Helping Visionaries and Green Businesses with Their Writing Needs

I thank you for taking interest in my ghostwriting portfolio.

The burning question that you must be having in your mind is whether it’s worth hiring me for any of your writing needs. Be it an autobiography, a memoir, or even a blog.

Do Books Sell Well in This Era of Videos?

If the book is well-written and marketed in the right way, the demand for it can be quite high. In the USA alone, as per the ALA (American Library Association) statistics, there are 119,487 public libraries.

Besides Amazon (hard copy and Kindle), there are 1775 book-selling companies with one or more stores in the country. Several online publishing platforms can arrange for a good book to sit on the shelves of thousands of bookstores around the world along with having digital and audio versions.

There are organizations and research/training centers that have their own reading libraries. The chances of selling positive content only gets better.

From the above data, I would like to reinforce confidence in the marketability of a good book that touches the lives of women and men across all boundaries.

So, gear up with the sincere spirit within yourself to get your intellectual brain-child the worthiest delivery possible.

Your ideas might be gnawing at your heart to come out, especially during the pandemic that has pressed the pause button for the world.

Am I the right fit for your needs at this time? Does someone else resonate better with your vision and offers the same service?

These are good question to lead you to the best candidate.

A Little Bit About Ghostwriting Autobiographies and Memoirs:

Do you have a memoir in you waiting to be born? One doesn’t have to be a writer to become an author of a brilliant idea.

Which is why most people need a ghostwriter to help them bring their wisdom out into the world in the form or a book or blog.

Everyone, I believe, has a book in their heart.

You too. Even more so if you’ve been a thinker trying to touch lives and change society.

Who is a ghostwriter?

The word sounds scary at first. But ghostwriters are NOT writers who have died and continue to write in the spooky corners of old libraries.

Shadow-writers could’ve been a more appropriate term. In my opinion, of course.

Ghostwriters are the unseen tribe of writers who write books in the name of the author.

Their names do not appear on the book cover. Some even have to swear in to write in secrecy on behalf of famous people.

Let’s say a president of a country had a series of historic moments during his tenure and would like to write a book on his earth-shaking experiences. Politics is what he’s a pro at.

But writing? Not so sure.

Moreover, he might be too busy to sit down for hours to record his thoughts with adequate literary charm. He’d, therefore, hire someone to write.

This hired writer—the ghostwriter—would interview him, record his thoughts, and arrange everything into neat chapters with captivating content written with just the right flair it needs.

When the author (the former president, let’s say), reviews and likes what the ghostwriter put together, the book is ready to go to a professional editor and proofreader, a graphic artist for cover design, and finally to print.

Sitting on shelves of all bookstores, online and otherwise, around the world, his books would make it to the bestseller status, making him a rich man with royalties pouring in.

The ghostwriter will continue to remain the obscure person in the shadows without the fame. His consolation is the comfortable paycheck that foots his lifestyle bills and some commission from the royalties as well (if the contract promises that).

What is lost out by way of recognition and fame is compensated with money. In some cases, the author thanks the ghostwriter in the Acknowledgment section of the book, or mentions in the copyright page.

In rare cases, a ghostwriter is acknowledged on the cover with a “as told to (NAME)” below the author’s own name.

There are intellectuals who might be too ill to write (Randy Pausch), too disabled to use a keyboard (like Stephen Hawking), too busy to find the time (Head of States), or too unskilled to create a work of art with the pen since they’re good at what they do best in other areas of life.

The world still gets to enjoy their thoughts in the form of books, thanks to the service of ghostwriters who don’t mind being less famous in spite of their unparrallel writing skills at par with the top award-winning fiction writers.

Ghostwriters can be compared to a few professions the world couldn’t do without.

They’re the midwives and doulas of the literary world. Even the obygyn to start with. They can create a book where none seemed possible in the first place.

Just like a pregnancy, book writing is a journey with its own humps and storms. As autobiographies and memoirs reflect not what transpired in one’s life but how the event was perceived, received, and internalized. Each in their own way.

A few ghostwriters also blog for famous people or busy businessmen syncing their words with their persona to market their ideas and products.

Ghostwriters help sort through thought clutter to bring out the best from a person and encapsulate it in a book.

Autobiography or Memoir? Aren’t They the Same Thing?

It’s a million-dollar question that confuses many. Before delving into the process of ghostwriting, it’s best to ccompare and distinguish the unique characteristics of both.

Autobiographies and memoirs—they’re similar. But not synonymous. Both autobiographies and memoirs talk about moments from the author’s life.

What’s the difference, then, you’d ask for sure. Let’s compare:

• An autobiography is usually for celebrities. Whereas, memoirs are for non-celebrities. Unless you’re part of the top who’s who, you fall into the memoir-writers’ tribe. That gives you way more choices…

It’s a happy place to be. The media is not chasing you for details you don’t want to share. No excavating skeletons in your closets or shoving in fake ones for defamation.

• Autobiographies usually cover the whole life’s lessons for celebrities. Memoirs can cover either part or one’s whole life. There is no definite time chunk you’ve to adhere to.

Memoirs are focused on what you did with your life’s incidents, not just what happened to you. A summation of your experience will add value to other people’s lives. It’s a gift of love for the future generations.

• Fans want to know all kinds of needless details and expect to see tons of behind-the-scene banalities from the life of celebrities. Their favorite ice cream flavor to the brand of shoe laces they order wins the attention of the readers.

