GHOST WRITING AND FREELANCE WRITING
By Karen S. Cole of Ghost Writer, Inc.
Nowadays, the two varieties of writing are somewhat comparable. When you are a freelance writer, you can put your own name on the piece usually. And usually when you’re a ghost writer for a blog, article or other writing piece, you don’t run your name at all. This is the main difference in some ways, but there are some other differences besides whether or not your name is fully credited.
When you are a freelance writer, you can work for anyone anytime under your own duress by finding jobs on the Internet and via writers’ magazines, publishing houses and other places. When you’re a ghost writer it can be harder to locate work, and you will want to run a website of your own on the Internet advertising your services. Both a freelance writer and a ghost writer can find work advertised on Internet writing services such as Freelancers and Guru.com. These services often don’t pay top dollar, and you can generally make a lot more money ghost writing on your own instead.
A ghost writer charges upfront and on spec to ghost write or edit for clients, and their clients are considered to be the original authors of their written works. Charging upfront enables ghost writers to be assured of payment for their ghost writing work. This method also works for freelance writers, but can vary according to what service or client the writer works for. Ghost writers don’t often take on spec work nowadays due to the large turnover of books every year. On spec doesn’t guarantee payment, as it’s based on sales of the book or other writing property.
It’s also usually best to be a freelance writer for several years, getting steady gigs at magazines and other places if possible, while being published under your own name before you become a ghost writer. Publishing houses often hire ghost writers to spruce up their incoming book manuscripts that need edited and gone over, such as the thorough rewriting of what are good ideas and premises that were originally presented as poorly edited. Both literary agents and publishing houses use ghost writers, and they send out book manuscripts to them on a regular basis in order to have publishable, marketable work.
