How do you become a ghostwriter on Google?

By Karen S. Cole

Well, being a book ghostwriter has its ups and downs. But primarily, being an Internet based book ghostwriter has special permutations and perambulations. It can be a kind of dream, basing your entire book ghostwriting business on the World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet – currently based in Switzerland halfway across the world from where I am, in the Pacific Northwest United States. Soon, I understand, we will need to start picking up on the New Internet (or whatever it will be called) coming from much closer to us, in Japan. We are on the West Coast of the USA, so Japan’s Internet or WWW would be much closer to us, if I’m not sadly mistaken.

Now my husband is saying the Newnet will be based in China. I don’t see what good that does, considering China is part of Europa, like Switzerland already is. Better the Newnet should be based in say, South America or somewhere strategically halfway around the world from the Old Internet in Western Europe. Well, however Asia is planning on basing their new network – I guess.

I believe once they have their Net up and running, it would be doing the right thing for me to purchase either a Toshiba or an Apple (our local Pacific NW company, based in Seattle and our Silicon Valley) MacBook or Macintosh notebook of some kind. I prefer working with notebook computers, not handhelds. I’m in my 50s and using tiny little machines is not my style. Like James Michener, who used a manual typewriter to work on all of his books, up until his 90s, I prefer to use whatever I can handle. But unlike him, I can use handhelds and smart cell phones for certain tasks. Just not to compose or edit book manuscripts or writing and editing projects. I far prefer using a desktop, and I still have a recent Hewlett Packard I will probably keep on using, as well as my HP notebook, up until when I go ahead and purchase a new Toshiba or Apple, or potentially a Dell or other American based machine.

When I call myself “book ghostwriter on Google,” I am referring to my search engine optimization, which currently entails gathering up backlinks and social network listings and links back to my main business website, www.rainbowriting.com/bookghostwriter.htm – I have several thousand backlinks coming from related sites pointing to it, including those on China’s large search engine, Baidu. I am listed first (in English, not necessarily in Chinese) under book ghostwriter and book ghost writer. I find that wonderful, but have not gotten lots of business from the English speaking writers and users of China, or whoever it is who uses Baidu. Not yet.

I am very on top of some search keywords on MSN and Yahoo, and I used to have dozens of wonderful #1 to #3 standings on Google under scads and scads of keywords. But since I streamlined things and made several website revisions, including hiring someone to take over, work on and build our new website, and some rebranding issues, not running everything myself…I lost a lot of my standings on Google. The Penguin Panda updates revised everything, and I lost most of my keyword SERPs, which I am slowly reassembling over time. Since I am nearing retirement age, it is entirely up to me to decide whether or not to struggle hard enough to regain my keywords list, and be up high enough (first page results, #1 to #5 and no further down the lists) to rate enough clientele coming in to continue my business.

All in all, my social network contacts, other methods of finding business such as word of mouth circulating from prior clients and social networks again, etc. are helping me far more than mere search engine listings, even those on Google, the primary search engine on the face of the planet. Well, Baidu, biggest search engine in Asia, will assume greater importance over the years, as the Japanese Internet (whatever it will be called) assumes greater prominence. Whether or not it will take over from the European Internet based in Switzerland, I do not know.

Nobody knows about this in depth just yet. I am thinking, it will be wiser for me here in Washington State to jump on Asia’s Net as soon as it becomes necessary for me to do so. I use Comcast cable services where I live, and at work too, and it is a good, working secure service with fabulous uptime. I use an adequate anti-virus, and even Neo-Nazis haven’t been able to slow me down. I have no problems with interruptions in service, whatsoever. Every such problem, such as an occasional virus, Trojan or heuristics issues, I have the needed equipment to tackle, I have everything backed up, etc. I use flash drives, external drives, the Internet free backup services, extra copies of all my work…the possibilities for protection are endless. I have three different firewalls running on my main machines. More protection than Fort Knox, the Mafia, Russia, whoever hasn’t been able to crack my equipment.

So…I’m still a book ghostwriter on Google. Back when my business was running well, my website had a topmost net worth of $50,000+ USD. It gradually, due to the Google Penguin Panda stuff problems and refiguring, went down to $35,000. And due to my streamlining things and recreating my website schemas, it finally dropped down all the way to only $5,000 or less in worth. Over time, due to my coming back up to snuff, using word of mouth, website revisions, linking revisions, and social network strategies involving more listings and getting my own books published and out, after years of not having any of my own published books available…our main Ghost Writer, Inc. website is now up to a value of $10,000 for the URL alone.

Strategically, that makes more sense than it having been worth even $35,000 before. The website is slowly going obsolete on the Internet as a major business method, being replaced by social networks and business sites that list your business instead of you needing to run a website or sites. I used to have a dozen linked websites; now I only have three. Two of them are my main business sites, one a regular WordPress site and the other a blog site on WordPress as well. I miss having total control, but it is working for my and the business. Which entails sending book and other ghostwriting and editing work out to various people on my list. I started in 2003 as a simple book ghostwriter on Google, and I branched out from there to over 5,000 people I can now contact and give work assignments to, who pay me 15% out of whatever they make. I’m no millionaire, but I’m making a comfortable living.