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Ghostwriting: Content Rewriting

As a ghostwriter you will come across a variety of clients that may request your ghostwriting services. One of the clients will be ‘the rewrite client:’

This is actually a popular project for a ghostwriter, content rewriting. Whether an individual wants to have his memoir rewritten or a businessman needs to have his business manuscript rewritten or a business wants articles rewritten for an affiliate or sister site, the client will provide you with a full manuscript or article and request that you rewrite it for them.

Sounds pretty simple right? Well, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

For the individual with the memoir you may receive a manuscript that’s very poorly written. You will have to try to determine what the client means in certain instances and this will take lots of feedback. Content rewriting will also mean you’ll need to spin words while still invoking the client’s voice. And, depending on the individual’s reason for writing the memoir, you may have to advise that ‘getting even’ doesn’t really make for a saleable book.

Then there is the businessman looking into ghostwriting for the business book he wants rewritten. Again, you may have poorly written content that you’ll have to sort through. And, you’ll have to strive to keep the client’s voice. You’ll also have to verify all the information.

Another client in need of your ghostwriting service may be the business or health marketer who needs articles rewritten for a sister or affiliate site. This content rewriting is probably word-for-word the most difficult, unless you become very proficient at it. Depending on the genre you will need to become acquainted with the language, the keywords, and the business or health topic you’re writing about.

For example: assuming you’re requested to rewrite health articles about allergies, you’ll need to know the particulars about allergies, such as terminology: indoor allergies, outdoor allergies, environmental allergies. You get the idea. And, the word “triggers” means those substances that will cause an allergic reaction. But if you’re rewriting you may not be able to use the word ‘trigger.’

If you’re wondering why you can’t use a particular word it’s because when rewriting any content for online use, it must meet non-duplication criteria. This means that the rewritten article must be under a particular percentage in regard to duplicate content according to search engine criteria.

Why is this so important in regard to content rewriting?

Simple, Google penalizes page rank if it determines your content is duplicated by other sites.

A great tool to check your duplicate content score is WordsFinder Duplicate Checker and Article Rewrite Comparison. According to this site, your score needs to be below 80 percent or you may be penalized for duplicate content. But, your client may request it be below 70 percent. To be safe, you should always aim for below 70 percent. If you’re rewrite duplicate percentage is too high, you have to rewrite it, while keeping it coherent and on topic, until it’s under 70 percent. This will most likely mean finding synonyms for a number of words. Take the word ‘strategy. You might spin it with ‘policy,’ ‘plan,’ ‘technique,’ or other word that has a very similar meaning.

So, while content rewriting may sound easy, it can be a much more involved ghostwriting project than anticipated. Take this into account when quoting a price.

You can find the WordsFinder tool at:
http://www.wordsfinder.com/tool_duplicate_content_checker.php

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For professional writing services, including ghostwriting, check out:
Karen Cioffi Writing Services
A Team of Professionals for Businesses and Individuals
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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More on Freelance Writing and Ghostwriting

Freelance Writing Work: The Possibilities
A Ghost Writer: 5 Features That Can Help Your Business Part 1
You Can Write for Money

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Until next time,

 Karen Cioffi
Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012

Find Karen’s eBooks on writing and marketing at:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com
(check the sidebar for titles)

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