Have you ever had any interests in becoming an independent writer? Substack has become the premier advocate for independent writers. Founded by Chris Best in 2017, Substack captures an author’s dream of being independent by implementing very few restrictions. The online newsletters of Substack encourages readers to browse through author’s articles that includes topics such as culture, politics, and technology. Through Substack’s system, authors have the freedom to write as much as they desire or as little as they want. Substack at its core, makes life simpler for authors, because of the ability to work remotely. Not only is the ability to work remotely an advantage, authors are met with a WordPress like interface when they sign up with their email. Through the simplicity of the interface, writers are actively able to focus on their creativity and editorial skills. Working with this platform, authors often find themselves to be freer than working in the corporate publishing world. With no editors and time constraints outside of self-imposed ones, authors no longer need to look over their shoulders.

Why should an author choose Substack in the first place? With Substack, authors ultimately have the utmost capability in paving their legacy. Not only do authors have the control over their perception, they can choose their creativity level. One of the platform’s biggest selling points is their advocacy for authors to be free. While freedom is encouraged, guidelines have been put into place to prevent nude content, misinformation, hate speech and harassment posts from being uploaded. Outside of these few areas that are addressed in their guideline’s; writing content is mostly an open-game on Substack’s platform.

Substack isn’t just interested in newsletters, they have branched out to accommodate podcasts and various comic books. Media producers can easily find themselves at home with the vast selections of media content that the company offers. The addition of podcasts and comic books options entices authors to join the buttery smooth interface. The smooth interface also makes it easier for Substack to diversify their library. Through their interface, features such as leaderboards come into play to encourage authors and readers to stay active.

One of Substack’s most notable features is their leaderboard system that designates who the top writers are. The leaderboard challenges authors to get to the top slate if they choose by accommodating the authors with various perks from the company. Perks can potentially include more recognition or large financial contracts that are offered by Substack. The leaderboard also introduces a simplistic interface that not only show-cases an author’s work but also keeps the reader engaged by making new content easier to find. Substack believes that their leaderboard benefits both the reader and the author by implementing obtainable goals that can result in the success of the author. With the simplicity of the leaderboard, readers can easily find new content which keeps them motivated to come back.

Through the application of the leaderboard top notch writers can easily earn up to six figures from 4 the company. Substack doesn’t just give these types of figures to everybody however, authors need the experience and reputation to earn such figures. Danny Lavery a writer of Substack, shows us a great example of what the platform can offer to its top content creators. In 2021, Mr. Lavery signed a two-year contract with the company that was worth $430,000. From being a blog founder of The Toast, Substack has been able to take his writing career to the next level. Mr. Lavery’s audience includes 1,800 paying subscribers to a newsletter of his called the Shater Chatner.

The beauty of Substack is the financial freedom that it gives to its authors. Authors like Mr. Lavery, are able to choose whether they have an annual subscription for their newsletter. For example, Mr. Lavery sets his subscription rate at $50 a year. He also can choose to alter the subscription fee for his readers or not have one at all. While Mr. Lavery will make most of his $430,000 contract, fees are included so that Substack makes money off of his articles and subscriptions.

Dependent on how Substack’s contracts are written, the company may deduct anywhere from 10 to 15 percent off of the authors subscription income. From that point, credit card fees are taken into account when readers subscribe for the authors newsletter. After the credit card deduction fee and the subscription fee, authors are clear to harvest whatever the remaining income is. The key caveat for authors that are attached to Substack, is from having the ability to use paywall subscription at their leisure.

Since 2017, Substack has slowly grown into a prominent publishing enterprise. Though the COVID pandemic definitely helped bolster their popularity, Substack has equipped writers with a new foundation of freedom that very few publishing houses offer, especially corporate level companies. Substack’s insistence on the freedom of authors to be creative and the ability to adopt financial security entices authors to stay with their system. Authors who cherish the simplistic nature of working on their own have the capability of finding their niche with Substack. Most importantly as Substack exemplifies freedom, authors often have an opportunity to create their own media empire.

Electronic wills (E-wills) are a good example of how more areas of digital media are being produced. Electronic wills provide a unique take on how wills are constructed.  E-wills are a new and improved way of making wills more accessible to the general public. Currently, only three states have passed the necessary laws to make E-wills available. These three states are Nevada, Indiana, and Arizona. Through using different interfaces, E-wills can offer a more imaginative approach when one decides to create a will. E-wills introduce more accessible functions to clients due to the ability of using a basic word document or even going more advanced and using an online template. With an E-will a lawyer’s presence isn’t always necessary compared to the physical copy. By providing clients with specific templates and accessible interfaces, E-wills change the landscape of remote legal work.

At their core, E-wills are essentially the same as a physical will. They need the testator (will maker) to sign the will and need at least two witnesses who do not benefit from the will to observe the signature. Similarly, to physical wills, E-Wills require a person to be over the age of 18 and require the signer to be sober at the time of the signing of the will. However, states may decide that different requirements are needed for E-wills to be filed properly.

