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RE: Totally OT - from tech writing to "ghost writing"?
Subject:RE: Totally OT - from tech writing to "ghost writing"? From:"Carnall, Jane" <Jane -dot- Carnall -at- compaq -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 12 Mar 2001 15:16:09 -0000
Hi Gilda,
>I recently met someone who has a fascinating life story to tell. She said,
>just in passing, "Someday I plan to write a book about my experiences".
>Only half-seriously, I asked if she wanted a ghost writer ... and she said
>"yes"! (I'm not sure that "ghost writer" is even the correct term - maybe
>it should be more like "collaborator". )
You need to specify - in writing - exactly what the deal is (will be).
Caveat: I have no personal experience in this field, but I have done some
research, and this is what I'd do. First, get a sample chapter or two
written, and an outline of the rest of the book. (Get a basic agreement
covering what she will pay you just for this part of the work.) Second, send
copies of the sample chapter(s)/outline to agents (check the 2001 Writers
Market) with a covering letter. If you can get an agent to find you a
publisher and set youboth up with a contract, terrific.
Discuss what the deal will be - will she pay you a fee for your work? Will
you split the advance/royalties? Who owns the story - you or her? If she
decides to use a vanity-publishing firm, what will she pay you (since under
those circumstances, there will be no advance and are unlikely to be any
royalties). Does your name go on the cover? Talk all this through, and write
down what you both agree to, before you commit yourself too deeply to this
project.
Jane Carnall
O brillig de Twas, e os toves slithy fizeram o gyre e gimble no wabe. Toda
mimsy eram os borogroves, e o outgrabe dos raths do mome.
IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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