Registration opens July 31, 2020
Prerequisite: Introduction to Ghostwriting. These units take you through the entire process from top to bottom. They’ll provide the foundation you need to command $35,000+ fees.
- Unit 2: Ghostwriting Psych 101 (18 weeks)
This unit, the “gold” of the Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program, covers ghostwriting theory and creative analysis intricacies and effectiveness, plus how to deconstruct, fix, and restructure any manuscript for optimal author and reader satisfaction. Topics include:Ghostwriting Psych 101: Overview
An introduction to the units, transitional steps, internal and external impressions, learning phases, creative-analysis concepts, and client/project rules necessary to advance from a freelance writer to a GPDP Professional-Designation Ghostwriter.Structure Theory
An introduction to Slinky flow, structure parameters, the five-step structure process, and the elements of nonfiction and fiction structure.Chart & Map
How to develop and utilize nonfiction/memoir charts and fiction maps.Creative Analysis
An introduction to creative analysis, its uses and elements, its contribution to the structure process, and its importance to closing high-fee gigs.Mine for Gold
How to define “gold,” find the “gold,” and spin the “gold” in any presenting manuscript or unwritten project.Applied Analysis: BISACs
How to use industry classification and placement to determine a book’s focus.Markets v. Booksellers v. Audience
The differences between industry market, booksellers (physical and online), and a title’s reading audience.Ghostwriting Psych 101: A&Rs
The underlying psychological required to apply the knowledge and skills gained to date to GPDP’s proprietary sales tool.Applied Analysis: Nonfiction
How to apply creative analysis to a nonfiction manuscript, typical nonfiction issues, the difference between content disruptions and deal breakers, and who we can and cannot do about them.
Nonfiction Straw to Gold
Why ghostwriters must find the gold in manuscript issues, and how to combine business, analysis, and pragmatism to turn them into ghostwriting gold.Nonfiction Templates
The five most common nonfiction templates and the creative FreeForm exception.
Nonfiction Analysis Drafts
The purpose of a written nonfiction analysis and the sequence of drafts often needed to move from disapproving to encouraging.
Fiction Parameters
The differences between writing and ghostwriting fiction; who novelist clients are and what to expect from them; fiction elements and rules; and ghostwriting’s fiction limitations.
Plot and Characters
The ghostwriter’s perspective on fiction structure, architecture, and character studies, what readers expect from a good novel, and the scope of PMA character traits ghostwriters can and cannot impose.
Applied Analysis: Fiction
An exploration of fiction’s deal breakers and content disruptions.Fiction Straw to Gold
How to apply focused ingenuity on extracted PMA traits to turn fiction deal breakers and disruptions into improvement opportunities.Meet in the Middle
How to use an old Hollywood trick to fix, bolster, or complete a novel’s plot.
