Alternative to writer banks

Alternative to writer banks

placing your project ad into a large database like one on Elance or Guru and getting competing bids is the most efficient way to find a ghostwriter. However, I would be remiss if I didn't at least let you know that there are some ghostwriters that you can hire directly. I mentioned you could look around in writing organizations, but also, you can go directly to any of the web sites listed in the last section of this book. You will need to do your homework, check references, etc. on any of these ghostwriters, just as you would with ghostwriters on the database sites.

To find more individual ghostwriting web sites, search the Internet for "ghostwriting service," or "ebook ghostwriters."

If you hire directly, you will save yourself the finder's fee charged by the database web sites. However, you will not have access to the competitive marketplace and the ranking information from the large sites. On Elance and Guru, after projects are completed, many clients provide some very valuable and useful feedback on their experiences with the ghostwriters they hired. This feedback is available to future clients and people who are placing ads.

Individuals and companies who provide ghostwriting services but are not bidding for your job through Elance or Guru may charge flat fees, percentages, or per-page rates. Some require partial credit in the ebook. Some of them advertise rates that are rather high compared to the ghostwriter banks, but you may also find some that are comparable, such as www.truetalentmedia.com.
Talk to individual-site potential ghostwriters online to find out their fees, experience, and such. If one can't help you, he or she may be able to direct you to someone else in their line of work that can.
However you go about finding one of the many ghostwriters that are lurking day and night, for efficiency's sake, do use the Internet. Post your project on Guru or Elance or both, or initiate contact with an online

ghostwriting service. Once you start getting bids from the banks and/or pricing and service information from the individual ghostwriting services, you'll have decisions to make, and I'll tell you how to choose a writer in the next chapter.