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100 Hours of Editing
And then some…
“Writing is probably one-fifth coming up with the stuff, and four-fifths self-editing again and again and again.” — David Mitchell
This has been one of the truest things I’ve ever heard. Writing my first book gave me the experiential reality of this.
I was hired to write my first book as a ghostwriter for my nurse friend who wanted to share her stories about the corruption and injustices within our medical system. Her message was one of empowerment — educate yourself about what is going on behind the scenes so you know how to fight for your rights within America’s for-profit healthcare system.
I absolutely relished the chance to write a book that tied someone’s personal stories into evidence-based research. I had a rare few months off after working hard and saving so I had the time. I used these months to fully dive into this project.
Our agreement was I would write a 100-page book in 6 months at $25/hour. Since this was my first book, I wanted to charge a fair price for both of us. This way I would get paid for all the research and interview time that would go into this book and my friend would get a relative steal on an autobiographical/political self-help book with a message for anyone who cares about surviving in our healthcare system. (It cost her around $3,000.)
