Ghostwriting Scams: An Exposé

There are numerous large companies promising to make you a star with ghostwriting, publishing, and promotional services. I first became suspicious of these services when approached by a young woman who had been charged $18,000 for a children's book of 124 pages by an alleged "industry leader." The book had 617 grammatical errors in it.

Some companies offer to ghostwrite your book for $25,000 to $250,000. A client of mine had previously called such a firm – an "industry leader." A sales representative assured him that the company was staffed with ghostwriters who had authored bestsellers, but the sales rep declined to name any titles. My client then asked how ghostwriter selection was determined. The sales rep informed him that the more money he paid, the better the writer assigned to his project! The rep then quoted the basic fee schedule: thirty percent up front, another thirty percent one quarter of the way through, with the remaining forty percent paid when the job was completed. Maximum length? No more than 200 pages for any book! A little research showed that the owner of the company was thirty-two and had no writing credits other than college essays. I visited this company and others like it when in New York City in 2007. The offices were usually mail drops or cubbyhole offices with a receptionist – and no one else.

Other scams prey on potential clients' ignorance of the literary marketplace. Many ghostwriting companies offer publishing and promotional packages that range from $2,000 to $40,000, and this doesn't even cover the actual ghostwriting fees.

First, with each jump in price, the successive packages offer to give you the names of additional industry contacts to help promote your work. The contacts are literary agents and editors, but these can be obtained by anyone willing to buy Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents or Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents. More to the point, why do you need the names of agents and publishers if the ghostwriting company is already publishing your book? Many of these "deals" have recently been removed from company websites after being investigated.

Second, no agent will consider handling a self-published book unless it sells at least ten thousand copies. Some companies offer to register your book with several literary agencies. Literary agencies, however, have exclusive contracts with their clients, and there is no such thing as "agent registration" to begin with. One of the most ludicrous scams is charging thousands of dollars to write a simple one-page query letter. Once again, why would you send query letters to agents who don't handle self-published books?

For a few thousand dollars more, the companies put your book online at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Anyone can do this in a matter of minutes – for free. For even more money, the companies will monitor your online sales campaign. Actually, you can register your website with Google or Yahoo for free and bid on search engine rankings with a simple click of your mouse.

Think you've been ripped off enough yet? Pay even more money and the company will mail your press releases (usually to reviewers who don't handle your type of book). The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter tells you how to find and target the right trade magazines and newspapers. His book sells for under $25.00.

Lay out thousands more and many companies will contact bookstore chains for you. The reality is that brick-and-mortar chains such as B&N do not handle self-published books.

Sometimes, two or three ghostwriters will form a partnership. I have come across two companies that appear to be honest, and the writers have solid publishing credits and apparently have produced professional-caliber work. There are good ghostwriters out there, though a majority have failed to impress me. Their writing samples are filled with grammatical errors and awkward phrases.

As the X-Files said, "The truth is out there." Use Google to see what others have said about these companies. My writing links page is a good place to begin. Above all, ask the tough questions when contacting companies, and don't let them cut you off in mid-sentence or dodge your questions.