At the moment, he is on my TV showing off a toy gnome created in his likeness, while exuberantly exclaiming things like “gnome-tacular,” “gnom-ians” and “Deedle deedle dee, I’m a gnome!” Gotta love a good character.

As a ghostwriter, I’ve written about many different characters. Some people might this this as an unusual way of describing the real life people I write about in business, biographical and other nonfiction books. I see it as a way of adding impact to the creative process – and it’s wicked fun!

Beards and gnomes aside, we are each one-of-a-kind characters with unique stories to tell – whether of business, of life passions, of life in general or otherwise. When writing on behalf of someone else, in my mind they become a character, the main character in the book. The people they talk about, supporting characters. Their words and information conveyed to me, the plotline. Each book tells a story and I always feel privileged to be the one who gets to tell it.

The most exciting part of the ghostwriting process for me, quite honestly, is the development phase. Just like a good novelist, this is when I figure out and flesh out the book characters, discover the story that needs to be told and brainstorm the best, most creative way to tell it. I have also been known to select a song or group of songs as my “inspiration music” for a new project.

In the world of baseball, the development phase is like the pitcher warming up in the bullpen before the game. Brian Wilson, in the same TV segment today, said that this is by far his favorite part of the game. Not the actual experience of being on the mound, pitching or successfully saving the game – but the preparation process (which, like mine, also includes music).

In the world of ghostwriting, I know that the more I prepare, and the more fun (creativity is F-U-N!) I have in development, the better, and less painfully, the actual writing process goes. And for those times when the pipelines of creativity do get clogged, I might have to track down one of those Beard gnomes and make it my imagination good luck charm. Baseball players aren’t the only superstitious characters.

“Would you have guessed, back at the beginning, that your business would ever BE like this?”

I think my mom (aka #1 lifetime fan, cheerleader and muse) meant successful, although the first words that popped into my mind were, insanely busy. Moms have a way of instantly giving you the 10,000-foot view of your life. As a close observer of Christine, Ink. since its inception in 2003, she is of course privy to all the triumphs and challenges of turning a freelance writing career into an actual small business. During our Mother’s Day chat, she reminded me of when I was “living in that box” (small L.A. apartment next to the freeway) scraping together little copywriting jobs to make ends meet and constantly charting a course for business success, even during times when it seemed to be an impossible dream.

The more we talked about what was then and what is now, the more I started thinking about WHY. I have the unfortunate habit of seeing success, as it happens, as a combination of blessings, luck, and maybe, just maybe something that I perhaps did to contribute (but mostly luck). I’m working on shifting the balance of that trifecta.

“But if you think about it, look at how hard you’ve always worked, even when you didn’t have to!”

Mom had a good point. I thought back to living in the box, fighting tooth and nail to get my business off the ground in those earlier years. When I first became self-employed (a few years before officially starting Christine, Ink.) I established the habit, modeled after Thomas Edison, of “clocking in and clocking out” every day; a valuable productivity and accountability tool. To this day, when my butt hits my office chair every morning, I note the time on a little yellow notepad, and when I close up shop for the day, I note the time again and tally the hours. Every week I add up the hours, enter the total into a “time clock” spreadsheet and look for trends, averages, etc.; a productivity audit of sorts.

Back in the lean days of my business, even though I didn’t always have the billable client work to fill at least 8 hours per day, I would find other ways to fill those hours. Networking, often four out of five days per week, creating marketing materials, building organizational systems, developing my business strategy and message, and working on my craft, writing (for myself, non-billable hours) incessantly. I refused to sit around and wait for customers, money, and billable hours to find me. “Acting as if,” I dug in and worked tirelessly on my business as if it were a Fortune 500 corporation, there in my little studio sized box next to the freeway.

By reminding me of these years, my mom answered her own question. Would I have guessed? Of course not! Statistically, far more small businesses fail than succeed. So yes, I know I’m blessed and I know there is luck (and a lot of cheerleading from my mom) involved. EVERY small business owner works his or her ass off and it would be insane for me to say that “working harder than you have to” is the simple answer to the success that has blessed me. Each success story is unique to the hard working entrepreneur at the heart of it.

Today, I am far from the freeway and rather than scraping together jobs, I’m scraping together time to complete the work on my plate (thankfully alongside my AWESOME Team Ink!). I have no complaints, except for the occasional puppy fart wafting up from underneath my desk – this actually just happened now, I’m not kidding. All that’s left now is to “Act As If” I can only smell the roses.

“So as a ghostwriter, do you write books for people who don’t want their name on a book cover so they use yours instead?”

Yes, that’s right, I write for mob informants in hiding. Of all the frequently asked questions I get about ghostwriting, this wins the “Bizarro World” award. (Seinfeld fans will recall this as a world of opposites.) 