Having passed the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) and the Uniform Electronic Wills Act (UEWA), Nevada, Arizona, and Indiana have energized the rise of this new will making format. UETA basically establishes the principle of legalizing electronic records and signatures. Through UETA, the Uniform Electronic Wills Act is legalized. In a simplistic manner, UEWA gives testators the capability of executing their wills legally. Both of these acts provide electronic accessibility to client’s who prefer their will to be digital. The UEWA Act essentially gives testators an ability to make probate courts give the electronic will a legal effect. Probate courts ultimately hold the jurisdiction over electronic wills.  

As many would imagine, the ability to go mobile creates an immediate advantage for those wanting to create an E-will. A popular use of E-wills can come in the format of estate planning. With the ease of convenience, E-wills provide estate planners with an exceptional ease of access to submit changes to their estate arrangements at their own time. The complexities of estate planning help E-wills become more popular because of the flexibility to work remotely and to ask for assistance when needed depending on the interface of the E-will. E-wills also make estate planning seem more user-friendly since a majority of people fear the estate planning process of their wills. This is why several companies such as Trust & Wills are becoming estate planning experts. They are able to provide assistance to E-will makers when needed and are able to introduce interactive formats.

Companies such as Trust & Wills, Tomorrow.me, and Notarize.com have increasingly become popular for E-will creation. Business owners are now looking at either integrating their businesses to offer E-will features or even completely abandon their previous company’s infrastructure in order to focus strictly on E-wills. Shaun Savage, owner of Trust & Wills, is a great example of this transitioning; he went from a movie streaming service called goShare, to a will service called Trust & Wills. Trust & Wills embellishes a new frontier to will making by providing interactive features to their clients.

Trust & Wills, displays a perfect example of how E-wills can make will making appealing. They give a time standard of approximately 10 minutes that is needed to make a will through their system. Trust & Wills also presents competitive prices for will making. This competitive pricing helps promote customizable wills, state specific wills, or wills relating specifically to couples. Trust & Wills opens up a new boundary for will designers. These interactive features that Trust & Wills gives to a client helps them add more value to their will. As noted by the Co-Founder of Trust & Wills, Mitch Mitchell, he expects that estate planning will only get easier from here. Mitch Mitchell stated this in an interview with Kirk Miller of InsideHook:

Mitch Mitchell, interview by Kirk Miller, February 16, 2022 “Why you Should Get an E-Will, Even If You’re Young”

Notarize.com, Trust & Wills, and Tomorrow.me have grown from the grounds up amongst the electronic will emergence. Notarize.com has easily become the leading online notary in the digital industry. Instead of wandering into a designated notary facility, being able to notarize your electronic will to make it official, allows for simplicity. The convenience function of E-wills makes companies such as Notarize.com blossom in the digital industry. Notarize.com empowers stylus users by integrating their interface to support mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Tomorrow.me, originally founded by Dan Hanley, is another great example of how companies can create more exciting interfaces for their clients. Tomorrow.me hosted an intricate website that allowed a client to design your own will template. However, what’s important about Tomorrow.me is that they expanded the will making business and went mobile. Through their mobile application tablet and smartphone users were able to create their own wills with ease. Not only did Tomorrow.me present a great way for all users to create wills, but their mobile application also offered 24/7 customer support. You can find an example of Tomorrow.me’s mobile application here. Unfortunately, Tomorrow.me did get bought out by a life insurance company called Ethos planning in 2022. Tomorrow.me showed how accessible E-wills could be through establishing a mobile application and not just focusing on computer-based services.

E-wills, while still new, developed drastically over the last two years especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. E-wills are slowly becoming a household name and give enjoyment to those who want to make a will. While lawyers are often reluctant to accept them due to the challenges of embracing new technology and battling the old ages, E-wills will drastically sculpt a new legal practice. E-wills are not perfect by any means, especially when dealing with the potential likes of fraud or tampering. Clients are much less intimidated now from making wills because of the approachability of E-wills.   

Introduction to Controlled Digital Lending

The dramatic changes that COVID-19 elicited amongst not only the general public, but also digital services, challenged the perception of products that are deemed accessible. COVID-19 adjusted the basic foundations of commerce in which social services, such as libraries, had to find new ways to approach the spectrum of becoming more accessible. The Hachette Book Group v. Internet Archive (2020) 1:20-cv-04160 is the first lawsuit that challenged the concept of libraries being able to transition physical books into digital format. Moreover, the Hachette Book Group v. Internet Archive (2020) 1:20-cv-04160 case also explores about how an actual library should function. Specifically, the Hachette Book Group Inc v. Internet Archive (2020) 1:20-cv-04160 case looks at the delicate nature of the Controlled Digital Lending program and its capability of transferring physical cultural artifacts into a digital library format.

What is Controlled Digital Lending?

