Selected Articles from Cross & Quill

Cecil (Cec) Murphey is a New York Times bestselling author and international speaker. He is "The Man Behind the Words" and the author or co-author of 112 published books, including the bestseller 90 Minutes in Heaven (with Don Piper). His books have sold millions and have been translated into more than 30 languages. His newest book, When Someone You Love Has Cancer, released in January 2009. Cec has also written hundreds of articles that have appeared in a variety of publications. He stays busy as a professional writer and travels extensively to speak on many topics such as Christian living, spiritual growth, prayer, caregiving, significant living, male sexual abuse, and writing.

In 2007, Cec received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from The Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. He was recognized not only for his excellent writing but also for his selfless mentoring in the Christian writing community.

For more information about Cec, visit his website: www.themanbehindthewords.com.

This article on ghostwriting was taken from the May/ June 2008 issue of Cross & Quill.

Becoming A Ghostwriter

Cecil (Cec) B. Murphey, Atlanta, Georgia

"I’ve lived such an interesting life,” she said.

"Do you know anyone who's lived a boring life?" I didn't say those words but I thought them.

At least once a week someone asks me to write his or her story, and I have to decide whether to write it. One woman was slashed 53 times and survived. A father lost his wife and both his sons to a rare form of cancer. A 50-year-old woman, bedridden with serious heart problems was anointed with oil by her pastor and the elders. The next day she was healed.

They're all interesting and unusual stories. But are they books? Probably not. There are thousands of stories like these which will never see print.

A second and perhaps more important reason to consider writing a story is what we call platform. Does the person have a speaking ministry? Publishers not only want good stories, but they also want people who are able to speak to crowds of people. Obviously, the more they speak the more books they sell.

For example, I wrote 90 Minutes in Heaven (and three follow-up books) for Don Piper. His story was unique and Don was already a preacher with many contacts. In 2007, Don spoke 265 times. As good as the story is, without Don's platform, that book would probably have sold about 8,000 copies instead of three million in English (and translated into 29 other languages).

Today, almost all publishers buy books based on book proposals. One element of that proposal is "Author Promotion." In this type of publishing, I'm the writer; the other person is the author. What can the author do to make the book sell? The willingness to appear on the 700 Club or Oprah doesn't count.

There are other factors before I consider a story. I have to feel positively that it's a book I'd like to write. Is it a subject that I can get passionate about? I've had opportunities to write exposés. I turned them down. I want to write books that uplift and encourage. I'm not against people who want to write books that argue for a cause or expose an evil, but those aren't areas that grab me. Recently I had an offer to write a book for a financial wizard. It's a book that will sell well, but it doesn’t excite me.

Something else: I need to feel a kinship with the author. I have to like the individual and sense the person trusts me. Until the book is finished, I'll become that author's best friend, confidant, and therapist. I'll learn secrets. At least once I'll hear, "I've never told this to anyone before, but…" I assure them that nothing goes into print without their permission.

Money is another factor. As a full-time, freelance writer, this is my source of income. Sometimes people approach me and say, "If you write my book I know it will be a big seller. I'll share the profits with you."

Sharing the profits is a given, but why should writers take all the risks? The author needs to have up-front money to pay a ghostwriter during the writing period. I charge a fee to write a book proposal. I offer no guarantee that the book will sell, although most of them have. By the time I've finished writing the proposal, I figure I've written about 60 percent of the book.

If the book doesn't sell, I've been paid for my labor. If it sells, I refund the money, and we sign a contract with the publisher and split the royalties.

"How much do you charge?" is a question I often hear from those who want to ghostwrite. When I began my freelance career, I charged by the hour. On top of that I added travel expenses, transcription of the tapes, and postage. That arrangement wasn't satisfactory for me, because people asked, "What will be the total cost?"

Here's a method that works for me. If it's an autobiography, the subjects provide most of the information. I do some research but mostly to verify facts and dates. If' it's an exercise or diet book, I expect the authors to provide the information and proof that their practices work. I still do a limited amount of checking on the facts and results.

