Should you write it or outsource it?

19 replies
I am getting ready to create my first eBook, and I am wondering if I should sit down and write it, or hire a ghost writer to create it for me.

Words come easily when I am being interviewed and asked the right questions, but when I sit down to write my mind goes blank.

Do you have a successful experience with a ghost writer that you can share? Where did you find him/her? how was your process? what to do and not do?

Thanks!
#outsource #write
  • Profile picture of the author Aromo
    It depends. If you know well your topic and can write well I suggest to write it yourself. If you begin writing everything come in you mind do not afraid. Every begins hard. Just sit down and start writing. Anything. Then you will know what should write.

    Anyway outsourcing is a good way because you save a lot of time.
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  • Profile picture of the author ktmakwana
    In the past couple of weeks, I had the need to outsource to a writer to create an ebook.

    After researching on the forum, I came across a thread which was of interested. Discussed the project with the warrior, agreed price and time scale to complete the project.

    Jonathan completed the project on time and produced good quality content.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warriors...-graphics.html

    If you can afford to outsource it then it is a good option thus giving you the time to focus on tasks that you do not feel comfortable outsourcing.
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    • Profile picture of the author loi77
      Originally Posted by ktmakwana View Post

      In the past couple of weeks, I had the need to outsource to a writer to create an ebook.

      After researching on the forum, I came across a thread which was of interested. Discussed the project with the warrior, agreed price and time scale to complete the project.

      Jonathan completed the project on time and produced good quality content.

      http://www.warriorforum.com/warriors...-graphics.html

      If you can afford to outsource it then it is a good option thus giving you the time to focus on tasks that you do not feel comfortable outsourcing.
      Thank very much for your information regarding the eBook service. This is exactly what I am looking for. English is not my mother tongue, so you can imagine writing content is a real challenge for me.

      I'll certainly find out more about Jonathan's WSO. By the look of things, I am already his long term customer LOL.


      Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author Dimitris Skiadas
    Outsourcing has worked excellent for me in the past..You can always find nice proffessional people that will do an excellent job for you for the right amount of money you want to spend.

    If you are having a hard time writing your own e-book, why not outsource it to someone who is familiar and knows what he's doing?

    Cheers!

    Dimitris
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Olson
    If writing isn't your forte then outsource. I've had success using writersacess.com.
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  • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
    Originally Posted by markethacker View Post

    I am getting ready to create my first eBook, and I am wondering if I should sit down and write it, or hire a ghost writer to create it for me.

    Words come easily when I am being interviewed and asked the right questions, but when I sit down to write my mind goes blank.

    Do you have a successful experience with a ghost writer that you can share? Where did you find him/her? how was your process? what to do and not do?

    Thanks!
    If you know the topic but still do not want to write it yourself, then you could write the table of contents yourself then find a writer to fill in the actual content of the ebook according to the outline you've made.

    I think this would also help get a more reasonable price for the ebook (assuming you agree to a price at the beginning), as the writer could more easily estimate how much work it would be.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jit Lim
    Its a tough one. I've experienced both good and bad in previous outsourcing. Found a great one through WF here. Key thing is to check the person's credibility on the forum, perhaps contacting a few of his previous clients for reference. You might end up paying a bit more, but its worth it considering the frustrations, time, money etc. Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author surferchris
    If you have the resources and lack time, I would definitely opt for outsourcing. If you are confident in your writing skills and have the luxury of time, then I suggest you create your own
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    You have one other alternative that I think is neglected far too often.

    If you are writing your own posts here, you have a fairly good grip on English. If you have a lot of original info that you want your book to contain - write it yourself as well as possible, then hire an editor instead of a writer. As long as the amount of editing needed is reasonable, having it edited can be much cheaper than hiring a competent and creative writer.
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    • Profile picture of the author jessicalynn
      Originally Posted by markethacker View Post

      I am getting ready to create my first eBook, and I am wondering if I should sit down and write it, or hire a ghost writer to create it for me.

      Words come easily when I am being interviewed and asked the right questions, but when I sit down to write my mind goes blank.

      Do you have a successful experience with a ghost writer that you can share? Where did you find him/her? how was your process? what to do and not do?

      Thanks!
      If you have an easier time speaking rather than writing, maybe you could get a piece of speech recognition software? Then you could "speak" your ebook.

      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      You have one other alternative that I think is neglected far too often.

      If you are writing your own posts here, you have a fairly good grip on English. If you have a lot of original info that you want your book to contain - write it yourself as well as possible, then hire an editor instead of a writer. As long as the amount of editing needed is reasonable, having it edited can be much cheaper than hiring a competent and creative writer.
      This is another really great idea.

      Or, instead of writing the entire thing yourself, write a very detailed outline. Then provide it to a writer who can expand on the concepts.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
      Banned
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      You have one other alternative that I think is neglected far too often.

      If you are writing your own posts here, you have a fairly good grip on English. If you have a lot of original info that you want your book to contain - write it yourself as well as possible, then hire an editor instead of a writer. As long as the amount of editing needed is reasonable, having it edited can be much cheaper than hiring a competent and creative writer.
      Best answer in the thread if you ask me. You can also flip it and do it this way: have someone ghost write and then go through and then fine tune it yourself.
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    • Profile picture of the author James Gladwell
      Quick idea for you:

      If you're good in interviews, then either get someone to interview you and record it, or write interview questions and then just answer them out loud and record it.

      That way, you have an audio product pretty much ready-made and you can send the audio to a transcription service and have them transcribe it for you. when you get the transcription back, just tidy it up and add some formatting to make your e-book.

      Job done!
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  • Profile picture of the author DannyO
    The question is where do your strengths lie - do you know the topic which you want to write inside out, would an expert be able to deliver a better view point than you? Is your writing standard good? Excellent? If not, perhaps a writer would be better.

    As with all things, play to your strengths and outsource the rest.
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  • Profile picture of the author PhilippaWrites
    If you find it easier, try recording your voice while you talk about your subject, then see if what you have said would translate well to writing. If not, look at outsourcing to somebody who can do a great job for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    First make an outline of the sales page (or optin page) you want to use. Go nuts recording all the features and benefits of the book you want to include. Just doing this is going to get the creative juices flowing. Keep doing it as long as the ideas come. You'll find you have a lot more material than you realized.

    Once you have a really detailed sales outline, one that will WOW your potential customers, then it's easy to write the book. Just make it as good as you described it in the sales outline. Even people who suck at writing (not the case with you) do this and knock out some really killer products because creating the sales outline first gets them pumped up to produce a really, really great quality product. Try it, you'll see. It works every time.
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  • Profile picture of the author PhilippaWrites
    Travlinguy's post there reminded me that Pat Flynn has a good free ebook about writing an ebook, working along similar lines, i.e. planning it out really thoroughly and how to go about it from there. If you decide to do it yourself that is.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicolelwriting
    Possibly look into the old fashioned way of writing out your ideas too and noting down whatever comes to mind in a notebook.
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  • Profile picture of the author Simon Haestoe
    Whatever you decide to do: re-purpose. re-purposing means, if you write an ebook, you turn it into audio, as well; through reading the book, outloud, or hiring someone to do it for you. If you do this, you can charge more; for book+audio in a package. Then, maybe you could turn the book into a video with powerpoint slides? Then, when you have those three things, You can turn the whole thing into a physical product, with the book and audio+video on dvds, and charge much more. Also: in creating the e-book, you can use Dragon Naturally Speaking - meaning you talk the book out and DNS transcribes it into text - which speeds up the process.
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