So, one might ask, what exactly is the Controlled Digital Lending program? To start off, Controlled Digital Lending is intertwined within the copyright segments of law. The program is implemented by libraries, in which, libraries are allowed to loan print books to digital patrons in a lend like print fashion. Importantly, through the Controlled Digital Lending program, libraries should adopt an own-to-loan ratio even with digitalized books. Depending on how libraries implement the Controlled Digital Lending program, they may have more leeway on their products according to copyright law. Controlled Digital Lending importantly allows libraries to grow their e-section database of literature when needed.  

Controlled Digital Lending expands further from these simplistic concepts. Firstly, in order to digitize books, libraries must acquire the physical copies legitimately whether it’s obtained through a gift or a purchase.  Through this procurement, the owners of the printed works are compensated for their financial differences. The second component of Controlled Digital Lending is the shifting of physical copies to digitalized copies. The basics of format-shifting is to make content more accessible for either research or mobile functionality. Furthermore, Controlled Digital Lending Programs allows libraries to format their physical copies into digital copies in a controlled manner. Even with digitalized books, libraries must follow the own-to-loan ratio, in retrospect to the number of physical copies they legitimately acquired. In essence, Libraries, when using the Controlled Digital Lending Program, can only issue to customers, the number of legitimately acquired copies, even if it is of digital format. Thus, when libraries want to transfer their physical copies to a digital format, they must loan the exact number of digital copies that they acquired legitimately from their physical form. This becomes a challenge for digital library groups such as the Internet Archive, to legally maneuver through the minefields of copy right infringement. With being considered a library, the Internet Archive is protected by the fair use doctrine. However, here the challenges of digital library groups such as the Internet Archive, which resides as the defendant in the Hachette Book Group v. Internet Archive are affected by the controversies of whether or not they legitimately acquired digital copies of literature work.

What is the Internet Archive?

Starting in 2006, the Internet Archive has become an important advocate for digital media and digital publishing because it is an online library that focuses on bolstering free products that range anywhere from eBooks to music. They act as a non-profit library under the 501(c)(3) exemption. This exemption makes the Internet Archive a charitable organization, in which they do not promote their own self-interests. They’ve developed the slogan “one web page for every book published.” As a result of their slogan, the Internet Archive tries to preserve cultural artifacts especially in times of crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet Archive sought to use the National Emergency Library method in their guidelines, as a way for digitalized materials, such as books, to become more accessible to the general public. The National Emergency Library was implemented by the Internet Archive to specifically improve the accessibility of books to researchers, teachers, and students, and so on. The program started on March 24, 2020 and ended on June 16, 2020 and disregarded the own-to-loan ratio of the Controlled Digital lending program. Through the National Emergency Library, the Internet Archive digitized approximately 1.4 million books according to Jill Lepore (2020). Through the change of the library’s guidelines, they were able to provide more accessibility to those in need. This action that the Internet Archive took, allows users to freely access the necessary books for those who aren’t able to afford them. However, the controversy becomes, whether or not the Internet Archive genuinely had the right to upload these works of literature, even though the Internet Archive was digitalizing literature for public accessibility.

Due to the transferring of documents to digital format through scanning, the Internet Archive was sued by the Hachette Book Group for copy right infringement and misconduct. The Hachette Book Group claimed that the Internet Archive created massive copyright infringement by publishing works without authorization or legitimately acquiring the physical copies of Hachette, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, and Wiley’s fiction and nonfiction literature (Hachette book group members). The Hachette Book group claims this action of format shifting is done illegally and without permission.

How is the Hachette Book Group challenging the Internet Archive?

 The Hachette Book Group believes that the Internet Archive made them lose compensation over the illegally uploaded books. Hachette & company further questions the invented theory of Controlled Digital lending as to how the Internet Archive portrays it. Moreover, through this claim, the Hachette Book Group disregards the attempt of the Internet Archive to preserve cultural elements and considers the Internet Archive’s actions to be infringing upon the copyright act. The Hachette Book Group further claims that the Internet Archive exhausted its rights of the fair use doctrine with the implementation of the National Emergency Library, even though the fair use doctrine allows libraries to use portions of copyrighted literature without the permissions of the owner.

Following the claims about copyright infringement, the Hachette Book Group claims the Internet Archive is slandering the name of public libraries by misrepresenting the public through the means of how they acquire digital material. Little is still known about how the Internet Archive acquired their materials due to the case being a year old.  Furthermore, the Hachette Book Group views the Internet Archives actions as damaging the persona of public libraries and are exploiting publishers from their hard-earned money. While the Internet Archive does want people to buy the publishers books if they can, the Hachette Book Group are more worried about free riders. Through this theory, the Hachette Group argues that the Internet Archive is a creator of nothing and does not value the works of scholars. The Hachette Group further challenges the Internet Archive through their implemented National Emergency Library system. They complain that the Internet Archive change of policy towards the own-to-loan ratio, condoned the illegal acts of copyright infringement.

How the Internet Archive is responding to being sued:

In the Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive (2020) case no: 1:20-CV-04160-JGK, the Internet Archive responded to the Hachette Book Group by stating that were attempting to buy, collect, preserve, and share common cultural interests as any library does. The Internet Archive argues that they were backed by the funding of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and federal government institutions such as the Museum and Library Services. From this perspective, the Internet Archive also inclines that they are sheltered by the fair use doctrine.

