Help! An Editor Stole My Story!!!

What do you do if an editor steals your story idea? It’s every writer’s nightmare. You hack away and come up with a fantastic idea. You ship it off to an editor of a big-time magazine and bite your nails. You feel it in your blood—this one’s a winner! This one’s going to put you on the map! Then you don’t hear back from the editor about your pitch. You wait the requisite one month before you nudge him. He doesn’t respond. You nudge again. Then, disaster strikes. You see the article in print, but not by you. Your big-time editor assigned it to somebody else. Not only that, but… Read More

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Grasshoppers, Ants and the Kennebec River

  If whitewater is dangerous, why has it saved my life twice already? The first time was when my brother died. If you’ve never lost a loved one, you may not understand me when I say it wasn’t like losing someone, but like moving to a strange, new place where nothing works or makes sense. It looks like the place you used to live, and all the people, buildings, and routines are the same, but it’s completely different, and you can’t get back to that place you were before. I remember feeling like the world had literally shattered. Like all the strategies I’d developed for dealing with my life and… Read More

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Why I Bring a Bag Lunch Now

Tom Gerencer tgerencer@yahoo.com c. 5,000 words Why I Bring a Bag Lunch Now They were serving cheesy walnut peppers again, which in my experience is never a good way to start a Thursday afternoon.  I tried to get Jinx — the school bully and a guy with nothing you could really call a neck — to steal my lunch money after second period, but he was having none of it. “Keep it,” he said, after I’d walked by him for the third time, jingling the contents of my pockets in what I had hoped was an enticing way.  “I can last ’til I get home.” I wished I could’ve said… Read More

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One Businessman’s Approach to Finding a Ghostwriter

By now if you’ve read some of my other blog posts you have a good idea what a good ghostwriter can do for you. You know a good ghostwriter will take the time burden off you and will bring your expertise to the people who need it while leaving you free to go about your busy life. But how do you find a good ghostwriter? Chances are, you found this blog by googling the words “find a ghostwriter” or “hire a ghostwriter.” Now you’re trolling through the different websites that popped up, trying to figure out whether it’s worth calling any of the writers who own the sites. Of course… Read More

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Hire a Ghostwriter #4: How to Pick the Right Ghostwriter

Of course I’m going to say, “If you’re looking for the best ghostwriter, look no further.” But let’s think about how to pick the right writer for the job. First and foremost, you want someone who’s going to listen. You want someone who knows how to ask the right questions. You want someone who knows how to frame a message in an engaging way. Most of all, you want someone who knows how to write. 1. Blah, Blah, Blah The last thing anybody needs when they’re hiring a ghostwriter is someone who loves the sound of his or her own voice. What you really want is the opposite: someone who… Read More

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What a Ghostwriter Should Do for You

The #1 thing a ghostwriter should do for you is save your time. Of course a ghostwriter should deliver the best possible book around your message. That’s so basic to the ghostwriter/client relationship that it almost goes without saying. An excellent finished product though is all part of the time-saving function of a ghostwriter. Put another way, a ghostwriter should create the book you would create yourself if you only had the time to do it and the writing experience to do it flawlessly. A Ghostwriter Should Be Able to Understand Your Message A good ghostwriter should be able to learn what you’re trying to say so well that they can… Read More

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It’s About Your Time

Hiring a ghostwriter comes down to one simple factor: time. You’re the expert in your field. Of course you’re the best person to write a book about it. The problem is time. If you’ve never written a book before it’s easy to get stuck and spin your wheels. Given enough time, you could write the perfect book to cover your area of expertise. The trouble is, the expert is almost always the person with the least time available to write a book. Why Don’t Experts Have Time to Write a Book? Most experts in a given field know their subject matter back to front and up and down. They’re the go-to… Read More

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When to Hire a Ghostwriter

If you’ve been thinking about hiring a ghostwriter but you’re not sure if you should make the leap, this article has a list of considerations that can help with the decision. Generally, someone should hire a ghostwriter if they’ve got an excellent message, a pre-existing audience and have been fending off demands to write a book for years, but they just don’t have the time. 1. You’ve Got an Excellent Message If you’ve got the kind of message that makes people sit up and take notice, you might benefit from hiring a ghostwriter. Think of it this way: A good ghostwriter has all the perfect skills to tell a story but in… Read More

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Tom Gerencer Creative

Hi, I’m Tom Gerencer, professional writer of traffic-based articles, ghostwritten books, marketing copy, training video scripts and fiction. The price for fully researched, polished work comes to 10 to 15 cents a word. Looking for a blogger? Check out my page on that here. Need to hire a ghostwriter? Click here for details. For pricing info, click here. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Use the contact info below to call me or drop me a line. I’d be glad to hear what you’re trying to do.

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