Ghostwriting Series #3: My Learning Curve

Hello and Good Monday everyone!

A quick, shameless plug before we dive into the meat of this post: my first ever blog interview after hooking my agent just went live over on Brenda Drake's blog, so please go check it out! It's me and my super secret Pitchwars mentor, now revealed, chatting about the experience.

Today is the final post of the ghostwriting series I've had going as my family moved cross country. If you haven't had a chance to see post 1 and post 2 with Marcia Layton Turner, be sure to check them out! She has great tips and experience to help you break into and succeed at this unique faucet of freelance work. I'm not nearly as accomplished in ghostwriting as Ms. Turner, but I thought I'd share a little bit about what I have learned as I meandered this part of my short freelancing career.

Source: www.laustel.com

Unlike the sort of projects Marcia accomplished in 30 days, I started on much smaller projects. I wrote a fun bath book to accompany a bath toy, and got raving reviews from the client. (This was a small step that later lead me to writing picture books, but that's a topic for another post.) In addition to this project, I also took on half a dozen 25-page recipe eBooks. Most of the focus on these books was formatting, but it still required some research and creative writing before each recipe.I also did sporadic articles and short eBooks in between these, all with a clause in contract that these were ghostwriting and I would never have a public claim on them.

The first significant ghostwriting project came from a current client that had already tested me out on several of these smaller ghostwriting projects. She approached me after having hired and fired another ghostwriter, who from what I could understand, didn't have the same voice or conviction on the topic that she could tell I did. The client had a better grasp of what she wanted and felt confident in me (even though I didn't). But at that precise moment in my life, finances were tight and the big number offered was too tempting. I reasoned that the research was done, that I simply needed to rewrite it in her style and format all 40,000 words. That could be done in a month, no problem.

However, my lack of experience didn't prepare me for the depth that ghostwriting goes compared to other freelance writing I'd been doing. There were hours of additional research I needed to do, and it was harder for me to focus on the topic and write then cranking out some content articles. Thankfully, the client was gracious with deadlines and willing to pay for my additional time.

Through this experience, I learned a few key things that I want to share with you. These may reiterate some of Marcia's suggestions, but that just means their even more relevant.

1. It's really important to understand the project before you take the job. It's expected that you ask lots of questions and understand the client's audience, intentions, and needs. Break down the time period you'll need to complete the project and make sure you're getting paid accordingly. If you are taking the project on alone, give yourself some leeway hours just in case.

2. Once the project starts, communicate regularly with the client. If you've preproposed deadlines or check-in days, be sure to stick to them. In my case, the communication kept her in the loop and led to more pay when I made her aware of every step and why it took so much longer then originally planned.

3. Loving or knowing the topic well ahead of time makes the project go smoother. Most freelancers have one or more niches that they write within, and often those topics are what they are passionate about. Those are the ghostwriting topics you should consider, especially when you will be working on it for a month or for thousands of words. In my case, this big project called to my passion for natural health care and treatments.

In the end, this ghostwriting endeavor taught me a lot about deadlines and my time's worth. I also discovered that if I'm going to write that many words for one manuscript, I'd rather it be mine and fictional. But it was a wonderful learning experience, and I still chalk it up to extra writing practice.

Have you done any ghostwriting work? What was your experience like? Please tell me in the comments below!

Keeping Freelance Work Untangled

One of my regular freelance clients emailed me this week. Her first sentence was: "I am jealous of how organized you are. Not to mention the time management!" I scoffed, and my husband lifted an eyebrow when I read her note out loud.

Why'd we respond this way? Organization is not my strong suit. This is something I've always been aware of. My college room mates used to gawk at how I managed to pass my classes, as my studying routine usually consisted of cramming before tests and cranking out essays the night before they were due.

I'm happy to report that life has taught me the dangers of this type of procrastination since then. This is especially true in my freelancing career. However, I still don't keep a calendar, spread sheet, or pocket book full of notes. Just as my younger self didn't organize like a traditional student, my working self has a different approach to keeping my jobs and deadlines straight.

I've found the best way to keep my freelancing project's timelines untangled is simply in trusting my mind to keep things in order. I know a few of my readers just gasped or shook their heads. Believe it or not, this works for me! Hear me out; I broke it down below.

Firstly, I like to take life, and work, one week at a time. Doing so focuses my attention on my current workload and offers me an easier breakdown for time management.

Secondly, whenever I take on a new project, especially ones with strict deadlines, I calculate how many hours I expect it to take and add an extra hour. Giving myself this bumper hour covers my butt in case life throws a wrench into my time commitments. Also, if I know that this project will take longer then a week, I break it up so I know how many hours of commitment I need to make for it in each week and for how many weeks. Then I "time stamp" it in my mind.

Thirdly, and most important, is Monday. I actually look forward to Monday. Monday is the day I square away the week. I used communication to not only touch base with my regular clients, but also to update my progress on larger projects. Communication is key for any work people do, but it's especially important for freelancers, as our bosses are often off-site and putting a lot of faith in someone they've never met. This also gives my clients an opportunity to give feedback or make changes to the direction the project is going.

Once I've finished sending out my Monday messages (and getting any responses), I can mentally plan out my week. It's a loose plan consisting of a breakdown of time division per project and my personal deadlines to complete projects so I have editing time before submitting them. If I feel like the word load is especially heavy with research or requires some serious concentration, I contact my go-to babysitter and schedule a couple afternoons nix the kiddos.

Not that kind of mental breakdown!

I also use Monday's mental breakdown to check out my writing community and see if their are any contests or critique round robins I want to participate in. My critique partners and weekly blog posts get mental time slots as well. If my week seems lighter, I consider offering Query Helper critiques at this time. Often, I find myself spending a few minutes weighing in whether I need to sacrifice an hour of sleep here or some T.V. time there to get everything completed.

My way isn't ideal for everyone, but it works for me. I've tried the traditional methods such as a to-do list, calendar with scheduled times, and even phone reminders. They don't work for me because I find myself losing my mind when things deviate from plans. But with my own method, I allow myself the space to be flexible without stressing out over the unexpected.

Go ahead and call me crazy in the comments below, or tell me how you manage your freelancing or writing goal time instead.