Big celebrities hire ghostwriters to help with tell-all autobiographies, and the fees that these unnamed co-authors command can reach into the high six figures. You don't have to write a bestseller to make a good rate with ghostwriting jobs, though; every day freelance writers ghostwrite eBooks and print books for clients and make above-average rates. Learn how to use Elance for your work for hire, un-bylined work now.
Ghostwriting Jobs at Elance
I can hear you groaning now – Elance? Really? But rest assured that Elance can be a lucrative marketplace for ghostwriting eBooks if you stick to your professional principles and rates.
You need to understand as an Elance writer that most of the fellow "writers" aren't professionals. They are not your competition. Countless professionals at Elance can detail cases where their bids were rejected, clients went with the cheapest bid, and later the client came back to the professional to ask for a cleanup job - at the higher rate.
Many ghostwriting jobs work like this. Cheap isn't better. It's not that "content is king" online these days. It's that quality content is king.
Setting Contract Terms at Elance
Rates. Set a reasonable rate for yourself. Do not underbid. There is no "right" or "average" rate for eBook ghostwriting, which is the format most buyers want at Elance. However, there are wrong rates. The average freelancer spends 40 percent of his or her work hours marketing and pitching for work, so the remaining 60 percent of work hours need to be priced accordingly. Don't work for $12 an hour, in other words.
Escrow and advances. Charge 25 percent before the project even starts, 25 percent at the 1/3 point, 25 percent at the 2/3 point and 25 percent when the entire project is complete. Do not go for 50-50.
Freelance Writing Contracts and Elance Bids
Work deliverables. Split the work as such:
- Outline and research approval. Get the client to sign off before writing another word.
- 1/3 of the manuscript.
- 2/3 of the manuscript.
- Full first draft.
- Two revisions.
- Final product.
Never allow more than two revisions of the final draft. Don't allow the client to change the content, either, once the outline is approved, unless the client is willing to pay extra. Stick to your guns.
That said, you can find good clients at Elance who know quality and professionalism when they see it. Bid your reasonable rates, lay out what you will provide, and explain how your quality work is worth the money in the long run. You may only get 1 in 50 bids, but they'll be good ghostwriting jobs, with clients who will come back for repeat work.
Closing Contracts for Ghostwriting Jobs on Elance
Rates revisited. Now that you see the scope of work for eBook ghostwriting, what's a reasonable rate for a 50-page eBook that totals 13,000 words? If you're going to spend 100 hours on the project and your client wants to pay $500, walk away.
Final project and closing. If the client has been reasonable and a good customer, don't just thank him or her and walk away. Pitch a new project before the final draft is approved. Get the client while your good work is in front of his or her face. Secure new work and get the terms banged out and 25 percent in escrow right away to create a string of projects.
Every client you can turn into a repeat customer is 49 bids you don't have to pitch, if your success rate for good clients at your higher rates really is 1 in 50. Good freelance writers make great money for ghostwriting clients. It's not a privilege to write for them; it's a business matter, with your un-bylined work making money for them.
Melanie Zoltan - Melanie Zoltan is a former college professor and administrator who has written for About.com, PCWorld, Brain Child, Thomson Gale, and ...
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