As I do at the end of every year, I send out a communication that answers the most frequent questions I received during the year. I believe it helps my clients and potential clients to get a better knowledge and understanding of me and often answers a question or two that someone had in their own mind. Here then is the FAQ sheet for 2008.

Although I consider your fees no small amount, you are much cheaper than other ghostwriter sites I visited. Why?

There are many reasons. First: I live in Central Illinois which has a moderate financial climate. As an example, you can rent a nice apartment for under $400. a month and I and my wife can get a fine restaurant meal for $30.00 or less. Although I don’t drink, the local watering hole has $1.00 drafts and $1.50 glasses of wine. I assume you get the drift.

I intend to move back to Chicago in a few years and when I do, my rates will go up significantly.

I am not a “pure” ghostwriter, meaning I expect you as a prospective author to actually author your work and then I will help you make it as good as possible.

I also charge less than other writers because I don’t have an ego that considers being able to write well the same as being a brain surgeon. Sorry but I had to put that shot in there.

You are listed under ghostwriter but then you tell me you are not a ghostwriter? I’m confused by the terminology.

Often times, so am I. The word ghostwriter in its primary definition is someone who writes a book for another person but receives no credit save a fee. For the most part I find a pure ghost and the “fake” author as one of the problems with the book industry right now. The shelves are filled with books by celebrities who did nothing more than have a publicist write a book and then the celebrity said change this and this and then send it out. In effect a pure ghost situation is like being on American Idol and only lip-singing as someone else behind the curtain sings the song.

Often times you will see a book by someone famous and the cover includes “with” so and so. This co-author is probably the person who actually wrote the book and the author noted might have just sat and talked with the real writer to get the story told.

The problem with a pure ghostwriter is the question to be raised of who really wrote the book. A person who wants to be an author but can’t write seems like a disingenuous thing to me. A pure ghost also will spends tons of hours on the work and thus will have to charge a huge fee to capture his time…and still in the case of a true story, won’t be able to get into the original person’s thoughts.

I act as a ghost/coach rather than a pure ghost. In effect you write the book and I edit, ask questions, point out where the story goes off track or needs enhancement and I add where I feel expansion is needed using words you normally would use yourself. This allows you to work most of the time rather than me and greatly lowers your costs. When all is said and done, you can also look someone in the eye and tell them you wrote a book.

Do you work with all genre's of books?

No I do not. Like everyone I have passions and preferences and I work with authors of memoirs, true life stories, historical works including businesses, churches and the histories of organizations. I also work with humorists and don't mind a murder mystery from time to time. I do not work with authors of science fiction or fantasy, children's books, graphic novels, romance, or short story fictional anthologies or screenplays. There is nothing wrong with these genre's of course. They just aren't my cup of tea and your work deserves someone who will do their best with your manuscript. An editor has to become involved in the story as much as the writer and if the story doesn't interest them, I don't see how they can do the best job.

Sometimes you get right back to me and other times not till the next day. Sometimes it’s very early or late at night on a weekend. What are your office hours?

I live in a three story Victorian home and have a second floor loft that is my office. That means I might answer you immediately or on a Sunday night or whenever I decide to check my mail. The office lies between the refrigerator and the television room so often I stop for a minute to check mail. I had the office and the ensuing expenses which I had to pass on so this arrangement saves all of us more money in the long run.

Sometimes during my surfing I see your site listed and then its gone and then it appears again. What gives with that? 

I use pay per click advertising and it is an excellent means of controlling my work load. When I feel I have as much on the platter as I can do a good job with, I cancel my ads temporarily to avoid spending money for clients I have to put off for a while. Most of you new writers are in a hurry you know and it is easier to only advertise when I can give you the immediate time you require.

Why don’t you offer clients the ability to talk to you by phone?

I do to a small degree but only established clients and only when E-mail won’t handle a situation. I found out early, a constantly ringing phone with people trying to talk me into writing an entire book for free with royalties if and when the book becomes a best seller had become too tedious. With a newspaper column and radio show, the amount of calls I received just locally were bogging down my writing time so I use E-mail to control when I communicate with someone. I also refuse to be interrupted when I am working on someone’s masterpiece so E-mail is the way I go.

I have been blessed with a plethora of clients and using E-mail also allows me to have printed records of discussions regarding manuscript preparation. With a phone call I could forget something important. Having a printed record keeps that from happening.

Many of your internet articles seem a bit zany. Are you a humorist or a serious writer?

Both I would hope. In my columns and on the radio I deal with dirty politics and crooked companies and injustices all the time. Many of my writing assignments for you folks also have a very serious nature and my going “funny” is my way of discarding all the angst that builds up in me when I feel like all I am writing about makes me want to become an anarchist. Going the exact opposite way with my writing from time to time helps keep me from blowing a fuse.

Do you recommend I wait until I am finished with my book or do you prefer working on the book as I complete a section?

Actually, although entire manuscripts are easier on me, Working as we go along can be much easier on the new author. I can notice bad habits and can relay this information to you before an entire book is filled with the same bad habit. I also can give direction through questions, comments and advice that might make your book writing easier. The final point is if I see you haven’t got something, I can tell you sooner to stop spending money and your time until you become more proficient with your writing. Your book has to be great or nothing will be accomplished by either of us working so hard. Many new authors are on a budget so piece by piece also helps with finances.

Why should I use you when other publishers already tell me they want my book without my spending any money with you?

