101 Ways to Find Six-Figure Medical or Popular Ghostwriting Jobs & Clients: A Step-by-Step Guide [Paperback]

Anne Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 2006

How would you like to earn perhaps $100,000 annually as a medical or other specialty ghostwriter? You don’t necessarily need a degree in science to earn six figures as a ghostwriter. What you do need is to focus or specialize in one subject or area of expertise.

If you choose medical ghostwriting, you’d be writing pharmaceutical reports or informational books about research and clinical trials performed by scientists, physicians, and researchers. You could work with pharmaceutical firms, medical software manufacturers, or for public relations firms or literary agents.

You’d be making a lot more than the usual $10,000 a ghostwriter may receive for writing a career development how-to book. Medical ghostwriters can receive up to $20,000 per report.

Pharmaceutical and clinical trials reports or medical journal articles often are written by ghostwriters. Ghostwriting medical or other factual information is big business. It’s one way pharmaceutical manufacturers communicate with physicians.

If you want to ghostwrite in this field, get paid to investigate information physicians receive about medicines and interview researchers, you can take the roads leading to steadier writing jobs, document management, or run your own business as a medical, business, or celebrity ghostwriter. Here is the training you need to begin if you enjoy journalism with an attitude.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Anne Hart is a popular independent behavioral science journalist and author of 71+ books. She holds a graduate degree and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Mensa. Hart writes books on medical writing training, DNA, nutritional genomics, entrepreneurism, and current issues.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: ASJA Press (November 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595416799
• ISBN-13: 978-0595416790
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,817,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well, it DOES read like those leaflets that come with medications, September 4, 2008

By 

L. K. Brestovansky "freelance writer/editor/p... (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 101 Ways to Find Six-Figure Medical or Popular Ghostwriting Jobs & Clients: A Step-by-Step Guide (Paperback)

As a writer/editor with 20 years experience I picked up this title with a view toward entering new markets. I must say I was very disappointed. While the book does have some useful information, just like those tissue-paper-thin leaflets you get with your new medications, you really have root around to find what you need/want to know.

Here are some reasons why I was disappointed.

1. It's deceptive. The first paragraph of the blurb on the back cover (also used here at Amazon) says "You don't necessarily need a degree in science to earn six figures as a ghostwriter." But when you open the first chapter discusses how medical writers are largely doctors, nurses, scientists who like to write or are journalism majors with double majors in life sciences. If you are not so blessed, as I am not, you are encouraged to go back to school to get coursework in the sciences. While there are brief mentions about possibilities for those of us who choose not to pursue additional degrees, there is not enough information there to be useful.

2. This is very poorly organized. As I state in the title of this review, this book reads exactly like an extended version of those leaflets that come with your medications. While on deeper reading, there is information that can be useful to those starting a career in medical ghostwriting, you really have to dig to find it.

Some information is presented in a Q&A format, but the questions aren't answered. One question, on page 17, "How much do you charge?" Does not give a specific answer, it only recommends charging a flat fee.

This is especially problematic for a book titled "101 Ways to find...: A step-by-step guide." There are no steps listed here. There is not even a list of 101 ways to find these jobs. There are many lists but they are on the order of "101 questions to investigate about medical or general ghostwriting techniques", which is not the same thing (these quetions list such doozies as ''what is rhetorical grammar?' or 'What type of biomedical research design will I be working with as a medical writer?"

It really is not clear who this book is meant for: Look at the cover. What does this photograph of an elegant parlor have to do with writing or medicine? (Maybe it's a reference to six-figures????)

Is it a textbook? It rather reads like one: tiny print, long chapters in no logical sequence. (The chapter on "Popular Health and Medical Writing for Magaizens" includes a section on "The job of the biomedical publications coordinator". Useful? Possibly, but it doesn't fit. There's also a chapter on "Document Recovery for Personal History Time Capsules & Memorabilia". What does this have to do with writing?

My favorite is a chapter titled, "Writing about Gene Hunters". To this newbie to medical field (as I assume most readers are), this seems to be a highly specialized, esoteric field that doesn't exactly scream "job potential". There is nothing in the text to indicate why this is important, how to get a job doing so or why we should consider doing so.

3. Proofreading/editing is doubtful. As a writer/editor with 20 years of proofreading experience, I felt very let down when I saw the US FDA referred to as the "Federal Drug Administration" rather than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For an author with 71 books to her credit, the author should have known much better. While this was probably an innocent slip not caught in the editing process (it is referred to correctly in another portion of the book), it still should have been caught.

I gave this book two stars because there may indeed be useful information (such as how to write certain types of reports) and because this is the only book I have found specifically for breaking into health care writing. However, I strongly recommend the author hire an editor (myself or someone else) who can organize this information in a more user friendly format.