You can only be good at so many things. Someone who is a successful businessman who has led thousands of meetings will have all the charisma and business acumen in the world, but that doesn’t mean they will be a good writer. They could have an excellent grasp on their field of expertise, but they may not be able to explain it as well to a general audience.
That is where your business book ghostwriter will come in. They must understand two things: business and writing. Everything else is just a bonus.
What it Takes to Write a Book
A book isn’t just words on paper, even though it might seem that way. Not all books are created equal, either. Authoring a novel is fundamentally different from a business-focused book that gives us real-world advice and information. The latter requires an entirely different set of skills and writing ability to pull off, and sometimes might even need some skillsets outside of the writing space.
Professionalism, for example, is different across the business world. Some cultures conduct business differently from others. American corporate culture, for example, is a world of cutthroat competition and practices, whereas Japanese cultures put hard work and long hours above everything else.
The ghostwriter working on your book needs to understand this culture and the differences and capture that in the book. This takes more than just writing skills, and if you are hiring a freelancer for it, it is always a good idea to be very much in communication with them and provide them with ideas and context.
Hiring a Business Book Ghostwriter Agency
Another thing you can do is to go with an agency. Having a single ghostwriter can sometimes be more expensive and time-consuming than an agency and can even take more time. Of course, this also depends on how involved you want to be.
If you are looking to conduct one-to-one interviews or just talk to them about the subject, giving them tips and ideas and telling them about your expertise so they can put them into words, then a single freelancer is great for you.
An agency, however, does something different. They can still do all the writing you need, but they can be somewhat different in how they operate. Agencies typically have teams working on your book, so the level of communication required is significantly less. An agency will typically provide regular updates and will have consultants on your specific subject. There is far less micromanagement there, but that depends on how you want your book to be.
Of course, there is also creating the thematic style of the book, its design, its cover, etc. Agencies typically have professional book cover designers working for them, and everything can be included in the package as well.
What is Your Involvement in the Process
Speaking of what you want the book to be, you, as the expert in your field, will want to be very clear about what the book is going to be about. If you have some specific insights into your business, then the business book ghostwriter still needs guidance on those insights.
Books have a structure to them, and whereas you might think you will have to reveal all the details, a ghostwriter might think differently. They will have a structure in mind, taking each chapter in mind. If your book has ten chapters, each should have some important information in it, so they might break apart your insights and put one in each chapter. Each of these decisions takes plenty of discussion and forethought.
The Tonality and Language Issue
No, we are not talking about different languages, but the business vernacular that most businessmen go with, and the meaning of what they say is lost to a general audience. A business book ghostwriter is critical in preventing that tonality issue. Remember, you aren’t just talking to industry peers (unless you are), you are talking to everyone else.
One particular method to do this is to simplify the language. Going ‘agile’ to ‘pivot’ the business every ‘fiscal quarter’ are quite a few business terms that need to be simplified. A good writer will rephrase that in a way that everyone can understand. While these terms are relatively tame and easy to understand for most audiences, they serve as effective examples of being out of touch with general audiences. That’s not bad, but it should be acknowledged that it affects you as an author.
What to Do After You’ve Completed Your Manuscript?
This is something most aspiring authors will not consider, is that once your book is written, you are only halfway there. For some, writing the book isn’t even the hardest part, but to get it published. Before that happens, you need a book cover, complete with a spine and title art. You can search for professional book cover designers after the fact, but it pays to have an agency on hand who will also offer these services as part of their ghostwriting packages.
Self-Publishing and Building a Brand
Working with publishing houses is a difficult process. There is endless scrutiny and very few creative liberties that authors can take. Some of the big-name publishing houses can take many years to get a book published, and even if you make all the changes they request, with very little room for negotiation.
In true businessman fashion, most of those who write books today tend to self-publish. Even some of the most recognized authors have publishing woes. While self-publishing does lack the resources and reach that publishing houses have, you can truly take control of the outcome by building a personal brand or even using your business to promote it.
Your Personal Brand
Personal branding–at least in the digital-centric world today, means to market your own personality, or at least through it. It’s certainly not easy, but business leaders are uniquely suited for that opportunity. For one, they will most likely already be used to talking to crowds and leading the energy of a room. They will also have the charisma and leadership qualities they need to demonstrate a marketable personality.
There are plenty of examples for effectively building a personal brand. Matthew McConaughey, for example, is mostly known for his acting roles. However, he also built a personal brand around motivational speaking and used that personal branding to market his book, Greenlights.
Another internet personality, Niel Patel, is all about entrepreneurship and using the digital world to your advantage. His book, Hustle, is all about the same, and that helped him rocket the book to bestselling status.
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