I wish I had the exact number but I will wager there are more than 50 vanity publishing companies that will tell you your book is great and send them a couple grand and it will be printed ( grammar mistakes and all) and listed on Amazon.com. Like I have mentioned in past letters to clients, most of these companies are only concerned with making money off of your dream and have no means to get your book recognized in the mainstream book world. Currently vanity publishing houses send out over 50 books a day to print-on-demand printing companies that print only one copy of each book. The average for individual book sales by these companies is less than 100 copies sold per title and most of those numbers are to your friends and acquaintances which you could have done yourself without spending any money.

The main "selling point" of these companies is that they get your book listed on Amazon.com or other on-line booksellers but that in itself is actually worthless. Ask yourself this question, "Today a new author whose name you don't know wrote a book about something and you don't know what the title is."  Now try and find that book on amazon.com. A great many of my clients are writers who have been "boondoggled by vanity publishers" and now realize the reason their book wasn't accepted by a true agent and publisher is because it wasn't ready yet. My job is to help you get that manuscript ready for the real world, not the world of false hopes and unfulfilled dreams.

Now in many cases such as memoirs for family or business histories needing only limited numbers of books printed, I use a print-on-demand company but I use one that only charges for printing the book without any other fees charged.

My goal is to get your book to the stage that it is a well-written quality story that has a good chance to grab a “real” agent/publishers attention.

Sometimes printing up a few books and using them as marketing tools can be a way to catch the attention of a major book reviewer or agent or publisher. As your book gets near completion, we will talk about this.

Do you have a specialty field?

I do and it is true stories. Now they can be happy or sad or be a tale about something that has gone horribly wrong in your life or wonderfully right. My background as a columnist allows me to analyze your words to make the story solid with strong flow. I do a lot of “business histories” work as that is fairly simple and easy and helps pay a few bills. I am not fond of explicit romance, or “shock” value stories and if you are writing a “heavy” science fiction or fantasy story with complex plots and names of people no one can pronounce I wouldn’t be your guy.

I also don't do resume's or term papers for students who like to cheat their way through an education. I'm not a fan of "sales pitch" E-books or writing for websites that just want words pounded out so that they can have more Adsense ads included in their sites. I don't accept screenplay work right now because the chances of a new author getting a screenplay accepted are so low that I would feel like I was stealing your money.

Do you travel?

Frequently, but only in the Central Illinois area. The costs of my travel just wouldn’t add up for a client. I do have many clients within the area and in those cases face to face makes sense. My being out and about is another reason why I might not get back to you during what most people would consider normal office hours. I do have help in the summer to answer inquiries and help with the logistics of many clients requiring consideration since that is when I do most of my traveling but I never ever let anyone except myself do any of the writing.

As a new author how much should I expect to make on my book?

You should expect nothing but attempt to become independently wealthy. A writer should get joy and satisfaction out of just one person being moved or inspired by your words. That altruistic notion however never paid a bill. When your book is done, we will go over all the options including sending inquiries to major agents, publishing small numbers of copies for marketing and determining what niche your book falls into.

As an example a book that might be a significant source of fundraising for an agency might mean large numbers of books can be sold by you personally without ever needing the “blessing” of a major publisher. Niche books can also be sold in huge numbers to agencies and people who can directly relate to your words without anyone in the mainstream book world even knowing you exist. Obtaining a grant that allows a book to be given out free of charge might also be the best way to go. All of these plans work as I have seen the results myself. Getting books out in the public also allows the opportunity of someone in the big houses to take notice of your work and then you won’t need me anymore. Well, not until it’s time for the sequel.

How do you pronounce your last name?

That’s easy. It rhymes with sack or jack. You wouldn’t think a three letter last name could be so hard but over the years I have heard all kinds of pronunciations. It is Croatian by the way. My grandfather came from the Carpathian Mountain Region in an area known as Transylvania. No jokes please.

Who is your agent?

I don’t have one. Gatehouse Media and the K and G Radio Group don’t require me to have one so I don’t. My previous books were all about the region where I work and would not have had a national interest so I simply had a few thousand books printed up, sold them and kept the profit without needing anyone but myself and the printing company involved. My latest book, “Portions of a Life” is different and I might take that mainstream besides the national and international on-line booksellers someday. Since it is a PG book about family and feelings it has become a hit with not-for-profits trying to sell something besides refrigerator magnets and over priced cans of peanuts, so right now I will let this source of profit run its course before I decide to try 57^th street in New York. (That’s where most literary agents have offices)

Strangest inquiries of the year.

An Asian man in Indochina asked me to re-write his almost unintelligible resume to prove to a potential American employer that he was proficient in English. Of course my doing the resume wouldn’t make the gentleman proficient in anything so I begged off.

A college student asked if I could do a twenty-page five-reference term paper for his college course. I told him only if I could also take his diploma since I and not he would be earning it.

I had a young man who had a real good idea for a series of nine books of perhaps 400 to 500 pages each and he wanted to tell me the story so I could write the books for him. He offered to give me a piece of the pie when they went national. I advised that if I ended up writing 4500 pages I would want the whole pie…with ice cream.

One of my more engaging website clients asked if I was O.J. Simpson’s ghostwriter.

I replied no and that I thought it was Judge Lance Ito. I was Andrew Jackson’s ghost however since the man had many great ideas but couldn’t write worth a lick.

Got a question to add?  Just send me an E-mail and ask it. I enjoy chatting with aspiring writers and authors.