Robbie Grayson

TRAITMARKER BOOK'S CREATIVE DIRECTOR

GHOSTWRITING

What do you do if you have a great idea for a book, but you know you can't write it? You have a few options. You can talk through it using a program like Dragon dictation that will turn your speech into text. Then you have the beginning of a manuscript. Or you can take classes to hone your writing skills so that you can tell your story yourself.

Or you can hire a ghostwriter. The point of a ghostwriter is that he or she is invisible (like a ghost), and so once the project is done, it has your name on it. It belongs to you just as if you'd written it.

Lots of celebrities use ghostwriters. They don't have the time or the inclination to produce the biography that their fans want; so they hire someone with the time and skills to write it.

Here's how it works. You describe your idea in detail so that we can estimate how much work we will need to do to turn your thoughts into a physical book. We agree on the fee (that will vary widely depending on the work required and the publishing and marketing services you want).

Then we start collecting information from you. We talk about the characters, whether they're real or imaginary. We get copies (copies only, please!) of any letters or diaries or pictures or maps or emails or text screenshots that could help us build your world. We organize and absorb this information. We interview you if we need to interview you, and we interview anybody else you choose to help you flesh out your story. We agree on an outline.

That's a lot of work already.

Then we start writing. We flesh out your story little by little, sending you the first few chapters to make sure that we're heading in the right direction. We plug away at the book. The writing takes time.

Then we produce a manuscript for you to see. You can mark it up. You can talk to us about it. We'll change what you want to be changed and give you another manuscript. You'll mark that one up, too. We'll complete the additional changes and give you a final manuscript. You can make changes there, which we will complete for you, and then we're done. It's just like baseball - three strikes and you're out (out of the writing room).  Hey, we need to make room for the next batter up, and you need to get your book in your hands.

After we have a final manuscript, we edit. You can reread your manuscript for typos and errors and let us know. We are happy to fix anything you catch. We are going over the manuscript at the same time to make sure that everything is correct and clear.

For the final stage, we typeset and design your book, including the cover. You're in charge of how things look, and we take your ideas into account when we're creating the look of the book. We'll come up with a visual motif to tie the chapters together inside, and we'll make your cover attractive outside.

Then we're done. Congratulations! You're an author.