however, it
doesn’t mean that anyone is going to buy it. U.S. publishing industry sales
peaked in 2007 and have either fallen or been flat since then. In a market
inundated by hundreds of thousands of new titles each year, sales per title
have plummeted. Once friends, family and clients have purchased a book, there
isn’t much market runway left.
However, for many people who hire
ghostwriters -- be it for an article for a leading publication, a business text
or an autobiography-- it is not sales that they are interested in, but more-so
the reputation which comes from having their name placed in front of the wider
audience as a thought leader.
Kent Gustavson talks about the “priceless yet
worthless” value of well-written and well-crafted books. He argues that a book
can be priceless for the thought leader who sells their book in the back of the
room. But the book will also be worthless if it is poorly written, poorly
marketed, and sits alone in the author’s basement, or at the bottom of
Amazon.com.
Ultimately, value comes from the content:
“Many business books and articles are now being written with next to no input
from the so-called author,” says Gustavson. “This ‘book in a box’ approach is
not designed to create valuable material which offers real takeaways to the reader
and unique thought and expertise. It is meant to stroke egos.”
The first step is to ask yourself: “Why am I
writing this content and are my views, experiences and opinions going to be
useful, interesting and new to the reader? Will this make an impact on the
world?”
Gustavson leans on an example of Eric
McElvenny, a former U.S. Marine who lost his leg to an IED in Afghanistan, and
has since gone on to become one of the top Ironman competitors in his class.
While his story is amazing in itself,
Gustavson advised McElvenny that without a target demographic and a deep reason
for writing, there would be little value to his upcoming book, despite the
incredible challenges he has overcome. This allowed McElvenny to write for a
reason, tailor his story into an inspirational text which offers advice as to
how to move past hard times, and keep on moving even when it seems impossible.
In doing so he gives people a reason to read his book, and is able to channel
his true voice through sharing his anecdotes and opinions.
Speak to a targeted group of
people.
When writing any type of content, it is
important to have a clear idea of who your audience is. If your content has
real takeaways, the chances are that it is not going to be suitable or
interesting for everyone.
“In ghostwriting, the cart comes before the
horse,” says Gustavson. “The purpose and target audience should be set in stone
before any content is created. Ask yourself who you are speaking to, why you
are qualified to do so and whether your chosen writer is suitable to spread
your message in an interesting manner.”
Highlighting your target reader demographic
should be the first step in the process of working with a ghostwriter. It is
important to choose someone who has experience in this style of writing, and
who has preferably published this type of work before. Your target audience,
and the strong takeaways that you want to place in front of them, should be
obvious to both the ghostwriter and the reader themselves, from the very first
page.
“People shouldn’t have to dig through hundreds of pages to
find something useful to them,”
continues Gustavson. “Not
knowing who you are speaking to is the tell-tale sign of a vanity piece, which
doesn’t really offer any value to anyone.”
Be part of the process.
Ghostwriting traditionally required a close
relationship between ghostwriter and his or her employers. Testimonials from
ghostwriters for public figures like Julian Assange and Donald Trump paint a
brutally honest picture of the challenging and draining process of pulling out
the information for the book through months of lengthy interviews, phone calls
and transcripts.
However, in the era of "pay to
play" ghostwriting, many clients are looking to make the process as ‘hands
off’ as possible. But while not everyone has weeks to devote to the process, it
is important to put aside time to converse with the writer, and give them as
much material as possible -- be it previously published content, diaries,
memoirs, blogs and social media posts, YouTube videos or recordings of speeches
or presentations -- that will allow the writer to tell your true story.
Rather than simply waiting to be presented
with a nicely wrapped final copy, those who hire ghostwriters should ask for
regular updates. In the media and publishing industries, professional writers
are used to rigid editorial processes including drafts, edits and changes, so
ghostwriting should be no different.
A tell tell sign of "book in a box"
style pieces is that they follow generic templates and lack an original style
or flow. Gustavson states that a great ghostwriting or editorial team, if they
are doing their job properly, will extract rather than contrive content. He
says that great ghostwriters are able to channel their author’s voice and
style, but that even the best ghostwriters should insist on an author’s candid
feedback and rewrites.
Find the right match.
While you might not go as far as classic
authors from the past, who often had live-in editors, it is important to have a
close relationship with your ghostwriter throughout the writing process. The
writer you choose should be experienced in writing the type of prose you want
to publish, and more importantly resonate with the message you want to share.
On-demand services might streamline the
process of finding affordable writers, but they also make the experience more
impersonal. In the same way as Tinder makes it easier to meet new people, but
dramatically increases the chances of uncomfortable dates, misleading photos,
and bad matches, hiring a writer you have never met before based on an
unqualified profile and potentially fabricated work history has its risks too.
Leaning on the dating reference once more,
Gustavson states:
“You should put as much effort into finding a
good match for a writer as you would a potential partner. In the same way as
you are more likely to trust a date recommendation from your mother, or friend,
you should lean on personal and industry contacts for writer recommendations.”
But as anyone who has ever been on a blind
date will know, just because your mom thinks you’re a good match doesn’t mean
you will really hit it off. Gustavson continues, “Finding a good match goes
further than a strong resume, there should be some sort of connection there on
a personal level, too.”
Leave a legacy.
Great content should outlive its author. For
this reason it is important that content not only shares a strong message which
is of value to the reader, but also that this message is conveyed in the style
and character of the author.
Getting a book, article or any content
written in your name is like getting a stone sculpture made of you, which will
sit in public view for hundreds of years to come. You want the likeness to be
flattering, but the finished piece has to resemble you. If it goes too far in
either direction, ending up more like a badly-crafted Picasso or a Greek Adonis
then eyebrows will be raised.
Always remember that the end goal should be
for people to read and engage you about your content, so it is best that your
true opinions and voice are included. It will change your impact on the world,
and it will cement your legacy. It’s not every day that you publish a book or
write an article for a leading publication, so put in the time and effort to
make sure your voice and your vision remain at the center of the final piece.
Written By: Craig Corbett
Credit: Entrepreneur.com