In case of memoirs, however, the author (and the experienced ghostwriter) needs to choose carefully. You’re the common man in the crowd. All silly details can provoke a reader to close the book and move on. Your content must have the magnetic strength of unique content that holds a promise of upliftment for your readers.

That doesn’t mean you discard your life’s normal moments. You only hold it up in a different light to show its worth in a context.  A tricky tweak to weave in to the fabric of your life.

Could You Not Write It Yourself? Why Need a Ghostwriter?

Many of you may have already written a couple of hundred pages of your life story. That’s quite enough to make a 300-page book, you’d think.

After all, you’ve written like a pro at work, cranked out presentations at moment’s notices for your department, and you probably have A’s all through school in English language arts.

If literature and writing good sentences were synonymous, sure enough you’d ace the project.

Each time, I’m handed a fat wad of manuscript or a long word document to read through, I have a couple of dozen questions to ask on the first interview.

That’s when the sluice gates shift and open up a tiny space to release the memories. The thoughts come—first a trickle, then a gush, and finally a flood. Almost completely out of sync with the notes I have in front of me.

What was handed to me was a random written block of clues. I call it a block of old, holey cheese with a ton of missing details. Time for questions to morph the notes into a literary gift for the world.

An expert chef can turn this flavorful chunk of cheese into the most palatable entre to relish. You got it. An intuitive ghostwriter can be that master chef to create an unforgettable entre to nourish his customers.

Qualities to Look for in a Ghostwriter:

So, a ghostwriter is a good writer? Is that all? Why doesn’t he go write his own books then?

Ghostwriters often have their own book, for sure. But they make a living writing on behalf of others. This does meet their financial need like everyone else’s professional duties.

However, ghostwriters are far different than journalists, researchers, and transcript writers. They must have a few unique qualities to be able to do justice to someone else’s ideas and life experiences.

If you’re looking out for one, make sure they have most of these qualities and traits.

• Gracefully takes the responsibility while promising confidentiality and trust
• Accepts obscurity, remaining in the shadows of the author’s publicity and fame
• Labors through the process until the authors feel their voice is truly reflected in the writing
• Has the knowledgeable of legalities around sharing past incidents to safeguard your writing from defamation lawsuits. Libel and slander are thin lines to tread. So are copyright laws around using quotations, pictures, and graphics.
• Encourages the author through the hesitant and doubtful moments, encouraging to take the bold step where it’s needed
• Asks the right questions to fill the voids and to provoke a different insight
• Intensely observant of all the hues of emotions being expressed
• Listens eagerly to the details and to help choose which ones are the gems to use and the scraps to discard
• Shares ideas without imposing them on the author, gently suggest a new perspective on things and uphold an insight that will resonate with readers
• Provides benevolent guidance for creating a final product that will add value to society, to voice the wisdom and to tuck the anger away—memoirs are about what one did with an event in their life to rise out of a rut. It’s never about what merely happened to create self-pity.

In short, the ghostwriter takes on the garb of a calmer alter ego of a personality. It’s a pious service in helping society have the richness of past experiences wrapped in a literary tapestry for the future generations to learn from.

It’s a social service of a unique kind—building a legacy, word by word, to infuse positivity that’s intuitive, spiritual, and hence, uplifting from the mundane.

The pay check is only the side benefit to keep the ghostwriter well fed and nourished to do the job well.

Finding the Right-Fit Ghostwriter

It’s almost like finding Mister or Miss Right. You got it—it’s like marriage. A wrong one lands on the rocks. The right one sails across the ocean, storm or calm.

A little patience and care, on the other hand, can lead you to your dream experience.

Here’s what you can do:

• Do some introspection to identify your memoir’s genre.

What kind of a memoir are you planning on writing? Is it historic, it is a personal intuitive journey, a motivation punch?

Memoir is usually not a cradle to casket story. It can center around only one aspect of your life to leave your positive legacy behind.

A sports team coach can only focus on his evolving as an empathetic task master. He may not focus on his other challenges in life unless necessary.

A grandmother can write about growing up during a civil war in her country. A head of state on the challenges of handling a coalition government.

Which means one can write many memoirs in a lifetime. That’s great news to help you fret too much over the small stuff and look for the one you want to write first.

Once you have an idea on the principal emotion to showcase, it’s time to start looking around.

• Look for a ghostwriter who writes in your chosen niche.

Not that a ghostwriter will not be able to handle a new project he hasn’t done before.

But it might be a good place to start digging.

Those who have written about civil war emotions or stories of tumultuous upheavals might know a bit more than those who wrote about romancing in the Alps.

Research and connect with ghostwriters familiar with the vocabulary, technical terminology, protocols and processes of your story.

A young man writing about his battle with cancer while in college would need someone who can handle the medical terms and processes.

Someone writing about his franchise business disaster that sucked him into bankruptcy and divorce would need a writer with a grasp on franchise protocols, financial terms, and legal processes to perfectly showcase the nightmare in the right light.

• Make sure your shoe sizes match.

Just kidding. It’s a figurative cue to see if your personalities sync well.

The ghostwriter needs to be able to walk in your shoes to feel your thoughts in his or her own heart. How else is he going to write your story in your voice?

Have informal interviews with the people you have in mind. More than once, if needed. The informal chats will decide the flow. Formal business interviews may not show the full potential of this partnership.

Also write back and forth through emails, text messaging, Facebook Messenger, and the like, to see how you gel. A stiff upper lip stance on any side will not help in the birthing of the book baby. The warm-n-kind doula is never the efficient-yet-stoical “here or to-go” order taker upper at a fast-food counter.

• Don’t let the fee be the deciding factor.

