OK, here's the deal in a nutshell:

I got laid off from my "real job" a few years ago when the recession hit. I was working on the periphery of the construction industry, supplying parts, materials, and subcontracted labor to contractors that were building gated communities in central Florida. The company for which I worked designed and built the actual "gate" part, providing the gates, the "operators" (the machines that open and close the gates), the phone boxes, card systems, and the other access-control devices that residents and visitors use to gain access.

This was a fairly lucrative field for many years, as construction was booming in this state. When it dried up, however, it dried up very quickly. I was one of the first people hired by the company, and when things went south I was one of the first to go. In early 2010 I was suddenly jobless and recently divorced, and I was desperate for money. When I was in college I made some extra money writing papers for my fellow students, and I got the idea to try doing it again. It was not my intention to do it for long; I simply wanted to get by while I looked for another "real job."

In a moment of serendipity I happened to be channel surfing one evening, and I stumbled across a report on one of the 20/20 or 60 Minutes-style news shows that featured an interview with an "academic ghostwriter." I was largely unaware of how extensive and far-reaching the ghostwriting industry had become in the age of the Internet. The interviewee, who was hidden in shadow and speaking anonymously, described how he worked for an online company that served the needs of students looking for help with papers. It is now all but impossible to plagiarize academic assignments, as most colleges (and many high schools) use services that scan papers for evidence of plagiarism. This has opened up the possibilities for ghostwriters, and opened up the options for students and anyone else who is in need of assistance with writing. Because plagiarism is no longer a option, buyers must pay for all-original content; as such, the price for such papers has gone up quite a bit. On average, I make about $20 per page (250 double-spaced words); papers not due right away may be $10-15 per page, while papers due in hours or a day may cost $25 or more per page.

Inspired by the interview with the ghostwriter, I went online in search of companies that provide such services. I soon found several that looked promising. In each case I was given a short writing prompt, and asked to write a single page in 30 minutes based on that prompt. By the following day I was up and running with two companies, and a few days later I had cranked out a dozen papers of varying length and subject matter. I also posted an ad on Craigslist offering my services as a ghostwriter, which received a surprisingly strong response. Over the past two years I have written about 300 papers for the two companies for whom I work, and several hundred more for my own clients. The word of mouth from my personal clients has meant that I no longer need to advertise on Craigslist; between the word of mouth and the steady stream of work from the online companies, I have had more work than I can handle. I have actually had to decline quite a few inquiries from potential clients, as there are simply not enough hours in the day to accommodate all the requests I receive.

In my next post I will discuss my "process," as I have learned to streamline my approach to academic ghostwriting to a degree that allows me to write about nearly any subject, and to achieve high marks on most of the papers I have authored (I earn As for about 95% of my clients on the first draft, and am happy to revise any work that does not earn an A until the grade improves).

Thanks for reading, and again, please feel free to leave comments, questions, suggestions, etc. See you soon.

Wow. Two years have gone by since my first (and only) post. It's hard for me to fathom that such a span exists between that post and this one, but there it is.

I jumped into the freelancing/ghostwriting thing feet first, and the word-of-mouth from satisfied clients has led to a stream of work that completely took me by surprise. I soon reached a point where the idea of blogging, or going on facebook, or doing anything that involved being in front of a computer when I wasn't working became abhorrent, and I ended up abandoning the effort to maintain this blog as soon as I had begun.

In recent months I have endeavored to strike a better balance between work and play. I have two young sons from my now-defunct marriage; one is five and the other is eight. Between writing for a living and spending time with them I have had little time for anything else. I have come to realize, however, that I absolutely must make time for other things, from having a social life to maintaining this blog. I read through my first post this morning, and was reminded that I began this bog with the intention of chronicling my efforts to write for a living. I don't have much to add to that theme at this moment, as I really need to take stock of the whirlwind in which I found myself for the last two years, and determine which bits of information would be helpful in that regard and which would not.

I see that 88 people have viewed this page since I first posted; I can only imagine that most or all were less than impressed with my complete lack of dedication to my mission statement. I fully intend to jump back into this blog, and post on as regular a basis as possible in service of my stated mission. For those who have visited, I thank you. For anyone else who comes along to read this, please stop long enough to say hello and let me know a bit about you, or at least a bit about what led you to check in here in the first place. As I noted earlier, I am entirely new to this process; I would surmise that any feedback I receive would at the very least help me to get a better grasp on what I could or should be doing here.

Thanks for reading; see you soon.

the ghostwriter

My first post

I couldn't be any less prepared for this task if I tried.

I really only know how to do a few things in life. Besides the basics, like eating, sleeping, and reproducing (all of which are more about biological imperatives than any particular set of skills), I only have a few other learned skills. I am an adequate, and occasionally even effective, writer. And I am a half-decent drummer (I used to play professionally before marriage and children came along). Unfortunately, that's about it. I'm past my expiration date as a potential rock star, so I'm left with writing.

Of late, I have been paying the bills by writing. More specifically, I have been ghostwriting academic papers and articles and such for other people (I suppose mentioning the "ghostwriting" part renders the "other people" part a tad redundant. Please forgive me; I tend to err on the side of providing too much information)

I would very much like to write for a living. I have several ideas for novels, and I also believe a memoir of how I spent my twenties and thirties may be of interest to some people (more on that at a later time).

I am 44 years old, and almost missed the boat on the technological revolution (for example, my high school got its first computer, and the computer class to go with it, the year after I graduated).

I was the last of my friends to get a cellphone, and I only acquired a laptop once I began writing in earnest, and it became necessary to free myself up to write at home, at the library, and places where wifi is available.

I have read that people actually make money from blogging. I literally have no idea whatsoever how that works. I don't read blogs (well, not yet anyway), and until this moment have never written a blog. Among other things, I hope that this experience will serve to educate me about that, and many other things.

I also hope that I will "meet" people, at least virtually, through this venture. Again, I don't yet know how that could or will happen, but I hope to find out.

I recently set up my first facebook page. I have one friend, an ex-girlfriend whom I will soon be defriending. It didn't end well. (more on that later as well).

In sum: I wish to make a living as a writer, and this is one of the things that I hope will somehow be helpful in fulfilling that dream. If anyone actually reads this, whether you have advice or comments or just want to let me know you're here, I implore you to please contact me. Say hello, tell me about your blog, whatever. Just get in touch.

OK, that's it for now. My plan, as of now, is to post as regularly as possible, and to chronicle the learn-as-I-go process of becoming a blogger/writer/etc.

Thanks for reading, if you are indeed reading, and I will be back soon.