Fiction Analysis Drafts
The sequence of drafts often necessary to move from discouraging to encouraging to enticing for fiction clients. - Unit 3: Ghostwriting Tech (8 weeks)
This unit covers the deepest-held secret of professional ghostwriting—the “intuitive” skill vital for every aspect of professional ghostwriting, from concept development through landing the gig. Topics include:Ghostwriting Theory
What ghostwriters must do to make a manuscript work; the scope of what ghostwriters can do to achieve that goal; the scope of what ghostwriters cannot and must not do.Tells
How to identify author tells, and how to maintain those tells through the ghostwriting and editing processes.Chart to Chapter
The sequence from charting a nonfiction manuscript to ghostwriting fully developed chapters.Ghostwrite Nonfiction
How to construct a nonfiction chapter, special memoir considerations, and how to manipulate narrative, dialogue, examples, and illustrations.Nonfiction Drafts
The seven steps between finishing a draft and submitting it for review (or to a client).Map to Chapters
The sequence from mapping a fiction manuscript to ghostwriting fully developed, plot/character-integrated scenes and chapters.Ghostwrite Fiction
What the ghostwriter can correct in a fiction manuscript, and the lengths to which they can (and cannot) go to make those corrections.Fiction Drafts
A recap of the seven steps between finishing a draft and submitting it for review (or to a client). - Unit 4: Musical Line Editing (8 weeks)
This unit explores the apex of editorial revision: music, rhythm, and impact. Topics include:
Musical Line Edit (MLE) Theory/Technique
Introduction to the “auto read” concept; how to eliminate unnecessary passive verbs and prepositions; how to use the MLE to correct structure, content, and ghostwriting issues; how to use the MLE to drag and accentuate drive.Ghostwriting vs. Editing
The differences between freelance, publisher, and MLE liberties and restrictions.Music & Rhythm
An auditory exploration of how MLE impacts the written word.MLE Drafts
The progression of: eliminate passive/static phrases, rearrange for Slinky flow, compound tight ideas, stand alone impact.Applied Nonfiction Technique
Real-time Nonfiction MLE demonstration.Applied Fiction Technique
Real-time Fiction MLE demonstration. - Unit 5: Industry Submissions (4 weeks)
This unit delves into selling the final analyzed, structured, written/rewritten, and musically edited property to literary agents, traditional publishers, and supply-chain entities. Topics include:Return on Investment
What it takes for an author to recoup their publisher’s (or their own) investment in their book.Proposals # 1
How to create the Book Contents, Book Details, Author Bio, and Promotion sections of an industry standard Book Proposal.Proposals #2
How to create the Competition, Market, and Overview sections of an industry standard Book Proposal; how to arrange and package a Book Proposal for submission to literary agents and acquisition editors.Fiction
How to write an industry-standard synopsis; how to create an industry-standard fiction proposal.Industry Submission
How to write an effective query letter; where to research agents and non-agent-required publishers; how to create a submission log. - Unit 6: Build Your Business (6 weeks)
AVAILABLE ONLY TO THOSE WHO HAVE EARNED AN 80% OR HIGHER AVERAGE ON ALL PREVIOUS UNITS.
This wrap-up unit explains how to put all your knowledge, skills, and tools to use to create, sustain, and grow your ghostwriting business. Topics include:
Bestseller Strategy Plans
How to create the Overview, Author Intro, Action Plan, Competitive Pitches, Q&As, Book Details Checklist, and implementation log for a self-publisher’s Bestseller Strategy Plan.
Analysis and Recommendations
A full-course review; how to create a compelling, “gold” oriented Analysis & Recommendations (A&R).Bids & Fees
How to price your services per gig; how to write an effective Project Proposal (bid) with and without an attached A&R; important deal closers.Alternate Bid
How to write an effective Project Proposal (bid) when there is no presenting manuscript.Contracts
How to write an effective, equitable ghostwriter contract.Business Plan/Wambtac Model
How to create your business plan; best practices for approaching your circle of influence; the Wambtac business model.Pre-launch
How to develop and stay on track with a pre-launch checklist. Mindset transition from one of several competitors > in a class of your own.Launch Your Business
How to formally launch your new enterprise; how to assess projects and clients; the 5-step negotiation/close sequence; how to establish and maintain your authority.Final Words
A recap of the mindset transitions; how to use the Elliott Wave principle and metaphysics to support your new career; and parting words. - Graduate!
On successful completion of the entire GPDP program, you’ll receive:Professional Ghostwriter Certificate
Signed by the Dean of CPIE/CSULBDigital Badge
Displays your name, the year you earned your certification, and the unique knowledge, skills, tools, and mindset transitions you acquired in the course. Post it on your website, SMN profiles, email signature, and any other digital media or locationInvitation
To join CertifiedGhostwriters.com for continuing education, news, resources, and community with other Certified Ghostwriters.Apprenticeship
One-on-one coaching through your first (or any) professional gig via Wambtac Ghostwriter’s team-oriented ghostwriting.