Budget can be a tricky obstacle for many. Yet, it’s best to talk out the challenges if all of the above seem to fit like the Cinderella glass slippers.

Often times, a good ghostwriter can launch you on a great writing orbit. The exact opposite is equally true. Penny-wise, pound-foolish is a folly we human are known for falling into.

A good investment can, in turn, be the difference between a happy mother with her priceless baby or a repentant mother with a birthing gone wrong.

It’s hard to put a price tag on such crucial items in life.

• Finally, listen to your gut.

Especially when it’s a close call between a handful of writers, each good in their own way. The gut brain has its innate power to tell the best apple in a basket. Trust your instinct and you’ll not go wrong.

A Crucial Decision

I’ve stuffed you up with my thought binge on ghostwriting. Now go ahead and get ready for the happy hunt.

I wish you all the best while offering my sincere services with all the best wishes for a terrific completion of your literary journey toward building your legacy.

Start with your notes even while your search for the perfect match hasn’t happened.

Keeping Notes While You Look Around

Here are a few things to keep in mind while your words tumble out of your fingers.

• Start gathering pictures and documents that you’d like to include in your book.
• Pour into a journal the thoughts that flutter by. Once this process begins, details memories begin to show up, the little things adding beauty like an intricate lace design. Document everything. The pruning and sorting happen later.
• No time to write? No problem. These days, there are plenty of apps to take dictation. Either record your voice or talk into your transcription app during your morning walk and this digital stenographer will write it all for you. A simple click to email it to yourself is all it needs for now. Weaving these pieces together can save you a hours of butt-in-chair time. Google’s own Live Transcribe is the most efficient one in the market so far to pick up all accents.
• Leave out the negative emotions. Especially when you narrate the injustices and dark phases of your life. Anger never helped anyone. It’s not your core wisdom. Write what you learned from the moment of darkness that triggered your anger. But leave the anger out.  A memoir should never be a conduit hatred.

For those very difficult moment where forgiveness hasn’t seeped through the inner core of sorrow, people have wondered how to pen the pain for the benefit of posterity.

When intense emotions are confused and inflamed, it’s again the ghostwriter who lends the neutral third party eye to the author. Only to view it in a different light to discover a completely new perspective. To help the experience rise from the emotion to the realm of rich wisdom.

More on the Not-So-Sweet Memories

No wonder, pouring out a memoir on paper is a cathartic experience helping to heal. Quite like draining the bodily humor back in the days to cure an illness.

Writing about a difficult part of life has turned out to be an elixir of forgiveness and healing for many.

• Some deal with the difficult memories in small chunks, running away from the writing when the words are hard to find to mirror the moment. The passage of time, the perspective of aging, and life’s other revealing experiences help the process evolve into a deep introspection for healing.
• For some it takes years. To take the sting off carefully as you arrange the idea into rows of words. And yet, at the end of the journey the author can be amazed to see the beautiful creation of the book was the medicine for its content.
• Writing in third person will help to stay neutral and stoical in your narration. This is your first draft. Being unemotional won’t hurt the book. Later you can change to first person when you’re ready.
• Focus on the legacy you want your memoir to be. A legacy where you leave a gem of wisdom.  Infuse your insights with your deepest love. The perspective of the memoir will be a healing for others who resonate with your pain. They will learn from you and grow. You will add high value to their perception and decision making.
• Until you find a ghostwriter, find a helper around you. Approach a friend or family member to engage with you on this project. To listen to your story as it develops, give feedback as a beta reader, and chat over details to help you organize your thoughts.

If you feel you have a burning desire to get your book out into the world, it’s time to start your search.

Before you go any further, I place my humble candidature to help you with the birthing. If I feel I’m not the perfect fit, I know several others who could be the one you’re looking for.

So, without much beating around the bush, let’s get started. Let me know your specific needs and dreams for me to tailor your next best plan of action.

I’m just an email or text away:

Email: balaka.ghosal@gmail.com

Phone: +1-7138254712

Website: https://thegreenwriter.com

I have a unique proposition for you!

Has “spare time” become a mirage for you to finish your autobiography/memoir or blog writing project?

The pandemic was the closest we could get to having the rush-free time that we had always dreamed to have… except for the fear and the pain of watching so much suffering.

In spite of the time on our hands, the panic and financial uncertainties ate away at the base of our creative minds.

Well, now with the world finding the new normal you’d like to use time…

• to give voice to your social and environmental vision and make your life more worthwhile
• to join your family at dinner every evening while your ideas are translating into words to reach other people
• time to help others or even play with your children in your backyard
• time to pray, reflect, innovate, and apply them into action

What if I did just that for you, and brought you some “spare time?”

Taking a little bit off of your return-to-work load, nudging it in the right direction while you live a life with fewer things to worry, with revived hope for a safer social or personal life… and a legacy of a healthy world for your children.

Sounds therapeutic, right?

If life has taught you something valuable, it’s time to share with the world. While you are alive and active. To elevate the ways of the world, to translate your vision, I am ready to offer my services.

It’s the time to do that meaningful thing—to gift your creative solutions to society.

The amazing organ you have sitting on your shoulders, the brain or the jelly-walnut as I like to call it, has a unique type of hard disk whose files cannot be downloaded.

We can never copy paste these files in to our computers after we’re gone.

The only way to transfer the files is to pour them out into a document or by capturing the sound bites in an audio app.

Still with me?

Here’s what I will need from you.

If you can tell me what your story holds in terms of offering its service for the community, something that is unique that nobody else does, I will be able to create a fine tapestry of your vision that will bring you a lifting momentum you have always wanted.