Takeaways from the case:

The Hachette Book Group lobbied themselves as the group who was being harmed by the Internet Archive’s actions, suing the Archive for copyright infringement. The Internet Archive argues that its Controlled Digital Lending program allows for the format-shifting of physical copies to the digital format. The Archive further argues that they are helping to nurture those who cannot access public libraries during COVID. However, with the way the Internet Archive implemented the National Emergency Library, the Internet Archive was challenged by copyright infringement and became more vulnerable to piracy, even if they were format shifting for the greater good.

The Hachette Book Group Inc v. Internet Archive (2020) 1:20-cv-04160 case is still ongoing today. The case will challenge how Open Libraries, such as the Internet Archive, transfer their physical copies to digital material. The National Emergency Library ameliorated the need for publishers to take action against the Internet Archive for their supposed misconduct. However, most importantly, this case will provide a stare decisis on whether copyright law is more important to uphold than to promote the progress of making cultural artifacts such as literature, accessible as possible in times of need.

Big brands thrive online. However, in a digital world run by social platforms and search engines that are constantly altering the way their algorithms prioritize content, it can be difficult for a small business owner to have the resources to keep up with the latest SEO (search-engine-optimization) or other organic promotion strategies. This makes it difficult to compete with large brands that can afford paid strategists and advertising specialists to keep their content at the top of the algorithmic food chain–where conversion and sales are the easiest. 

Luckily, some aspects of content creation are timeless. Good stories create connection, connection creates loyalty, and loyalty creates sales. Even tiny brands can leverage this storytelling skill to generate parasocial relationships with their followers, which makes online selling less like shouting into a crowded town square and more like chatting with some friends at a party. 

What is Parasocial Interaction?

Parasocial interaction, named by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl, is the illusion of a face-to-face relationship created by celebrities, influencers, and brands. It is one-sided, with the audience being more connected to the Persona (content creator) than vice-versa. Kim Kardashian, Elon Musk, Rachel Hollis, Kanye West: these are all Personas created to facilitate a marketing experience to consumers. Note that they all have very different niches and appeal to very different types of “followers,” but the end result is the same: their word carries weight with certain ideas, products, and trends; I chose these specific Personas because they have received significant backlash from people who do not follow them which has not affected their success in their niche. Parasocial relationships are more powerful than traditional marketing strategies because they are built to prioritize engagement rather than other metrics like sales conversion.

Is Parasocial Marketing Ethical? 

It might seem like creating content focused on building this parasocial relationship with consumers is a slimy thing to do business. However, the research shows that these relationships are not a source of manipulation for lonely or otherwise vulnerable people–humans are simply wired to connect, and they enjoy parasocial relationships for the benefit that they provide in an increasingly isolated and insulated world. 

The reality is that your consumer already craves interaction with the brands they like, and by facilitating that connection you are finally meeting that need.

How to Write for Parasocial Engagement

When writing with the goal of creating parasocial interactions, consider these important and timeless strategies to increase the likelihood of success. 

What to Include

Jose Gallegos writes that the most successful parasocial marketing “transfer[s] cultural meanings and values onto a product.” When you’re aiming to successfully make this transfer, here’s what you should be sure to do:

• Become your audience’s idealized alter-ego. Wohl and Horton’s research indicates that successful parasocial interactions occur when the audience is able to project their own ideals onto the brand. This is why the disconnect occurs when the real person is unable to remain in their audience’s eye as the Persona–which is why so many people have stories of their favorite celebrity being a “jerk” in real life. Because your brand can’t actually ever be a human person, this is great news for marketers.
• Speak directly to your audience. In order to build the illusion of a relationship, writers must engage their audience as though their work is actually part of a larger discussion. This creates space in the audience’s mind for them to respond to the content.
• Mingle. Your brand must engage with its audience wherever they are if it hopes to build a relationship of any kind. This can be as simple as responding to comments or as complex as creating live content that invites real-time audience participation, but it simply is not a negotiable aspect of creating a valuable brand Persona.
• Become a part of your audience’s daily life. Regular digital publishing is necessary. Your brand Persona must give the appearance of inhabiting the digital space and perpetually acting and reacting to its environment. A great rule of thumb: if you talk to your best friend more than your Persona talks to its audience, then you need to create and publish more content. 
• Tell well-constructed stories that feel authentic. There are no shortage of guides on how to write for general reader engagement – like this one from grammar.yourdictionary.com – and you should always start writing with these tips in mind. As a discipline, writing has a high level of research and development, and the principles of good writing rarely shift by large degrees. Additionally, this content is what your consumer is looking for. Gallegos notes that consumers “crave stories, they crave connection, and they crave interaction with other humans, with real people (a byproduct, perhaps, of the increasing amount of time we spend in front of a computer screen?).” A content creator who is trained in traditional writing has the advantage of being able to craft authentic-feeling stories without relying on user-generated content, which can be expensive and time-consuming to acquire. 

