As we have already discussed, most ghostwriting companies are Print-on-Demand firms that bring in clients by offering ghostwriting services, with the actual writing of books subcontracted out to inexperienced writers (often moonlighters) around the country. They literally create their POD business by having manuscripts cheaply written so they can then upsell customers on further services, such as printing and marketing. Let's look at the marketing part of these "package deals" that ghostwriting companies offer.
The ghostwriting companies, once they have hooked a client, are really enthusiastic about a client's book, whether already written or in need of editing or outright ghostwriting. As one of their clients told me, "They absolutely loved my book and said that it was going to be a big hit!" For people who don't know much about publishing or the literary marketplace, the hopes of a bestselling book blind the client to the fact that he or she is getting a sales pitch, pure and simple.
Once a book is printed by one of these companies, the firms do their level best to get thousands of dollars more to market the book, and some of these alleged "ghostwriting companies" actually advertise that their specialty is marketing books. The truth is that they usually sell almost no books at all. (They may actually put effort into one or two occasionally in order to point to something when they get sued, and they receive numerous complaints about all phases of their operations.) As the woman above said, "I gave my company $4,999.99 and they didn't sell a single book. I turned around and did some blogging and work on Facebook and sold a hundred copies myself and without their help."
So why aren't the marketing strategies of ghostwriting companies effective? First, they send out press releases and to a few hundred bloggers, newspapers, newsletters, and others that have some connection to the publishing industry, even if rather tenuous. They also send out advance PDF files of the books to reviewers. Here's the problem: the people who get these press releases and advance copies are not really interest in the books they read or hear about. They may not even deal in the genre of the book that is being promoted. They may eventually mention the book, write a quick review, or simply put up a link to the book's website, if it has one. Sometimes they do nothing at all. Does any of this sell books? Almost never?
The truth is that anyone can send out press releases, request reviews, and do their own blogging and social media promotion--and they can do it more effectively. And yes, they can do it for free.
Another truth is that the companies charge a marketing fee and don't even bother to send out the press releases or requests for reviews at all. Many clients have told me that the ghostwriting firms did nothing at all.
P. T. Barnum said that there's a sucker born every minute. Thousands of people want to write and sell books. Regrettably, they know nothing about publishing and become the victims of questionable business practices. The companies technically fulfill the terms of the contract (usually), but here's the rub: what the contract promises isn't worth a plug nickel in the real world of publishing.
~William Hammett
Contact wmhammett@aol.com
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