Anyone have any experience submitting queries when it's a collaboration/ghostwriting situation?
The original author had a lovely outline for a story, without much plot or character development. I came in later, initially to do research, then edit...but ended up doing a significant rewrite.
I'm content being viewed as editor/researcher. I have no desire to have my name on the book as co-writer, but certainly desire to have the credential for my resume, as well as the agreed-upon financial compensation in the form of a percentage of any income. The original author is a vivacious woman (which is perfect, should the book actually sell in a big way...thinking positive, imagining book tours and such
), with what I feel is an eloquent style of writing; however, English is not her native language and her writing requires a great deal of work to make it readable, let alone publishable.
If anyone were to read her webpage and other writing, it will be patently obvious that her "raw" writing is vastly different from the writing in the book.
Because of this, now that I'm at the query stage, I am wondering if it's wise to give her biographical information and state something to the effect that, because she is originally from Italy and English is not her native language, she works closely with an editor/researcher.
She would gladly have my name on the book, by the way; I'm the one who has no interest in that. I prefer to work in the background as long as I receive a fair income. But in the spirit of being honest and not trying to present her as something she isn't, perhaps stating something like the above in the query would be advisable. The fact that she was raised in another country and culture plays into her expertise to have written the novel - she offers a unique perspective - so overall it is a plus.
Any thoughts?
The original author had a lovely outline for a story, without much plot or character development. I came in later, initially to do research, then edit...but ended up doing a significant rewrite.
I'm content being viewed as editor/researcher. I have no desire to have my name on the book as co-writer, but certainly desire to have the credential for my resume, as well as the agreed-upon financial compensation in the form of a percentage of any income. The original author is a vivacious woman (which is perfect, should the book actually sell in a big way...thinking positive, imagining book tours and such
), with what I feel is an eloquent style of writing; however, English is not her native language and her writing requires a great deal of work to make it readable, let alone publishable.If anyone were to read her webpage and other writing, it will be patently obvious that her "raw" writing is vastly different from the writing in the book.
Because of this, now that I'm at the query stage, I am wondering if it's wise to give her biographical information and state something to the effect that, because she is originally from Italy and English is not her native language, she works closely with an editor/researcher.
She would gladly have my name on the book, by the way; I'm the one who has no interest in that. I prefer to work in the background as long as I receive a fair income. But in the spirit of being honest and not trying to present her as something she isn't, perhaps stating something like the above in the query would be advisable. The fact that she was raised in another country and culture plays into her expertise to have written the novel - she offers a unique perspective - so overall it is a plus.
Any thoughts?
