General Advice?

When you say "work on" the book, do you mean actually write it? $250 for 30K words is not good pay. If you were getting royalties on each copy of the book sold, it would sound better.

If it's not the field you want to work in, you may be wise to consider putting that amount of work into writing and trying to sell the work you do want to become known for. With your name accredited to the work.

I've always looked at people with caution, so I would wonder if the person whose name is going to get the credit for the writing is using my work to gain credit for himself.

I've always been tickled by the concept of a "self-help" book because if it's self help, why does anyone have to pay for it? Advice from someone who tells me how I can help myself, without knowing a thing about me, just seems too much like horoscope reading.

Seriously, self-help books are supposed to be written by some kind of expert with appropriate credentials. If you are ghosting, I presume someone is feeding you the material to put into the book. Unless you just want the paycheck and you don't care about the product, you may want to check into the credentials of the person who will have his/her name of the book cover. If it's a crap book, it may be something you won't want to put on your writing resume.

Also, a minute lump sum payment like this strikes me as very cheap. I don't know if this is standard practice (to give a minute lump payment like this) or if one can negotiate a percentage of the profits. Maybe someone with ghostwriting experience can provide good advice on this.

Wow, 30K words for $250???

That's not just bad, that's absolutely frikin PATHETIC.

$250 is considered decent pay for MAGAZINE ARTICLES (which run anywhere from 2000 to 7000 words).

Why don't you just write a self-help book yourself, market it yourself, find you an agent, and get paid like you deserved to be paid?

DarkDesireX said:

They said the pay was negotionable. Based on what you guys have said I doubt I'll be taking this but what would be more appropriate for ghosting?

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I would say a decent upfront commision (in the range of $500 to $1000), and a percentage on royalties beyond that.

30K words, while short to be called a full fledged book, is still a LOT of work, especially considering the research you'd have to do for it. You deserve to get paid decently.

then again, this is all just my opinion and not based on personal experience. But it's basically what *I* would want if I were to do something like this.

DarkDesireX said:

Yes, I would be writing it (and by myself). As for the fact that it's a self help book, I'll admit that I've never put much stock in how well they actually work and the genre I'm working in is completely on the other side of the track. Paranormal/Historical Romance on the other side of the track.

Now, as to the content of the book: no, they're not feeding me what to write. It's to be done just like the articles I've been writing. With my researching the topic and writing an "essay" or blog on what I found, using a certain number of keywords a certain number of times.

I think the way they set it up was that the book itself would be published under the name of some important doctor or stress guru (the book is on panic attacks), which I understand. I'd rather buy a book from someone who knows they field too.

They said the pay was negotionable. Based on what you guys have said I doubt I'll be taking this but what would be more appropriate for ghosting?

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This just strikes me as wrong, wrong, wrong. Even if the pay was better, I'd suggest you walk away. Keep in mind my distaste for self-help books, which was just ramped up a bit. [this is not a comment on you or your research or writing abilities, but that some jerk-off's name would go on it when he/she contributed nothing the book]. Seems that figurehead needs the self-help in the area of ethics. This is the kind of crap that creates so much public distrust of medical professionals and scientists (for good reason in this particular case).

In my mind, these people are just trying to take advantage of you and your solid abilities.

Bear in mind that when you ghostwrite you're signing away your copyright to the work -- giving it away, for all time. (A work-for-hire arrangement.) Which means that if the book/story becomes wildly successful you'll never see another penny.

So if you do decide to ghostwrite (I never would for nonfiction in which an "expert" is expected by the reader), make sure it's worth your while financially. If nothing else, figure out how long it takes you to write several thousand words, then decide whether you want to charge by the word or by the hour -- bearing in mind that an hourly wage would be a really, really rough estimate when it comes to writing.

Also be aware that you may be asked to sign an agreement stating that you will not reveal yourself as the ghostwriter for the work. Which means that you can't use it on your "resume" or claim the work to an agent or editor.

DarkDesireX said:

Yes, I would be writing it (and by myself). . .
I think the way they set it up was that the book itself would be published under the name of some important doctor or stress guru

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I think there's a moral issue here, as well as a payment shortfall. Neither of which is likely to enhance your career as a respected writer.

You asked for opinions. Mine, for what it's worth, is don't go there.

There's an established UK ghostwriter called, I think, Andrew Croft, who you might like to Google: he has a website and discusses pay quite openly. As others have said, this is well below a reasonable rate.