I tell the subjects how long it will take me to write the book. I've done this work full time since 1984, so I can normally do a book in three to four months, although occasionally it's longer. I know how much money I need to make in one year, so I say something like this, "This book will take four months of my professional life. I'll do your book for one-third of my annual income." The only other charge to them is my travel expenses. I usually travel to them, but occasionally they visit me.

I ask them to pay half of the agreed-on price before we start and the second half when they're satisfied with my work.

I always have a contract. A well-known evangelist once cheated me out of several thousand dollars because we didn't have anything in writing. I write a simple covenant in which I explain exactly what I expect of the author and what I, the writer, will do. I don't use legal jargon but I explain the terms.

Everything has a downside and that includes ghostwriting. The most obvious is that ghostwriters don't get recognition.

Even if their name is on the cover, most people don't notice. At a booksigning in Atlanta, I sat on Don Piper's right and people in line came to me first. My name is on the cover of 90 Minutes in Heaven and Daily Devotions Inspired by 90 Minutes in Heaven. I held out my hand to take a book from a woman to sign it and pass it on to Don.

"Who are you?" she asked. "I don't want you to write in my book."

After I pointed to my name on the cover, she said, "I guess you did have something to do with it. Okay, go ahead and sign my book." That remains one of my favorite stories.

Second, ghostwriters rarely receive opportunities to appear on talk shows, do interviews, or receive any publicity. Early in my ghostwriting career, I had to sign a contract for one celebrity that said I would not publicly acknowledge that I had written for him.

Another factor is that celebrities can be extremely demanding and seem unaware of that reality. Here's an illustration. I had contracted with a publisher to ghostwrite a book on marriage. For almost a month after I had signed the contract, I heard nothing. One day I answered the phone and Celebrity said, "There is a Delta flight leaving Atlanta in three hours. I'll have someone meet your plane." He never asked about my availability.

After I arrived, he would work with me for perhaps half an hour and leave to attend a business meeting. That went on for four days. I had a total of about five hours with him. I decided to return to Atlanta. "But I have a free hour tomorrow evening," he said.

He expected me to stay over another full day to get one hour of his time. I tried to be diplomatic but firm and came home. He couldn't understand why I would turn down the opportunity for another hour with him.

As ghostwriter, not only do we not get publicity, but we probably have no editorial rights. That depends on the contract, but during my early years, I wrote manuscripts and after the celebrity okayed everything, mailed them to the publisher. No one consulted me about any editing done. I now receive editorial rights as part of my contract.

A few authors demand endless rewrites. One famous preacher insisted I sit in his office with him and his secretary. He read every sentence aloud. The two of them discussed the sentence and decided whether to keep, delete, or change it. I made all the changes they wanted and went through a second oral reading. And finally a third. He was demanding in other ways, but that was the worst.

Finally, there is a matter of temperament. Most of us ghostwriters think we can write for anyone. That's not true. There are some people with whom we can't work. It's not a matter of blame, but only to say, "Our temperaments don't match."

Here are a few final thoughts about the temperament of a ghostwriter.

1. Don't try ghostwriting/collaborating because it sounds easy. It's hard work.

2. Personality issues sometimes erupt.

3. Don't try to impose your beliefs or correct their theology. It's not your book.

4. As you listen, you need to empathize with the author. Can you feel the other's pain? sadness? heartache? Not everyone can.

I'm amazed at writers who say, "Oh, sure, I can feel what they feel." The ability to feel what another person experiences is a gift from God and not every writer has that talent.

Should you become a ghostwriter? Does it excite you? Ask a few people you trust if they think you can get into the heads and hearts of other people. If you've been published, ask an editor who has worked with you.

1. When the writer isn't named and that happened to me with books such as Franklin Graham's Rebel with a Cause, I was called a ghostwriter. Nowadays my name appears on the book and "with" is before my name. I'm now called a collaborator.

Cec is the writer or co-writer of more than 100 books, including 90 Minutes in Heaven and Heaven Is Real. He writes about nonfiction topics such as Christian living and caregiving. Although he has written fiction under pseudonyms, his first mystery in his own name, Everybody Loves Roger Harden (Barbour), was released this year.

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