What to Avoid

Australian videogame publication Doublejump has a great writeup on one of the worst attempts at leveraging parasocial relationships in our times. Videogame company Riot Games created an imaginary Persona named Seraphine to market a virtual product in their League of Legends videogame which received harsh criticism from its community. Here’s what you can learn from their mistake. Make sure that you don’t: 

• Hide your intentions from your audience. Your followers are both smarter and more resilient than you think. Attempting to hide your desire to monetize your online presence is the quickest way to feel inauthentic and turn potential consumers away from your product.
• Be too aggressive or coercive. Again, your audience gets it. You don’t have to manipulate them into purchasing from you; if you provide enough value, they will be eager to invest in your relationship.
• Sell out your loyal following for short-term gain. Your Persona’s reputation is invaluable to your brand. Never make the mistake of seeking quick monetization by devaluing your Persona’s value as a historical source of positive consumer interaction. You can court all the controversy from outside of your audience that you want, but creating negative interactions within your parasocial following is a great way to lose consumer trust. 

Takeaways

Digital publishing is increasingly the primary way that businesses interact with their consumers. For small and micro-businesses to survive, they have to know how to understand their analytics, define their voice, create cost- and energy-efficient content, and create consumer relationships that don’t rely on the latest marketing tips and tricks. The best way to monetize digital content is to create a parasocial Persona for followers to connect with, value, and ultimately trust. 

The best brands live online. Does yours?

Your bestseller is sitting there, waiting for publication. You have written, revised, rewritten, and revised again, and now — you cringe at the thought of more corrections. Every writer experiences the painstaking chore of cleaning up their work before moving forward, but not every writer hires a professional editor. Some do, some do not. Whether you plan to go the traditional route or self-publish, getting a quality book to the masses will require the long and tedious task of editing. So, the question stands, who should do the editing, you or a professional?  The answer lies solely in your goals for the masterpiece you have created.

Professional editors work hand in hand with authors to ensure their book hits the shelves in the best condition possible. As an invaluable piece of the publishing puzzle, the editor’s job is to turn a good book into a fantastic one.

[Do not be mistaken: it is NOT the editor’s job to take a pile of literary goo that you have an idea for and then magically transform it into an award-winning novel. You are the writer — they just make your writing better.]

That being said, at certain times and in certain conditions, it may be more cost-efficient and practical to perform the tedious task of editing yourself. If you are looking to get your writing to the masses as quickly as possible, try out a story idea to beta readers, or test run a particular genre, you may be able to buckle down and take on this job without external help.

If the focus, though, is to propel your career forward and have your work come across as flawless and professional as possible, then you may need to open your wallet and get some experts in your corner. Weighing your writing goals against the pros of both hiring and self-editing will help you better understand which option will work best for you.   

THE PERKS OF SELF-EDITING

Derek Murphy of Authortube posted an informational video in 2015 stating that he does not always recommend hiring an editor for individuals looking to publish. This does not sound like something a professional editor would say. However, his reasoning rests on the idea that if the story is not good, then editing will not make a difference. You can have a grammatically and structurally pristine body of work, but the writing is so horrible that it puts people to sleep. This logic is sound and reflects one condition where external editing may not be necessary.

Murphy expounds on this, saying that if the story’s structure is good and it flows well, then the smaller nuances and grammatical slip-ups will not matter quite as much. Readers are much more forgiving of a few small errors when the writing captivates them. His modus operandi for publishing is to edit a solid amount himself and then send that work out to beta readers, asking for their help in identifying typos and errors. This method should catch most, if not all, significant errors and problems in the writing. If your plans are not necessarily to have your work accepted as expert material, this should be more than enough to make your book readable and successful if it is written well.

Catherine Turner of Daily House further develops the process of self-editing on her YouTube channel, Bestseller List. Her overarching belief is that hiring a professional will always be best, but she also understands that sometimes paying an editor is not feasible. For most beginner authors, frugality is vital, and oftentimes, hiring an editor is beyond the scope of financial possibility. Adding onto Murphy’s ideas, Turner focuses on the necessity of quality when publishing any written work. For self-editors, free or inexpensive tools such as ProWritingAid and Grammarly are exceptional in scanning the various details of writing structure and grammar usage within the text. Online programs like these can clean things up and make the formatting more professional.

Additional tips that Turner suggests when approaching publication are:

• Sending selections of the book to a professional editor in pieces versus all at once. This process can be spread out over several months while continuing your revisions and allows you to edit as you go instead of going back to page 1 after you have done all that work. This method does enlist the help of a professional editor but in more affordable chunks. Choosing this route can divvy up editing costs to as little as $100 – $200 a month.
• Taking advantage of Beta readers who can help with the final proofing process. Again, this can be done in pieces or the book’s entirety.
• Pricing your finished book lower. While it may seem counterproductive, this trick elicits less scrutiny from readers, as it lowers the expectation of perfection. If the work is of good quality, it will sell regardless, and you can get a better feel of whether the book will be successful. A $0.99 book is held under a more forgiving microscope than a $15.99 one.

