freelance book writer

BOOK WRITING

World-class books for extraordinary stories

Writing a book is a great ambition, but not when you don’t know what to do next. Our goal is to transform your words and ideas into a well written, well published book helping you boost your profile and translate into excellent opportunities.

It’s harder than it looks.

We feel that writing a book is a deeply creative process, but one that also requires the commercial smarts of the publishing industry.

ghost writer melbourne

At Atrium, you get both

Regardless of whether you’ve written a manuscript and become stuck or are just starting out, we’ll work side by side with you during the writing process, and then leverage our publishing industry partnerships to help you get it published.

You’re in good hands.

Why we’re different

We’ve built a reputation as one of Melbourne’s most in-demand writers.

  • We’re published authors.
    We’ve written books under our own name, as well as with wonderful clients. Most of the books we’ve work on have been published with Australia’s leading publishing houses.

  • We have industry access.
    Our publishing industry relationships will help you secure a book deal, or help you navigate your way through the book offer process.

  • We have resources and frameworks.
    Our easy-to-follow processes to keep you on track, confident and excited about your book. You’ll always know where you stand with Atrium during the entire creative process.

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Our publishing partners

We have established book publishing models with Australia’s leading publishing houses. Just as every book is different, so is each house. When we start working together, we’ll already be thinking of where your work might be best published and how it might happen. Often, we’ll already have spoken to our partners to generate early interest in your manuscript.

Extremely capable and very easy to work with

“Annie Reid is our go-to writer to ghost write or coach property authors to complete their manuscripts. Today, we have successfully worked on several bestselling projects and find Annie always extremely capable and very easy to work with. We love working with her!”

Lesley Williams, Managing Director, Major Street Publications

What we do

Book proposals

We’ll help you create a professional book pitch to present to a publisher. They’ll use this document to decide whether to offer you a publishing deal.

Developmental editing

This is what you’ll need to do first if you’re just starting out. We’ll help you create your book summary, structure and table of contents, providing the blueprint of your book with a clear direction.

Ghostwriting

The nitty-gritty of book work. We’ll work with you to create and craft each word, in line with your tone so that your book could only every sound as if it came out of your keyboard.

Publishing

Once your book is ready to be handed over to your publisher, we’ll map out your next steps so you know what’s happening. This might include PR consultancy requirements, marketing opportunities and distribution needs.

Some questions?

I provide a ballpark cost first, and then once we have agreed to the book structure and methodology, I’ll create a flat fee cost with a payment schedule.

We agree to a date of manuscript delivery and work backwards from there. I like to be flexible though, and if it looks as though things might change, we’ll work through revising dates together.

When it comes to books, the most common issues are increases to the agreed book word limit, extra timing past the agreed manuscript delivery, and significant changes to the book content past agreed deadlines. You’ll receive the full terms and conditions with our quote.

For a business book, it’s safe to aim for between 40,000 to 55,000 words. Business books are usually measured in words, rather than pages, as publishers print in different font sizes and page dimensions, so it’s hard to compare. Anything over that, and you need to be careful not to put readers off.

A good rule of thumb is to expect around 6 months writing time, and then between 3-6 months to publish depending on the publisher. This will depend on how much material we have to work with. All up, you’re looking at a year’s commitment with some buffer.

It varies but a guide is a three-month writing process with weekly interviews or meetings, two months to amend and review the completed manuscript, and then a one month wrap up. We’ll work around your commitments, and only ever contact you in business hours.

We usually write the whole manuscript first, and then open the floor to reviews. It’s often easier to look at a work objectively when it’s complete, and then work at fine tuning. A book will go through several iterations, depending on the author’s time allowance and the content requirements.

Course! From time to time, I may enlist outside help with administration and potentially transcribing, but it’s always Annie’s writing on your book. For that reason, I can’t take on too many book projects. It might mean I’m booked out for months at a time.

Writing a book requires significant attention and time – most authors underestimate this. As well as writing it, you’ll also be required to be available to review chapters and amend sections.

Yes – you are the author. We are typically engaged as a ghostwriter, which means we work with you to write it, but the book appears as if you have written it. We will discuss with you the opportunity for our work to be acknowledged within the book. On occasion, a writing partnership might call for dual naming rights on the book, but this will be discussed with you first.

Think about what you are bringing to the table. Do you have material that we can use to help write your book? Or will the information come from interviews. The less time spent with you means the less expensive the cost, as regular meetings and transcribing adds up.

Books take longer to create than shorter copywriting projects, so I do get booked out in advance. It might be anywhere from between 3-6 months, but get in touch and we can go from there.

I’m based in Melbourne, and work from my office in Elsternwick.

Ready to write that bestseller? Book a discovery call.