We can start with your core message at this moment.

I cannot guarantee the future like the rising and setting of the sun.

But, I can raise the chances of your powerful vision for others to see.

Adding Value to Your Vision or Cause

Since I am a well-trained copywriter/ghostwriter, and 100% committed to the betterment of the environment and people into many generations of the future, I can promise to serve as a catalyst.

A catalyst to accelerate your journey in a holistic way.

I promise to work with you to infuse your core desire in your writing. In your voice. To change outlook. And to create a positive legacy for the younger generations.

How do I do this? You have probably guessed it by now.

• I listen intently to your ideas. Respecting your thoughts and patient around the feedback I provide for giving it a form.
• I think. The intuitive, objective, and humanitarian aspects of the content I receive from you.
• I weave the book or the blog series to your liking. The raw material of my work is words.

I have an indomitable passion for words that convey knowledge and wisdom, weaving impactful stories of positivity and courage, persistence and hope.

The invincible trident, right—to listen, think, and create?

This trident is my tool, too. I am a fine professional wordsmith committed to my job of elevating your purpose and helping it fly to its well-deserved destination.

Crafting a Framework

I work both ways—moving forward toward a vision and digging backwards to find the root of an emotion. Once I find the weak points, I skillfully craft a strong and sturdy scaffolding on which your story can build up.

I gently alter the words that matter, the style they are delivered and the emotions they evoke in the minds of your potential readers.

However, once I get going with you, I will be able to assist in ways to address all the crucial aspects of the project including:

• Deciding the target audience—age, mindset, socio-economic and cultural
• Drafting and designing the purpose and legacy you want to create
• Draft a proposal for you to pitch to traditional publishers. I draft, you pitch.
• Foolproof for legal issues such as copyrights, libel, slander, and plagiarism check to ensure 100% authentic content.
• Review your ideas and decide on the chapterization. The table of content is crucial for book planning.
• Write the content and review it with you and incorporate the changes until satisfactory

Possibilities for Environmental Sustainability

Now, when it comes to book publishing, we have to face a couple of challenges. Books mean paper, and means deforestation.

If you’re interested, I can bring to you the available information on publishers that make plastic-free books with 100% post-consumer recycled paper with veggy-ink. Or even better ones with seeded papers—books that can be buried in a garden to bring new plants to life.

Ingram Sparks platform offers paper from sustainable forests that replenish the lost wood with selectively chosen fast-growing species.

It’s getting better with improved opportunities. And of course, there’s Kindle and audio books to save paper (digital files on cloud are not without their carbon footprint, though).

These green tips are suggestions only. I finally go with the author’s desire. It’s their book after all.

My Writing Credentials and Mentors

Let me tell you a little bit about my ongoing learning.

I’m a life member of the American Writers & Artists Inc., the stalwart amongst the copywriting organizations in the world.  For ghostwriting, I intently follow some of the top stalwarts in the market and listen to my own gut feelings as an inborn storyteller. I’m closely following the teachings of famous ghostwriters and memoir writers like Marrion Roach Smith and a plethora of others.

I can humbly claim to have been trained by the best in the market. As a member of their elitist Circle of Success group, and as a trainee of their highly acclaimed Accelerated Copywriting program and Marketing and Powerteam International.

Always getting better at my skills, I feel there is no limit to growth.

A Story for Every Situation

I was a storyteller ever since I began to communicate.

This art form of crafting a story taught me to translate complex processes into lucid narration so a 12-year-old would understand.

Even rocket science. Neatly wrapped in a story.

My brain has a fascinating story for every occasion, for every turn of life.

I didn’t even know it was special skill until my clients who I worked for began to drum it loud enough for me to hear.

My inbuilt love for mother nature has helped me, all the more, to develop an understanding and empathy for things that matter.

Not only for my own wellbeing, but for everybody else, too.

It is undoubtedly my primary viewpoint for pretty much everything that I do or say. Even if the topic I write about are not always overtly related to the environment, everything intrinsically is interwoven with it in the big picture of life.

It would be my greatest satisfaction to give you value for money in providing you the right ghostwriting services so that you can offer your deep insight for the world to benefit from.

I wish you success, a good deal of it,

(BALAKA B GHOSAL)

P.S.: You have nothing to lose in hiring a professional ghostwriter.  And I’m not just talking about myself. It could be anybody you trust.

Just try it out. You’ll see the difference. Now is the time to address to do the good you want to do.

1. P. S.: To tell you the truth, sometimes, it’s worth taking that significant stride toward better results. It almost always is, isn’t it? I am ready to make every attempt to give viable results to my clients. Although nobody can guaranteed the future for anyone.

I have the skillset, the knowledge, and the sincerity to help you get your book out in the market.

If you are interested in trying my services, message me on LinkedIn or email me today (balaka.ghosal@gmail.com) to schedule a free consultation of about 30-minute.  You can even text me to set up a chat time @ +1 713.825.4712.

It’s only natural for you to have many questions to figure out if I am the perfect fit for your ghostwriting needs.

Most of the questions will be answered as you browse through my entire portfolio. However, I’m listing a few questions here. Here they are, though not in any particular order.

If you still have more questions coming anytime, feel free to contact me directly @ 713-85-4712 or email me at balaka.ghosal@gmail.com .

Project Your Intensity: How you project yourself online and how you reach out to your prospects depends on your carefully chosen words and expressions. I can do it for you while you immerse yourself in the other details of your profession and family.

Now, doesn’t that sound nice, caring, and practical too?