CALLING IN THE PROS

Self-editing can save a good bit of money, but it may not always be worth it. There are many situations when hiring an expert is the best decision you could make. Countless authors believe so much in this process that they will opt-out of other typically paid-for services (like professional cover design) to have more of their budget allotted to hiring a quality editor. Content is that important.

Blake Atwood shares his professional opinion on the matter at The Write Life, discussing when a writer should start looking for an editor.

A few of the questions he recommends authors ask themselves are:

• Have I done as much as I can to make my manuscript the best it can be?
• Am I looking for an editor because I’m tired of looking at my manuscript?
• Do I have the nagging feeling that something undefinable isn’t quite working in my manuscript?
• Do I understand the cost, both in time and money, of hiring a professional editor, and have I budgeted for both?

When hiring an editor, it is crucial to understand just what services they will be offering. You must know why you are hiring an editor before jumping in. Otherwise, you may be paying for additional services that you do not need or need certain ones that your editor does not provide. P.S. Hoffman explains the process in his article “When Should You Hire an Editor?”

Line Editing is when the editor will go line by line to check the flow and feel of the language you have used and the meaning implied.

Proofreading will only fix the grammar, spelling, and factual errors within the writing. It does not look at the flow of the piece or whether things make sense overall.

Developmental or structural editing will focus on the plot, the characters, and the story as a whole.

After you have done all of your own revisions, take a look at what you need the most for your book and hire someone based on those needs. Do you need grammatical help, help with the feel of the story, or perhaps plot structure? Some editors package multiple services into one at a discounted rate. Do your homework and communicate your needs. When everyone is on the same page, the writer-editor relationship will be optimal.

SUMMING IT UP

Hiring a professional should be done when you cannot do it yourself effectively, do not have the time or energy to do it yourself, or need your work to be as polished as humanly possible before releasing it for publication.

On the other hand, if you are skilled enough to make the necessary corrections, have an astute attention to detail, or cannot budget for a professional editor, then self-editing might be a better choice for your work.

Regardless of the path you choose to get your writing from point A to point B, the editing process is one that you cannot cut corners on; it has to be done. Whether you hire a professional or choose to do it yourself is up to you. More often than not, multiple revisions must be made before a book is ready for market. If you can do the work of both writer and editor, it will save a significant amount of money, but hiring one will always be worth the cost to convey a professional tone. Perfect as much as you can, and then let your writing speak for itself.  

I’ve reached that final moment of editing a book—the one where the text manifests as a living breathing person and starts slugging me in the face.

Richard Due

“If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.” ~ Rita Mae Brown, author

Writers are notorious procrastinators. When deadlines loom, some are relaxed because all articles or presentations have been submitted. Others are right on schedule, just giving it a quick review before sending. Then, there are those of us who are still scrambling for ideas with neither outlines nor rough drafts, mere days before the due date. We know procrastination adds stress to our already overloaded to-do cart, so why do we do this to ourselves?  More importantly, what can we do to stop?

What type of procrastinator are you?

According to Ali Schiller and Marissa Boisvert , professional business coaches and co-owners of Accountability Works, procrastinators are one of four main types: the performer, the self-deprecator, the overbooker, and the novelty seeker. Schiller and Boisvert explain that finding out which group you belong to can help break your cycle of procrastinating. For each type, they describe behaviors and challenges, and offer solutions.

The Performers

The Performers are those who say, ”I work well under pressure.” Mostly perfectionists, Performers force themselves to focus by reducing the time they have.  This self-inflicted ploy makes it impossible to have a perfect outcome when there is so little time, so why bother.  Other Performers truly believe they are best under pressure to make deadlines.  The Performers’ biggest challenge is getting started, and the best way to beat that, says Schiller and Boisvert, is to concentrate on the start date, not the due date.  By inverting the timeline, you will lessen the pressure and can focus properly on starting the project.

The Self-Deprecators

The Self-Deprecators claim laziness, but in fact they are far from it. Schiller and Boisvert say many of their male clients are in this group of Type A people, who are very hard on themselves. When they miss a deadline, they blame laziness rather than admit they are tired.  What they should do is give it a rest, literally.  Take a break, even when you think you can’t. Regroup and recharge, so you’ll have a new focused view of your starting point

The Overbookers 

The Overbookers are too busy; they are mighty beasts at filling up the calendar, but too often overwhelmed by the load. Since the busiest people are usually the ones who get the most done, if an Overbooker says, “I’m too busy,” it may mean, “I don’t want to do this.” It’s a form of avoidance, but rather than admitting that, they let their chaotic schedule take the blame. The solution in this case is simple: ask yourself what you are really trying to avoid and why. Once that’s settled, you’re free to get started.

