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.