So in my last post, How to work with a ghostwriter part 1 (click the link if you haven’t read it and want to), we started talking about some things that were necessary for you to get ready to work with a ghostwriter… and you might have been surprised to learn that I wasn’t talking about things like writing samples, fee agreements and project scopes.
As your ghostwriter, it’s my job to help you write a kick-ass book that stands out from the crowd and catches the heart and mind of your readers.
And in my experience, the best way to do that is to help you prepare for writing that book from the very start – before we even meet, in fact.
In the last post, I told you that one of the first things you need to get really clear on is your reader – the person you’re writing your book for. And that may actually be one of the secrets to why I’m one of the ‘in-demand’ ghostwriters for doctors. Because I help my clients create a kind of ‘persona’ that they’re writing the book for – and we keep that person in mind all through the writing process.
Let me tell you a little story to illustrate why this is so powerful.
I was working with a copywriting client of mine last spring – he charters yachts around the Greek islands. And as part of his marketing plan, we created a downloadable special report for potential clients – it had several previously written how-to articles and tips for people who wanted to charter a yacht. Anyway, one of the things I did was edit and update that report. At the same time, I happened to talk to my sister, who was going to celebrate her 30th wedding anniversary, and her husband was in the process of planning a trip for them – he was doing it all – choosing where they were going to go and what they were going to do, and making all the reservations – everything.
So of course we talked about them chartering a yacht, too. So, when I re-wrote that report, I wrote it with my sister and brother-in-law in mind – someone who had never been to Greece and had never sailed around the Greek islands. The report converted like gangbusters.
What does that have to do with you and your book?
Everything.
Because human beings are not plain, vanilla people. We may be tied down with responsibilities – car payments, mortgage payments, kids to put through college, and we may not always be leading the life we thought we’d be living, or doing all the things we wanted to do when we were young, or getting out there saving the world and making a difference… but that doesn’t mean we don’t dream about it.
People aren’t rational, logical, analytical creatures. Each one of us harbors secret dreams and hopes and fantasies – and we’re all searching for experiences that lift us out of our every-day, ordinary lives – experiences that warm our hearts, kindle our spirits and spark our imaginations!
Which means that if you want people to read – and buy – your book, it can’t be a ‘me too’ clone with all the same information that’s in all the books written on the same topic! Your book has to be that spark that fires up your reader’s imagination… it has to give them hope or inspire them… And it doesn’t matter whether you’re writing a murder mystery or a romance novel, or a self-help book about business or leadership.
You want your book to lift your reader out of the mundane, to get them thinking and to see things in a whole new way…
Did you know that according to The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), there are 172,000 books published every year in the United States alone? For the first time since 2001, the United Kingdom is publishing more than in the U.S. with 206,000, and Canada put out 19,000?
And that’s not counting e-books, self-published or books for e-readers such as Kindle.
And it also doesn’t take into account how many manuscripts are written – and not published for whatever reason.
The point is, before you even start writing it, your book is up against a lot of competition – just to get it written and submitted. And then, if you make the cut and your book is published, you’ve got even more competition to make it stand out from the crowd and get it noticed.
And here’s what you need to do, before you start working with a ghostwriter – whether it’s me or someone else…
Get clear on who you’re writing to…
Create a picture in your mind of one person – it doesn’t have to be a real person – although sometimes that helps. It could be your spouse, your mother or a client, Or an old friend from college. Or your neighbor who lives down the street. The point is, your book will be that much better if you use that person as your guide when you’re putting together your topic, and doing your research, or writing your book’s outline… It will help you to create a book that’s remarkable, that will be remembered – a legacy that remains long after you’re gone.
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