The Novelty Seekers

Finally, the Novelty Seekers are those who always have the best new ideas.  Schiller and Boisvert call this the Shiny Object Syndrome, where these people are constantly coming up with new ideas and quickly tire of older ones. They are quick to see trends and act on them, but they fail to follow through, causing lost time and burnout.  They aren’t consistent long enough to see results.  The coaches say many entrepreneurial clients fit in this category, and their greatest struggle is completion. They often advise these clients to “make it stick,” literally, with sticky notes.  Posting the ideas gives them validity and acknowledges the possibilities while recognizing the possible distraction. The only rule: Do not start them until after the current project is complete.

The Writers for Hire blog agrees.  “Writers are known procrastinators,” says the (staff) author.  “Whether we’re afraid our ideas won’t be good enough, or we’re waiting for inspiration to strike, we tend to set ourselves up for stress by waiting until the last possible minute to begin serious work on our projects.” Don’t worry, they assure us.  We can stop this pattern with their tips: 

“Always keep the main idea in mind.”  

Define your purpose in one sentence, and let that guide you. Posting that sentence in your line of vision while you write helps.  Keeping the end result in mind will help guide you and keep you from wandering off on random tangents, and strengthens your focus.

“The end is in sight.”

Visualize your end result, especially with larger projects. Vow to outline an article or two, do some research, or write a certain number of words daily. Keep track of word counts on a calendar. Little accomplishments will bolster your confidence. Remember: each word written is one word closer to the finish line.

“Just do it already.” 

Stop with the excuses, and just start writing.  It doesn’t have to be perfect; that’s why they are called drafts, and you can have as many as time allows.  Don’t worry about the mechanics, just get it on paper.  You can edit later.  If you can’t think of anything, try some free association. Schedule time for brainstorming with a friend.

“Reward yourself for a job well done.”

Finishing your written project is a great reason to celebrate, and knowing there is a planned reward at the end of the road will motivate you to press on to completion. Then, relax with your favorite beverage, a round of golf, a much-needed nap, or a bit of retail therapy to congratulate yourself. 

“Lose the ‘I work better under pressure’ mentality.” 

Stop kidding yourself; that mindset is false, and it never works to your advantage. Stress causes you to rush through your work, forget things and make mistakes. Putting off your paper or article will only make you want to pull your hair out later. Stop trying to kid yourself and start writing. Now

Imagine being the business owner of a successful RV company that wants to get the word out about the new features the manufacturers have added to their new RV models that can boost interest in otherwise basic models. You know everything about the new features, but you do not know how to create a reader-friendly digital article that shares why the newer features are exciting and used by some of the leading RV magazines. What do you do?

Hire a ghostwriter. With recent shifts to perform jobs digitally, ghostwriters can work remote digital writing jobs anywhere. A ghostwriter will not only create terrific digital content, but their professional writing skills will land the new features into the RV industries’ magazines. As the business owner, you will never have to have written the article, the credit of the article will go to you, and your reputation is considered knowledgeable in the RV industry.

An Introduction to Digital Ghostwriting

A ghostwriter is a writer hired to produce content with the “byline” of the content going towards the person who hired them. Ghostwriters listen to what the client wants, do extensive research on the subject, and construct specialized content about the subject that is fascinating to readers.

With digital content marketing continuing to rise, business owners have digital content that they need someone to write because they may not have the time or expertise to write consistently. Writer’s Access gives an abbreviated list of types of digital content ghostwriters can write, such as blogs, social media posts, email marketing sequences, thought leadership pieces, and eBooks.

How can ghostwriters help businesses with these types of digital content?

Blogs – Business owners will hire ghostwriters to keep their blogs updated by having them write frequent and enticing articles to drive digital readers to the blog so that business owners can focus on other areas of their business.

Social Media Posting – Businesses may hire a ghostwriter for a certain length of time to keep social media posts current, engaging, and build brand recognition with an online target audience.  

Email Marketing Sequences – Ghostwriters construct alluring emails to prospective customers about a company’s current promotions of products or services. The goal of the email is to get people redirected to the website or store to purchase.

Thought Leadership Pieces – Leading figures of an industry contract ghostwriters to write thought leadership pieces to make them seem insightful by having ghostwriters post articles on LinkedIn as if the client wrote the personal post or even for larger magazine companies.

EBooks – A business strategy some owners are doing to collect potential customers is by offering free eBooks to consumers via email addresses. Once the business owner has their email addresses, other ghostwriters can send frequent email marketing sequences. Business owners may not have the time or expertise to write a short eBook about their product or service and therefore contract a ghostwriter to do that for them. Business owners benefit because it does not cost money to make an eBook, ghostwriters can be expensive, but by keeping the eBook short, it is less expensive. The huge reward is having hundreds, thousands, or even millions of personal emails to send out business information in later emails.

Not only do companies seek digital ghostwriters but celebrities as well to help publish their books. A Forbes article explains there are “somewhere between 600,000 and 1,000,000 books published each year in the US alone.” Many celebrities who cannot write are somehow writing autobiographies that land on the best-selling lists: the reason, ghostwriters.