In the last two decades, I have come in close contact with many wonderful people. They had the chance to see my work, my skills, and also my whole personality that reflects into my work. Here’s a humble sharing of a few comments.

Clients:

Who makes the best clients? Directionless, goalless, unmotivated people do not make good clients for anybody. Here’s a situation that’ll tell you what I mean.

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” asked Alice.
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” replied the Cat.

— Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Get it? If it doesn’t matter to you which way you go, I don’t think I can help you either.

But I’m glad you’re different from them. You’ve taken the step to establish yourself as a successful businessman, selling products or services that’ll not hurt the world or those who live in it.

Congratulations!

Nothing could be better.

You most likely have a vision of where both you and your book dream will be in 1 year, 3 years, or even 5 years. Now all you have to do is to align your actions with your vision.

As you figure out the entire way your book will take shape, you’ll have access to just the right resources to plan closely.

The roadmap to success from an expert editor will get you the most. It will give you practical, actionable steps to get you going faster on your journey forward and upward.

Before you place your written material in front of an editor, you’ll have to choose which type of an editor you need—a line editor or a developmental editor. A professional ghostwriter makes it easy for you. Since they are well adept at formatting a book idea into chapters, adding a powerful opening and closure, you’ll both put your heads together to decide on the choice of an editor.

Usually the publishers have their own to package it for you. For self-published ventures, there are options available. With a ghostwriter by your side, you’re more confident with the entire process.

Here are a few clients who have chosen me to help them—some are current, some were happy to have come to me in the past.

PFWaterworks – A company that makes water conservation products is launching their outreach program under the banner AquaSmart ™.

I’m creating an entire program for fourth and fifth graders (in the American school system). The program includes a colorful informative graphic book, home and school water audit templates, water conservation math book, a set of games and hands-on activities, posters, stickers and decals with tips,  and thought-provoking readers theaters.

I am now developing their web content the educational site, making video games. I’ll soon begin their newsletters and the company’s social media presence through Facebook.

Thinkphi – This is a start-up based in Mumbai, India, that has created a few innovative products, the primary among them is a shade canopy which also serves as a collection device for rainwater harvesting. The prop has a solar panel that helps to filter the water and provide light at night. I have done a couple of blog pieces and they are willing to continue with me.

GF Educators – I’ve been approached by a educational publishing company to write comprehension passages for children of various age groups. I’ve begun writing for 10^th grade students a wide variety of passages on environmental and sociological topic that border close to environmental issues as per the curriculum guidelines.

It will be an ongoing job throughout this year. This assignment completely syncs with my passion to tell stories to young people. I now write for different middle-school grade levels.

Ghostwriting memoir for R. S. Ahuja – Mr. Ahuja is an octogenarian who had to lose his home and travel to another part of the country when India was being divided up during partition. Being uprooted did not deter him since he took every opportunity to learn and excel in his chosen skills. He finally rose very high on the corporate ladder. Writing his life story etched in history and life’s wisdom has been a great experience.

Ganga Narayan Ghosh, Social Activist, Writer – I am ghostwriting a book on India’s leviathan-like waste management and its impact on the health of the public. Waste management has been a major environmental problem for India and its ramifications are huge.

Alternative Medicine Ghostwriting –A book project on the alternative health perspective on the body mind connection around deep-rooted stress and healing. Details withheld due to privacy clauses in the contract. It has been an amazing learning experience.

Storyteller for Pure Esperanza– Does that even count as experience? Believe me, it does, especially if someone has been invited or has been a long-term appointed story teller volunteer in an exemplary elementary school.

I not only write, I live the stories, I walk the stories while I am telling them. I act out the passion in the characters, I cry and laugh with their moments.

The best part of my story telling is that I have a story for every moment, for every emotion, for every walk of life. As an educator, I have started my difficult math lessons with stories they can relate to, stories that had situations for mathematics. I had stories for science, social studies and even art.

The purpose behind all my story telling is to pass the core message through. That’s how I have learned a lot in life, through stories that have been passed down to me, and that’s how I connect my speaking to others with a poignant story that draws the big picture in the minds of the reader.

Story telling has segued into directing plays and musicals for children for many years – a happy adventure I have now imbued with the message of sustainability.

To have a book with a universal appeal, you’ll need a perspective and the emotional conclusions that establishes the elevated humane point-of-view you want to uphold.

Listening and Reviewing Your Ideas:

My first job is to honor you for embarking on this beautiful journey and to listen intently to all that you have to say.

• Your BIG WHY that drives your book dream
• The broad story you want to encase
• What stage the writing is in—only an idea to evolve over our conversations/ audio recordings/ random notes/a first draft/a finished book to be rewritten
• Target audience
• The voice and language texture you prefer
• The niche vocabulary you’ll need
• Whether any research work is required—specific annotation and citation needs
• Glossary, indexing, bibliography, annexure, or any other element needed
• The publishing options you’re considered—traditional Vs. self-published—if you already have done the listing and pitching, or if you have decided on an agent to assist you
• A ballpark word count you have in mind
• Timeline you have in mind—start date, manuscript wrap-up, publishing
• Budget for ghostwriter (flat fee or additional commission/royalty or story credits for televised or filmed versions etc.), cover design, editing, proofreading, self-publishing costs can vary depending on platform and scope (your own ISBN, Library of Congress application etc.), and marketing/promoting.
• Marketability—other existing books in your category
• Legalities that might be involved if the content is sensitive
• If any travel would be required on my behalf
• Answer any questions you might have

Your book will be a product that needs marketing, like anything else in the world. Ideally what we ghostwriters would like from you is not what details happened in your life, but how you were processing your experiences to build your audience and following for the wisdom you’ll share.

