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Topic: Have you ghost written a book?
| Author | Message |
| devilbaby28 | Posted – 10/1/2008 9:23:57 PM | show profile I was approached about writing a 200-300 page humorous memoir. I am an experienced freelancer for magazines but have never ghost written a book. If you have done this can you tell me aprox how many days/hours you spent interviewing your subject, length of the project and the fee you charged. Also, did you enjoy the experience/was it what you expected? Thanks. |
| geoffzimmerman | Posted – 10/2/2008 11:00:46 AM | show profile | email poster Ghostwriting books and screenplays I have ghostwritten 1 self help book, two screenplays and 1 television show. All experiences were rewarding. I work well with others, and two heads are always better than one. I got 3,500 dollars for the self help book, 500 for one screenplay and co-writer billing for the other. The tv show listed me as one of co-writers of the show. |
| JDC | Posted – 10/2/2008 1:11:20 PM | show profile Here's a link to an interesting article http://www.ofspirit.com/interviews-ghostwriting.htm The article may answer many of your questions -- except for what to charge. I think it depends on your experience, the time you are going to put into the project and whether or not the person you are writing this for has a great deal of money at his/her disposal. Don't undercut yourself. Your time and ability is important! I'd be interested in hearing what other ghost writers have charged. |
| devilbaby28 | Posted – 10/3/2008 11:40:53 AM | show profile Thanks for the replies. I know there is no formula and that every project is different, but if you have done this, aprox. how many hours total did you spend on the project (how many hours did you interview the person for, how long did it take you to research/transcribe and write). Was it like a full-time job for six months, or something you fit in with other freelance projects? I'm trying to figure out what to charge by getting an idea of the time commitment involved. |
| geoffzimmerman | Posted – 10/3/2008 2:51:12 PM | show profile time involved Hi devilbaby, on the 3500 dollar self help book, it took a year. The guy had cash for self publishing and paid me half up front. I spend about 200 hours, (at night and on the phone with him to get it done). It was a very good experience for me. I got cash, as told to credit on the inside flap, and did what we writers love to do....write... and get read. You can see the book at my website www.geoffreyzimmerman.com the book is called What You Don't Feel Can Kill You. Take a look |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/3/2008 4:36:39 PM | show profile I don't know if I love to write. But I sure am enamoured with cashing the checks. --I got cash, as told to credit on the inside flap, and did what we writers love to do....write... -- |
| worldofnatasha | Posted – 10/5/2008 9:27:51 PM | show profile you only got $500 for ghosting a screenplay? that's madness! that's not at all a slam against you -- it just is a crazily low price for delivering a full-length feature. I'm shocked that people expect to hire screenwriters so cheaply -- WGA minimum is something like $38,000... |
| snappiness | Posted – 10/6/2008 12:28:30 PM | show profile a caveat I was an experienced freelancer and book author when my agent started hooking me up to "with" or "as told to" deals. The money was good so I did one, but really didn't enjoy it. Then I got into another one and got fired after the sample chapter, thank goodness. I learned that I'm not a co-writer. I have my own vision for how I want to tell the story and got really annoyed when the other "writer"/subject's ego got in the way. It's a tough gig, you need to be really, really good with people and have a really small ego. I can't do that, but those who do can make great money on traditional deals. Self publishing doesn't sound so lucrative. |
| geoffzimmerman | Posted – 10/6/2008 12:38:23 PM | show profile | email poster screenplay gig You're right, that 500 was low, but I made a good friend and contact, he paid all my meals, and the whole deal took about two weeks of evenings. |
