Guest Post: Ghost Writing and Copy Editing

Over the years, I’ve learned that working on book manuscripts for other people entails anything from proofreading and checking over a well-written work that requires very little attention to having to full-scale rewrite an entire book. Freelance writers must be versatile when it comes to idea finding and idea expression, and there are a lot of sources you can use to find material. You can even work completely from the Internet, using only the author’s basic ideas, or by working closely with the author.

Often it’s a three-pronged job, and I have worn those three hats: copy editor, proofreader and partial or thorough manuscript rewriter. This sort of job is what may go down in a contract as a typical book manuscript copy editing job. But it can be a four, five or six-pronged job, entailing being a ghost writer, a rewriter or a cowriter – as well as many other related jobs.

Sometimes someone hires me to be a book manuscript ghost writer, but hands me so much material, some of it well written, that it’s really only a case where I’m a manuscript rewriter. Some work has a tone that doesn’t suit it, and then I might have to rewrite, which also involves fairly extensive copy editing. And some jobs as a ghost writer involve everything: original writing, writing from my and the client’s research, ghost writing, rewriting, copy editing, proofreading, being a coauthor and/or cowriter, writing a movie or television oriented script, graphics and CAD artwork, website development work, and making out a time line or a book outline, which may make all the rest of the work a lot easier.

In fact, the entire process also involves several varieties of writing work, especially when there is a lot of technical detail to a book manuscript. You may prepare character outlines, places, people and other names outlines, description outlines, special nuances outlines, etc. You might also want to help the client get published, writing a letter of query for literary agents and publishers, create a book proposal, write brief biographical material and a book review and/or a press release, make phone calls to certain people, write a script, send work you can’t do yourself out to other people, or do whatever else the client may happen to need.

Well, that’s a start, so why are you just sitting there? Get cracking – start finding those book manuscript copy editing and ghost writing jobs!

Karen Cole

Ghost Writer and Copy Editor of Books and Screenplays – Ghost Writer, Inc. does affordable writing and editing, as well as marketing, promotions, sales, and publishing or optioning assistance for books, memoirs and screenplays. We also now offer rap music ghost writing and rewriting, all for some very inexpensive rates and fees.