What you want to share with the world decides the dimensions, the tempo, the pacing, the chapters—everything. It defines the niche it’ll belong to and the categories to compete in.

As we talk, I fill out a Discovery Questionnaire to serve as the starting framework of the book project.

Providing a Detailed Feedback on Your Idea:

While talking to you, I take copious notes, and even record the phone/zoom conversation if permitted, to give you a wholesome feedback on every aspect of the project.

I am quick to recognize a solid prospect for a book and if there’s a crying need for it. A list of ways to add more credibility and intensity, your personal experiences, insights in perspective. I’ll share my views on the suitable voice, target audience, possible categories, and market research on comparable books.

My comments may not match with yours, and I explain respectfully the reasons I  stand by my thoughts and the points for you to consider.

It’s not a friction, rather a dialogue in process to give the project it’s best chance at success.

Finally, I’ll also list my questions for you. All of this decides or exposes if I’m the right fit for you. Even if we decide on not moving forward together, we part with respect and honor.

I’ll always wish your book its best blooming whether or not you hire me for the job. If I feel someone else will be a more worthy fit for your purpose, I’ll be open about it and offer to get you connected.

Repeating the caveat here: If your ghostwriter’s identity is never to be revealed, the writer usually charges a higher fee to compensate for the inability to leverage the reviews for the book in his/her portfolio.

Preferred Contact and Communications Style

You may contact me via email, my website, by telephone, texting, Messenger, and Whatsapp. Email and Whatsapp are my most preferred methods.

Most clients prefer to use email as a primary method of communication to easily preserve shared documents. It is important that we have clear and timely communication when working together on a project.

During our project, I am available Monday–Friday from 9:00 a.m until 6:00 p.m. I return emails within 24 hours. For urgent matters, and as we get closer to the finish line, I make myself flexible to accommodate the need on Saturdays and later hours to address all ambiguities before publication.

Project Discussion and Questionnaire

Once you choose me as your ghostwriter, I will do my own preliminary research required around the project tand outline a short Project Roadmap.

This will help you see that I fully understand the project.

In the long run you will see the value of this background work of crafting the Discovery Questionnaire and the Project Roadmap as it will save an enormous amount of time and confusion.

We will jointly review the Roadmap. I will carefully listen to any additional directions and insights that you have on the project.

Following that call, I will draft and send you an Agreement or Contract. If your legal advisor has any Agreement drafter, we can review that with my lawyer.

Investment and Getting Started

The Agreement will contain all the specifics on what exactly I will deliver, including project details and deadlines. It will also list your investment for the project and terms of payment. (Note: I require 50% of the flat fee to begin. Most of my clients prefer to pay by check or bank transfer.)

Once we have both signed the Agreement, and I have received my 50% of the agreed payment, I will begin working on your copy as agreed.

Research

My research process is very comprehensive. I begin with a complete review of all materials you send me. As the book evolves, I will continue to research the market, including your competitors.

The success of your book becomes my goal.

Collaboration and Effective Communication

As we work on this project together, communication is critical.

Some clients are very busy and prefer to hand off the project and review only when the first draft is ready, with very little communication in between.

Others like dealing with me on a regular basis and be involved at just about every step of the way.

Which one are you? A lot depends on it.

As we start working together, we will soon discover each other’s preferences. I am very accommodative and flexible and would like to do it your preferred way to the extent possible. And I’d expect you to work as an understanding and patient partner in the process.

A Proposal, if Needed by You, Typically Contains the Following:

• The Book Synopsis and why it’s different within a given niche
• Market study for the genre
• Promotion plans and social media data (#followers)
• About the Author
• Tentative chapterization, total page numbers, pictures and illustrations
• Sample Writing: Excerpts from different chapters to showcase the flavor and texture of the book.

Review of First Book Draft

Typically, I’ll send portions of the first draft chronologically every few days. Please acknowledge receipt and review it carefully.

While I wait for your feedback, I prefer moving ahead with the next part of the book.

In the best interest of the project I need prompt feedback in 2-3 business days to prevent a lot of rewriting.

Revisions

After you review the initial draft, it is most likely that you’ll want some things changed. I will review all your suggested changes, usually within 2-4 business days of you submitting them to me, entering the changes. The timeline depends on the range and complexity of your suggested changes.

Sometimes, there are cases where my clients make suggestions that I know will not work and will hurt the purpose of the book. In those cases, you can expect me to be politely candid and come out honest with my feedback.

When clients insist on changes that I feel will not work, I always relent and follow along my client’s views. The book, after all, is their brainchild.

Additional Reviews

After the first round of changes, there may be some additional fine-tuning needed. You can be confident that I’ll gladly work with you until you are delighted with the final manuscript.

In most cases, my clients find that one review volley is enough. When more are needed, it is usually just one or two more fine-tuning sessions.

The process is fairly quick. Once all kinks are smooth and flowing, I send the final version in parts as my close scrutiny progresses.

Final Approval and Copyright Transfer

Once you go over the final version, you approve the copy by sending me an email stating that everything is ready for the next stage—editing, proofreading, and publishing.

Once I receive this final approval from you, I will invoice you for the remaining 50% of my fee.

The invoice is due upon receipt. I assume that, as a professional, you will honor it promptly.

Up until that point, the book manuscript is the intellectual property of the ghostwriter. I know, it sounds weird when someone else owns the right to your story just because he/she wrote it.

