Did I ghostwrite a BESTSELLER?!👻

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

If you're interested in ghostwriting, check out this playlist! kzbin.info/aero/PL613wpmkDoLdoTcwq_VFWPKlKarPxbxfi

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

@@wordcharm2649 Yay, hope they're helpful!!

[@delyseonduty]

I would love to see a video on coauthoring a book! Great video as always Michelle, you're the best

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

Yeah, that one's been on my list forever - I need to get on it!! :)

[@kanashiiookami6537]

Yes!☺ You answered a lot of questions I had, but wasn't sure how to ask. (Or thought people would think "why would you ask that? The answer is obvious") What makes me happy is knowing ghostwriters can get credit on the cover (Which brings to mind so many books I kept seeing that kept saying "Author Name (in large font) with So-and-so (smaller font)" which I thought were co-authored things that didn't want to give the other author much recognition. (Thinking what I've seen on some James Patterson books. But I may be misremembering font-size of the author names) But knowing this, if I ever got ghostwriting help on a story of mine, I'd definitely want to be sure they're okay with their name on the cover, because I wouldn't feel comfortable promoting a book as being written by me when I didn't put in 100% of the work. Ghostwriters deserve recognition for their work. That being said, are there times/stories/scenarios where you as a ghostwriter/freelancer wouldn't want anyone to know you ghostwrote a story/did freelance work? (If you've been asked and already answered this question, but I just forgot. Please ignore me. 😅) Anyway, thank you for the video and I hope your work is going well. Good luck!😁

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

Ha - James Patterson is a great example. The "with" name might not have written the entire thing, but they likely did quite a bit more than the top name! Okay that is SUCH a great question. Yes, there are definitely those scenarios, and I'm putting this one on the list for next week! Hope you have a great week too, K! :)

[@Avionne_Parris]

An epic fantasy novel with only 55k words? Is that excluding the prologue and worldbuilding descriptions? Lolz. Glad you were flexible enough to roll with the proverbial punches, Michelle. Perks of being a professional. Go you :-) Now I'm curious as to what's the biggest curveball you've had to deal with regarding a client. I'm sure you have some great stories. Have a wonderful week, Michelle! Hey Rosa :-) Loving this series btw.

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

Ha!! I should have clarified that it's MG. (But still on the short side, even for that age level!) Oooh ok, I'm adding that one to the list. I'll have to be careful what I say. ;) Hope you have a great week too, Sio!

[@enuelcaraballo]

I love this video. I agree with most comments that you answered questions that I wasnt sure how to phrase properly. I love that you shared an experience when the word count grows and how you handled it.

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

Thanks so much, Enuel! :)

[@hunterhatfield7157]

Can you talk more some time about what sort of clients hire ghostwriters? I'd assumed celebrities and IP, but it sounds like there's a whole group of people who are just normal folk who want to see their idea for a story written. Do they then self-pub or do they query it to agents? What's the range of client goals?

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

Absolutely! Those are great questions - adding them to the list!

[@JoeyPaulOnline]

I'm really loving these looks into freelance life. I especially like that things can change and you gotta roll with it!

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

Thanks Joey! It's honestly part of the fun of the job, imo. :)

[@singingsanja167]

Thank you for all these interesting insights into your work! And yay for buffer days. ;-) I keep wondering why your clients hire you, instead of writing the books themselves? I can't imagine giving my stories and characters into someone else's hands. How can someone come up with a story idea, build a world and all the characters, and then not want to write the whole thing themselves? I can totally understand that for non-fiction, but a story, that has been in my mind (and heart) for long enough that I probably even have an outline for it? I am not judging anyone, it's just so beyond my grip, LOL! Please, enlighten me. ^_^

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

Thanks so much, Sanja! Really good question. Some of them are curious about the process of writing a book, but not quite interested enough to try it themselves. A few have told me they have no interest in being an author, they just had this one special story idea and wanted to see it as a book. And with others, I think maybe a little bit of fear is involved - they want to try but they're afraid/it's too intimidating.

[@singingsanja167]

@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor After I had posted the comment, it occured to me that just because you have the story doesn't necessarily imply that you can actually write well. ;-) So instead of breaking your legs over grammar and prose and all that jazz, and making an editor go crazy rewriting everything, hiring a professional someone to do it seems to be the better idea. Duh! And if it writing an book was just that easy, why should we all make so much fuss about it, right?! ;-D Thank you for answering so quickly. And for helping me understand someone else's position that is quite different from my own view on the topic. I love it when that happens. ^_^

[@BarrettLaurie]

Yikes. I wondered how you would handle a word count that grew. So fascinated by how one handles this. Also interesting to think about the cost of goods sold with regards to a larger book costing more to produce. It is so great to see how you manage to adjust your schedule even as busy as you are. It shows your planning had plenty of space built in for the unknown. It makes sense that it’s hard to know if a book will be a hit or not. That question feels like a minefield. I’m amazed by the people thinking their books are the “next great best seller,” am I the only writer that spends the majority of my days in the valleys of self doubt? Like, even on the days I think what I have written is genius, I still oscillate between thinking it’s trash and good within an hour of deciding it was amazing. I have a question. If a book you have ghost written becomes a success does your contract allow for any bonuses or royalties upon a certain sales figure? Hang in there. If anyone can handle a wonky week of scheduling madness it’s you. Hope all is well with Rosa and your world. Keep being awesome.

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

"am I the only writer that spends the majority of my days in the valleys of self doubt?" - definitely NOT. I swear, sometimes it seems like we all fall on one side or the other - total imposter syndrome, or total narcissism - and there is no in-between. It's so weird! That's such a good question. Short answer is no :) But I'm adding it to the list because there's more to it! Thanks so much - hope you're doing great this week!!

[@dorothyinman4632]

This is fascinating and good to know if I were ever to pursue this. After all the research I've done about how to query I think it's funny that people are still pitching that their book/idea is going to be a best seller and they they are missing out if they don't pick it up. When people pitch to you like this do you automatically turn them down? So bizarre.

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

Isn't it strange? I'm like, well, glad you're so confident, buuut....😂 It's not an auto-pass, but I would say 95% of the time, yeah.

[@girlie7502]

Can you answer why people seem to want multi book deals? I would think that selling one or two books at a time is better so you can negotiate more money if those first 1-2 books do well. I know this is a bit unrelated but you seem very knowledgeable so :)

[@MichelleSchustermanAuthor]

That's a great question!! :) I'll add it to the list - thank you!

[@anthonyt1t5]

Probably the reason why i will never ghostwrite. All of that work which is your own. But someone else will say they wrote it. No matter if its not your idea, its still your style, sentence structure, character development, smaller plot details that you put alot of thought and energy into. Not to mention 55k of words ans work you put in. Writing is hard. Probably just as hard as drawing art. It can take years to get good at it. Its a craft. Not anybody can do it.

[@jameskevin6017]

@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Is It Possible To Sell A Pre-Written Novel 'Ghostwritten' To Another Author, As A Ghostwriter? I have been writing a novel in pursuits that I could sell it to an already established self-published/traditional author? (Assuming i'd find these clients, ideally UpWork and Reedsy. And their bid is pretty high.)

[@jameskevin6017]

The Draft of my ghostwritten novel Has Already been written. I plan to pitch my book on freelancer job posts. So I can step in and 'BOOM! Here's A Pre-Written 300 Page Russian Oligarch-Romance Novel that can give you the ability to have something to sell fast just in time for christmas!'