Ghostwriter Needed - Where do I begin?

I would start in the memoir section of the bookstore. Find books similar to yours, in tone if not in content. Dig in and collect names. Then contact them.

Hello, glsttb. I've ghost-written several books which have been published successfully, so do have some experience in this area.

glsttb said:

Just sold my successful online business and I'm looking to write an autobiographical book about the start and rise of the business.

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If you're looking to write your own autobiography, you don't need a ghostwriter, because the ghostwriter will be writing it and not you.

If you insist on using a ghost it's going to be expensive (expect to pay tens of thousands of dollars upfront), and as there's no guarantee that you'll sell the book, you can't guarantee that you'll ever make any of that money back.

If the business that you sold was a good one, and if you have some notoriety or recognition, then you might be able to find a literary agent who will help you find a publisher, and that publisher will help you find a good ghostwriter who will in effect work for the publisher, so you won't have to pay for the work they do. However, it's extremely unlikely that publishers will be interested in the autobiography of an unknown, so unless you are well-known this almost certainly won't happen for you.

My mom contacted a ghostwriter about 10 years ago about an idea she had for a book. He wanted $5,000 up front.
How about a book collaboration with someone? Find an aspiring author. You two will work together to put what you have done in words.

I ghostwrite occasionally, and I'll agree that the good ones come dear! You'll generally want to find someone who's written and published books like yours. (Like Rainsmom said, check out the library or bookstore.) Journalists who specialize in your field are also a possibility. You can also send out feelers through your professional network. (My last author found me through a marketing director we both know.)

Definitely spend some time with the person's writing and see if you like their voice, story-telling style, and so on. Also, as you talk to them about the project, make sure you have a good rapport and feel that they are easy to communicate with. These projects take MONTHS, so it's almost like entering a long-term relationship. Ask early for a ballpark fee estimate -- that way you'll know whether it's worth continuing the conversation.

One option -- if you think you've got a very marketable story and platform, you could consider pitching the book to a traditional publisher (or agent who will do the same on your behalf). You would need to write a book proposal (or have a ghostwriter write it on your behalf -- again, not cheap). If you sell the book, you'll get an advance. Which you can use to help pay for a top-notch ghostwriter or co-author.

Another cost-saving option: take a crack at researching and writing it yourself and then hire the ghost to pound it into publishable form. Still not cheap, but it will cost less than full-service ghostwriting.

Another advantage of finding a publisher for your book in advance of writing it (which is possible when working with non-fiction) is that your publisher might well find and fund a ghostwriter for you. Having a good literary agent to support you while working all this out would be a very good idea.

glsttb said:

Just sold my successful online business and I'm looking to write an autobiographical book about the start and rise of the business.

It's not a 'how to' book. More of just the story of what happened. I've never looked for a ghostwriter before so I don't know what to look for. Having placed an ad on eLance already and having search the web, I can see there are SO MANY who do this.

Any recommendations? And idea on at least where to begin or how to weed out the bad ghostwriters from the good ones? And I would say that I have somewhat of an irreverent tone - and I want to make sure it comes out in the book. My fear is that it never will but I would hope the good ghostwriters would make sure it does.

My apologies for the elementary post.

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If your online store wasn't something incredibly big like say Amazon (lol) you probably need to have an angle of "how I created an incredibly successful online store and sold it for a lot of money" in order to make this marketable and worth paying a ghost writer for.

I've been approached a couple of times with projects like this and want to suggest that you re-think the "it's not a how-to" aspect. I think it's a much harder sell to a publisher to write simply a "I had a great idea and this is what I did" book rather than a "I had a great idea and here's how I did it (with implied or implicit information that you might be able to put into practice too)."

I think you should also look in the Business section of the bookstore and find other books about the rise of successful businesses. Some of the books that are published with a "with" (name of writer rather than ghostwriter) will have been written by someone who'd be willing to ghostwrite. You want to work with a pro who will help you shape your story into its most interesting and useful form; you might not want a newbie to take it on. I've seen too many first versions that aren't publishable, but the subject of the story has a hard time starting from scratch to get a worthy product.

And whatever you do, don't ask a professional writer to "share the risk, share the reward." Their job is to shape the book the best they can with an eye toward representation and/or having something worth showing publishers. They aren't responsible to create a best-seller from your story. It's amazing how many people with the essence of a good story seek someone to put in hours and hours of work with no guarantee of a return.

One way to proceed: Find some recent business-autobiographes. See who represented those books. Contact those agents and tell them that you're looking for a ghostwriter. See what they have to say.

Be advised that the ghostwriter will want to be paid up front, and anyone worth having won't be cheap.

All ghostwriters vary in their approach. They don't all ask for fees upfront. A professional ghostwriter knows the publishing business inside out and if they think your book has a good chance they will negotiate a percentage of the royalties. They will also work to get you a publisher. Afterall for a percentage of the royalties they will get you the best deal that they can.