The story is yours forever. Only the right to the writing belongs to the ghostwriter. Until he officially transfers it to the author at the point of publication. This is done with a statement of declaration AFTER the final payment is received in the bank account of the ghostwriter.

Legally speaking, receiving a check is not the same as receiving the money. It’s officially completed when the money is received in the account of the ghostwriter.

The formal handing over of the copyright happens only after this step.

From that moment on, the client becomes the author and copyright holder of the book forever.

The Wrap-up Phase

In most cases, the final copy is sent to a designer for formatting. I strongly encourage you to connect me to the editor, proofreader, and layout and cover artists. I will double check that any graphical elements added by your design team enhance the value of the book.

If I see something that is distracting and may hurt your response rates, I’ll be gently candid in letting you know. If you request, I’ll be happy to work with your design team to provide feedback.

I feel invested in your book. It’s my motto to make the book as good as possible.

Finally, to assure you again, my system is flexible to accommodate your needs and style. If you are the collaborative type, then I can be as collaborative as you’d like the project to be.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you want me to plan and execute and turn in drafts periodically for your approval, I can tweak my style accordingly.

All said and done, my intention is to write the book of your dreams.

I can compete with Salvadore Dali, well almost, so far as childhood memories are concerned.  I’ve surprised my mother with some detailed visual imagery of my childhood moments. Those were little moments that happened when I was barely two or three years old, like loosing a beach ball as it bobbed away on the waves towards the horizon.

My Time with Mother Teresa:

But the one thing that I remember with utmost fondness is the day I rang the doorbell at Mother Teresa’s home. It was moment filled with goose bumps, love and hope.

The Missionaries of Charity was less than a mile from my home, and each time we passed by, my mom sowed in me the hope of being able to volunteer for the saintly soul. This special opportunity came after my college graduation when I had a few weeks of free time.

As I pulled the long rope that slipped through the large wooden door to strike a metal bell, a young ‘sister’ opened the door and led me and my cousin i. “Mother was still recovering from a major illness”, she said in a quiet voice. She was meeting people, in spite of that, and doing her work as much as she could, the sister assured us.

In an open veranda we two young women nervously waited on a wooden bench observing all the sisters going about their business in quiet, loving dignity. we were both 21 years old, two very inexperienced adults in this world.

Very soon, the special moment came. Mother came out of her room and held out her hand to hold ours. My fingers lay trembling in her firm, loving grip. In spite of her sickness there was the electrical effect in her touch, secured by her unwavering faith. It almost felt like something flowed through that grip, all the way to my soul

Mother’s words were tinged with humor and encouragement. Soon we were signed up to be her volunteers at the nearby orphanage, starting next week. We walked back home, lost in a trance.

This day has stayed etched in my memory forever, making its mark in everything I did ever since. Even now, I feel that strong, loving grip and I consider myself a representative of a messenger of love and caring, both in my personal and professional life.

In fact, my boss at school never had to worry about personal dynamics when it came to putting me in any team. “You’ll always get along with practically anybody, without a fuss”, she confided in relief.

Education:       

After earning a Junior Research Fellowship from the Government of India (NCERT), I joined the Ph.D. program in Delhi University. I completed my M. Phil. degree, which is a mandatory pre-Ph.D component of the fellowship program. I could not complete my research due to my sudden relocation to the USA.

Prior to this, I had received two master’s degrees (Political Science and International Relations) from Jadavpur University and Ranchi University in India.

Fascinated by journalism, I completed a certification for journalistic writing from a nationalized college of communication in India and joined the renowned Ananda Bazar Patrika news company as a subeditor.

I came to the USA about 15 years ago. I joined the public-school system after earning my teacher certification in Special Education from the State Board of Education, Texas.

As an elementary science teacher, I have been thoroughly trained by Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Lower Colorado River Authority to appreciate the fragile nature of natural resources and the challenge of limited resources in today’s world.

Being a firm-yet-kind task master—as a mother and a teacher

My  students at school felt that I was their stern but loving mother who had high expectations from her children.

As you may have guessed by now—I evolved as a Special Education teacher with compassion and knowledge to boot. I am blessed with that innate skill of boiling down tough mathematical processes and scientific jargons into simple doable tasks around the classroom, and relating them to the real life.

My math class was full of stories and anecdotes. Fridays were paperless – learning happened with patterned blocks, math manipulatives of different kinds. In fact, the only paper used on Fridays were play money dollar bills that students used to run a store of interesting items.

My starting the Ghosal Bank where students had jobs as tellers and managers was especially popular. Only because they were earning a fake currency and feeling rich, getting to buy the seat in the classroom in an upscale area, or special privileges, or buying little somethings in my store. They even earned bonuses for not wasting food at lunch. Unknowingly, they were learning to handle money! And do a good deal of calculations, too!

One sunny morning, I was tiptoeing through the famous forests of the Houston Arboretum with a group of ten inner city school children who hardly ever went out into nature.

We were out on a rare field trip to experience nature.  I asked everyone to whisper in very low voices so they wouldn’t frighten the birds and animals.

Just as we settled ourselves on the boardwalk by the pond to watch the turtles, a bright little boy asked if it was a fake forest with a fake pond, with plastic turtles bobbing their heads out. For a moment I was shocked with the question.

Couldn’t this boy tell if the trees were real? Couldn’t he feel if the grass under his feet was fake or not. Could he not see the ripples on the pond’s water?

It felt funny to round up my lips to show a big “NO”. But it made me think.

And then it struck me. About how this generation was used to seeing realistic models of everything, starting from human body parts at the museum to dinosaurs.

