More on client rankings

More on client rankings

On Elance and Guru, when you open your ad, you will see a list of the bidders who responded, how much they propose to charge, and some links to check out their qualifications. One of the links will take you to a responder's profile page. Go there and read all the entries carefully. You can glean what others in the system think about the writer's work - both the work product and how easy he or she was to work with.

As you're reviewing, keep in mind that just as some responders can be outrageous, so can some advertisers. It is possible that Client A advertised
that he wanted a particular ebook written.

Writer B responded; they worked out mutually acceptable terms. Writer B, an experienced ghostwriter, went straight to work, and produced a product that was exactly as required by the ad, the agreement, and his general good judgment and experience. Yet, Client A was not satisfied. Client A decided mid- project that he wished he would have remembered his niece was a writer, and he thinks he should have hired someone in the family.

Writer B knows nothing of this and continues to write per the agreement. Client A becomes grudging and difficult during the writing process. He is never quite satisfied with the ebook, although Writer B doesn't ever understand completely why. Eventually the ebook project is completed and payment is delivered, but Client A, still unhappy in his world, gives Writer B a low ranking and zero kudos even though Writer B did a fine job.

This kind of stuff happens; so what you want to do is look at multiple rankings. One or two outliers can pretty well be ignored. In any case, a single low mark or a single high mark probably doesn't mean as much as overall in terms of how clients are appraising this person's work. Look for how most clients ranked this person. Also compare that against how many jobs the responder has actually done. Fifty fairly positive ratings would be a safer bet than a single stellar rating.
Before you seal the deal

Once you go through the items above, you will have a good feel about who to select from the list for your project. You may have six really good contenders. In that case, take the one with the best writing samples.
The benefits of searching the databanks are many. However, one drawback is that you cannot always make direct contact with prospective ghostwriters. Sometimes you can. But on individual ghostwriter sites, you will usually be able to get in touch with and talk to the actual ghostwriter.

This is one more way to make sure that you feel 100 percent comfortable with your decision.
So, where possible, contact the ghostwriter directly. Get to know him a little. Lots of things cannot be translated over the Internet, but you can figure out a lot in a quick phone call. You may ask questions such as, "Will you be writing yourself, or will you be giving this job to one of your employees?" You have the right to find out such things.

One key that a ghostwriter is good is repeat business. Repeat business indicates that a client liked the ghostwriter's work because the client came back for more. On the database sites, you can see from the profile page if a client has posted more than one rating for more than one project on that particular ghostwriter. If there are multiple project entries from the same client, smile, and move that ghostwriter to the top of your list.

I don't think this is as big of a deal, but it is something to look for: areas of expertise. If your book is on running a house on a tighter budget, and a ghostwriter with good credentials, references, samples, ratings, and some repeat business also has experience writing books about money - bingo. It just doesn't get any better than that.

I've warned against believing outrageous claims to write your book for next to nothing in less time than it takes to get a suit dry cleaned. Now I'd like to mention the writers on the other end of the spectrum. There are some writers who just plain charge beyond the top end for their services. Some are out to take your money, hoping you'll stumble on their web site, and be dumb enough not to check out the going rate to get an ebook published on a databank site, and you'll pay their fee schedule, no matter that it's above industry standard.

Now, some men and women who charge an arm and a leg are actually extremely gifted and highly-sought-after artists. You may be tempted to get

one of them because they've done writing for a famous client list or they've been published in the New York Times.
But don't. Don't hire the over-charger, and don't hire the Rolls Royce of ghostwriters. Neither one will get you what you need. With the over-charger, you'll be paying too much for a product. With the Rolls Royce writer, you will get better writing than you need for an ebook. Your target readers, in most cases, are hungry for information.

They want a book that cuts through the bull, lays the dots out, and then connects them. They don't want a lot of three or four syllable words. They don't require or appreciate poetry or line after line of clever humor. There's just no need to have J. K. Rowlings write your book (and anonymously, imagine!).

If for some reason after reading this book, you decide not to use a ghostwriter bank system to get competing bids, then I urge you to comparison shop. Get at least three bids if you're looking only at individual ghostwriting sites.
Generally, if a ghostwriter wants $10,000 for a 60-page ebook, he's charging more than normal. I can't think of anything that would make this worth the money. If she claims to be able to complete your project in 48 hours or less, in my experience, the product will be sloppy at best.

If a ghostwriter wants $5,000 for an 80-page ebook, she's charging on the high side, but you
may want to see if the services are worth it. She may score an A-plus on every criterion mentioned in this chapter, and she may indeed be your niece! In that case, I wouldn't think of stopping you. Some writers offer a range of additional services, guarantees, rewrites, or even prepare cover art or sales web pages for you. Ghostwriters are an eclectic bunch. Some may even provide you with marketing leads. Still, I think $5,000 is on the high side, and I'd try to look for someone a couple thousand dollars cheaper, just because I can in the buyers market. (But don't tell my brother's daughter.)

When you select a writer, you will need to strike up a written agreement. The large freelancing sites have contracts that you can use. The contracts will include payment for particular milestones, whether or not revisions will be included, deadlines, and confidentiality issues. Use the standard contracts as starting points. You may want to have an attorney check out the legalese, but from my experience the templates are good. Use them. From individual ghostwriting sites, you certainly want to carefully read, negotiate, and possibly have an attorney review your contracts and work agreements.