A ghostwriter could work on the project by themselves or collaborate with the client hiring them for the work. The ghostwriter must adapt their writing style to match the credited author, so readers draw slight suspicion about whether the bylined author wrote the material or not. This is what gives the name “ghost” writer because you as the writer are paid to do the work and disappear like a ghost from the project once it is finalized. According to NPR, at least 60 percent of the nonfiction books published are written by ghostwriters. People may want to publish eBooks and print books, but most do not know how to write a book.

How does a writer become a ghostwriter?

Many freelance writers who have gained experience in writing hot consumer articles and have built a reputation with clients tend to switch entirely into ghostwriting or do both to maximize their income.

Many websites advertise that they can hire you as a ghostwriter but are not legitimate or underpay writers significantly. MasterClass, in a recent article, gives six tips to how to find ghostwriting work: choose the right location, build a network, ask for recommendations, perfect your craft, work on your interviewing skills, and develop your own personal style.

In a nutshell, to be a successful ghostwriter, you do not have to be in central writing locations like New York City or Los Angelos, but you should always be networking to gain contacts of people in these locations. Networking is beneficial in forwarding a ghostwriter’s career. If you make your goals as a writer known to your network (who may have an author or publisher connection), your name could be recommended to clients. If you are not socially inclined, hard work can still land you contacts by getting your writing out there under your name.

Pros of being a Ghostwriter

Flexible Hours: If you are a writer that enjoys writing content at midnight instead of bright and early, this job may be for you. It does not matter what time you feel the most productive in writing. What matters is that you manage your time to complete the project.

Remote Working: More jobs are teleworking, and ghostwriting is one of those jobs that does not require you to work from an office. A ghostwriter can easily do their job anywhere if they can send their work electronically to clients. That means ghostwriters can work from the comforts of their own home or on the other side of the world.

New Subjects: As a ghostwriter, you are asked to write on various topics of subjects in which you may not be familiar with. If you love to research topics and write about them, this could be an excellent job for you as a writer.

Upfront Payment: According to Author Bridge Media, 20 to 50% of the total cost is paid upfront to the writer. Some publishing agencies however may pay the whole deposit upfront to the writer. Pricing depends on the writer’s skill, the length of the project, and the timeline to finish the project. Ghostwriters can set their terms of the contract and how they wish to charge (by word, page, hour, etc.). Experienced ghostwriters with a well-received large portfolio can charge higher prices as opposed to someone who is not as well known or has not worked on many projects. Average ghostwriters charge $20,000 to $80,000 for a 200-to-300-page book. You as a writer gain additional income by writing royalties and bonuses in your contracts if a client makes it to the best-selling list or you have driven considerable amounts of people to their blogs.

Cons of being a Ghostwriter

No Credit: You may be asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) if you wrote an eBook for a client. Meaning that under the penalty of the law, you are never to discuss or admit that you wrote that book. NPR heard from Joni Rodgers, a ghostwriter from Houston, who says, “being invisible is 1,000 times more exciting than being famous.” However, if you are someone who enjoys writing and getting recognition for the work that you have done, ghostwriting is not for you.

Job Stability: Ghostwriting can pay good to great money if you are an average to expert writer with revolving projects lined up. However, unlike a regular job, if you do not have projects to work on, you may be struggling for money until you have a project come your way.

Writing Deadlines: Ghostwriting can be freeing to choose where you write and at what time you write but the customer sets the deadlines of the project. Every project needs a deadline, but some customers need the work finished in an urgent manner to get the writing out immediately. Hindering your freedom of work/play since you will need to use more of your playtime to work long hours to get the project done. It can be unappealing for many, but if you as a writer are paid for the urgency of the work it can be worth sacrificing your time.

Ethics of Ghostwriting

In the United States, ghostwriting is a legal job that one can pursue. People who are not versed in business or writing, may see these clients who are taking the byline credit as dishonest. As digital content marketing increases with many people being online, more clients need ghostwriters to do the heavy work while they focus their attention elsewhere in their business.

An NDA is standard for ghostwriters, not just for books/eBooks but also for blog articles and social media posts. Byline authors do this because readers may not enjoy the fact that their favorite celebrity did not write something that they have read. By signing an NDA, readers are none the wiser and ghostwriters will get paid good money, because it is their job to tell that story in a way that is eloquent and as close to the byline author’s voice as possible without anyone noticing.

A type of ghostwriting that is seen as unethical is academic ghostwriting. A student will pay for a service to have a ghostwriter write a paper on a subject for their class. The reason why this is unethical (although not illegal for the ghostwriter) is because the student is plagiarizing the work of another person and passing it off as if they wrote the paper. Students can be expelled for violating academic integrity. One could argue that the previous examples are unethical, but universities have a code of conduct for students to follow why they are receiving a formal education.

Bottom Line

Digital content on online platforms will only continue to be on the rise into the foreseeable future. Therefore, ghostwriting can be a beneficial job avenue for more experienced writers to consider pursuing. Entry level writers, however, may not have immediate success breaking into ghostwriting business. Ghostwriters are hired based on their writing experience, reputation of previous projects, and customer satisfaction. Once a writer focuses on perfecting these areas, they will have a more positive experience of finding clients and getting paid honest wages for their writing talent.