It was a revelation that children these days have very little experience of how things really are in nature.

The rest of the journey was a beautiful session of log rolling to find little critters hidden under it, watching snakes basking in sunlight on the tree branches, and running with the dragon flies at the playground.  

But I didn’t forget that question.

From then on, it became my mission to make presentations on environmental issues for children and adults through games, organic gardening, various hands-on activities, powerpoint presentations and simple speeches with visuals within my community.

I started organizing small-group environment day camps for children between the age group of 6 and 16 years to raise awareness.

It became my life’s mission to show everyone around me the fine balance of the ecosystems in the world and how our daily habits leave a lasting impact.

My effort, though small for the need, has not gone to waste. Many of these young children have grown to be stewards of an eco-friendly life, including my son.

This experience of environmental education has been very rewarding to me.

Back to my passion of writing:

After toying with a few professions, I am finally back to my true love – writing. Passionate about the environment, I hope to promote all efforts that are sustainable in businesses and organizations.

I reach out to people through  stories, and of course, talking relentlessly on living close to nature. My nearly zero-waste lifestyle is a living sampler of my waste-free belie-system.

Even to this day, I take every opportunity to research and learn, to sign up for various trainings, and to teach others about conservation and sustainability.

I love to motivate others to be eco-friendly, pass on my own energy in that direction, always ready to change my old ways and look at change as an opportunity for growth.

The mother in me keeps me going

As a environment writer, I will always be the voice of many people and products that have a promise to save the world.

But honestly, the prime reason that fuels my never-give-up attitude about protecting nature is my love as a mother. I want to leave the world as clean as it can possibly be. For my little boy and his entire generation, including the animals, critters, and plants in any ecosystem that ought to live on after I’m gone.

Balaka has enjoyed her journey as a parent for her son and the multitude of pets over the years. A deep empathy has lent her patience to listen intently to feel the pulse of her family, friends, colleagues, and community.

Every good job needs a village to get done.

I knew, for sure, that I could educate my son as much as I wanted, but couldn’t come even close to cleaning up the water and air in the larger environment for him be healthy.

For that I needed everyone else’s help.

Help to build up a network of goodwill. And a network of endeavor to create, or at least sustain what we have today.

We need everybody—every human and every business—to help us clean the air and water, and pretty much everything else to save our children from another peril of a pandemic.

The chameleon analogy — Funny that even Perry Marshall’s DNA test sees me as a chameleon, someone who can simply relate and blend in with a group.

Perhaps this is the reason I slip into someone’s shoe regardless of their shoe size. Including Cinderella’s, maybe?

I can walk miles in them and feel at the world from their angle—a very good tool to get the prospects to resonate with my writing.

Thoughtfulness reflected in action

“Balaka is such a person who can see things and persons as they are when she is in touch with them. If she feels they are weak in some aspects of life, she puts her heart to help them and nurtures them in her best possible way without having a single drop of pride or expecting flattery. Her upbringing, her spirituality is her strength.
Balaka can balance how much to hold on to and how much to let go. She is so ordinary, which makes her extraordinary. Her divinity, her wisdom, her thoughtfulness reflect in her actions. She is a person of great ease.
Last but not the least, I will not say, I am lucky to know her… but I will definitely say that having a person like her is a privilege in anyone’s life.”
Shalini Dey,
Lafayette, California

Balaka is an avid refuser, reducer, and reuser of resources. Living a nearly zero-waste lifestyle, she recycles even the apparently  non-recyclables!

The unique Terracycle company has come to her rescue. They accept every plastic scrap to make playground equipment for schools

Read her passionate, green journey, here:

1. https://myplasticfreelife.com/?s=Balaka+Ghosal
2. https://www.elephantjournal.com/2020/09/the-pandemic-ended-my-days-as-a-mindless-impulsive-consumer-you-can-do-it-too-balaka-b-ghosal/
3. http://www.themommiesreviews.com/the-summer-activity-innovation-1-by-balaka-ghosal/

https://medium.com/@balaka.ghosal/guilty-about-your-garbage-bags-filling-up-too-soon-e4ec6c053589

Balaka is honored to serve as a board member of Pure Esperanza, an organization committed to weaving a holistic wellness for the body-mind-soul continuum. She is now doing a series of wellness stories for them every month through 2021.  Check them out here: https://www.pureesperanza.com/

To order a copy for yourself, visit the link below:

Author testimonial after reading the first draft of his book:

I am doing a rapid read of the first draft. Oh, it is so absorbing that I cannot stop even for a while. The curiosity to know what will happen next keeps me glued. Thanks for such a good job… The events have been described by you so vividly, and with so much emotion, that I’m actually shedding tears while recapitulating the sequence of events. My salute to you for such a beautiful rendition. This is written so well that I have started reading it as a third person… God bless you. You are doing an excellent job. You may use my happy comments as testimonials as you wish—in fact, I am unable to find appropriate words to express my feelings about your performance.

Listens, Digests, And Perfectly Represents

 Balaka is an exceptional writer who can dive deep into emotions of an experience and can paint it with beautiful words. She listens, digests, and then perfectly represents stories told to her. I highly recommend Balaka for writing projects of any kind. Her kindness, willing to be there for her clients, gentle and honest approach is admirable.

Current Client, California

(Identity undisclosed due to privacy clauses in contract)

This book’s publication is under consideration by the author.

The spellings and commas follow the British system in this manuscript, specifically chosen for its publication in the Indian market.. Hence, the diffence from the American protocols.