Q: So what DO you do then?
A: As a ghostwriter, I write books for people who want their names on a book cover but need a little help, ranging from collaboration to the whole shebang – all the words, cover to cover.

Q: Don’t you ever want to see your own name on a book cover?
A: Sometimes… although I’m so busy writing other people’s books that I’ll probably have to hire my own ghostwriter someday!

Q: What kinds of books do you ghostwrite?
A: Nonfiction, biographies, personal development, even fiction style stories. I specialize in the ultra personal and ultra creative; often taking on projects that other ghostwriters aren’t exactly lining up, quill in hand, to tackle.

Q: How do you know what to write?
A: My mom can confirm that I’ve enjoyed the art of conversation since a young age. Ghostwriting involves a series of phone conversations where as a literary therapist I extract what is needed from the client’s psyche to tell their story the way they would tell it.

Q: How do your clients edit your work, add to it, and offer suggestions?
A: I prefer Microsoft Word tracked changes but faxed hard copy edits are also acceptable. Although, based on the range of technological savvy I’ve seen, one of these days I’m fully expecting a carrier pigeon with the edits in its beak to come knocking on my office window.

Q: Can you tell me which books you’ve written?
A: No.

Q: Why not?
A: Because someone is liable to send mob informants after me.

We are deep into the age of American Idol, The Voice, and a variety of other variety shows that have transformed constructive criticism into an art form. Holding a magnifying glass up to one’s flaws and learning how to improve has become a thriving industry ranging from the afore mentioned reality talent competitions to personal and business coaching services.

On the literary side of things, you might call me the somewhat nicer, non-British Simon Cowell of manuscripts. Authors hire me in the role of “Managing Editor” to perform a comprehensive review of their manuscript, mark it up with one of my favorite Microsoft Word features, “tracked changes” and then assemble an extremely candid Managing Editor’s report with my professional opinions detailing – where I believe the manuscript is now, what I think they should do to make it better, and ways they can do this.

This is not to say that I’m right, you’re wrong and you should mindlessly do everything I say. My opinion is one of many available to an aspiring author. They could also ask their spouse, friends, family, or writing group for their two cents; biased opinions to say the least because of their personal connections to the author. Here’s how this usually plays out: “Good for you, you wrote a book! I really liked the way you described that birdhouse on page 63. That was very descriptive and reminded me of my childhood birdhouse.” On a similar note, I’m sure many aspiring singers, prior to being torn to shreds by Simon Cowell on American Idol, were told by friends and family that they sounded exactly like Celine Dion and/or Elvis.

Aspiring artists and authors need the ongoing love and support of their family and friends to find the courage to walk into the American Idol audition room and, in literary land, to have the courage to share their words on that daunting blank white page. My job isn’t to shoot down dreams, hurt  feelings, or in any way suggest that someone give up their dream of becoming a published author. It’s the exact opposite. When I have the privilege of reading and reviewing an author’s manuscript – their words, their story - my passion for the written word drives my mission to help that author’s vision for their book become a reality, by matching intention with execution. I have enjoyed this process dozens and dozens of times and the experience of opening an author’s manuscript for the first time to begin my review, is always exciting. I’ll bet that even Mr. Cynical himself, Simon Cowell experiences that moment of joy right before a new singer opens their mouth and begins to sing, the moment of – “THIS just might be great.” Or, “This just might be bloody great” in his case.

For instance, here at Christine, Ink. our message is that we communicate to your audience what it is that you do – with creativity, continuity, clarity and impact. And as a group of self-proclaimed creative visionaries (because if you don’t declare yourself a creative visionary, who will?), our brand identity gives us the flexibility to transmit that message in creative, sometimes unconventional ways.

Which begs the question – does “conventional” even exist anymore?

At one point in the history of the business, impactful advertising simply required “thinking outside the box.” But looking at advertising today, I get the feeling that “the box” was detonated a long time ago.

Here are some examples of print ads that our Ink team member Michele found to be impactful. Please let us know what you think and share examples of your favorite ads on our Facebook fan page.    

Harley Davidson cologne ad. Look how perfectly biker-dude this guy is. But are you really a biker dude without the wind in your hair? Don't worry, Harley Davidson has you covered. Now, you can look totally awesome, even on snowy days when riding your bike isn't practical!

This ad is simple and to the point. Free hotel rooms at the Grand Sierra. The "fine print" is even big enough to read without a magnifying glass. Proof that you do not need to be elaborate in order to create impact with advertising.

Rosie the Riveter is a classic. To this day, she is world famous. Many American homes have Rosie the Riveter ads on their wall. And her simple, encouraging message, "We can do it!" worked! According to the ad council, 2 million women joined the workforce during WWII, inspired by Rosie. The right words make all the difference in print ads.