Most women would jump on a legitimate work-at-home opportunity. Are you willing to learn a set of  professional skills and then work hard from home? Ghost writing may be for you. I warn you - ghost writing isn’t easy. The rewards? Set your own schedule. Work from where ever you choose - at home, your boat, a vacation locale. I’ve done it for years and so has Claudia Suzanne - the world’s most prolific, respected ghosts. Cash in on her secrets - this isn’t a sales pitch, it’s a clue.

I’ve worked at home for three decades, successfully, and am always on the look out for job opportunities that women can use long term to make a living while raising a family or enjoying personal freedom. Four months ago, I met a phenomenal writer, Claudia Suzanne. She has written more than 100 books - fiction and non-fiction, but you probably don’t recognize her name. That doesn’t bother her.

What does a ghost writer do?

Ghost writer Claudia, well-known in the publishing industry and master of a satisfying income, says:

1. A ghost is a writer who reads an author’s manuscript, writes an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses, then presents professional recommendations to the author. The goal: to get the manuscript attention and respect it deserves upon submission. The ghost must learn to evaluate from a positive point-of-view.
2. The ghost, with the author, refines and polishes a manuscript so it pleases the author and meets professional standards. The ghost may simply do a thorough edit, or rewrite most of it, with author-input. The ghost must learn how the publishing industry ticks, effective editing, and how to maintain any author’s voice.
3. The ghost puts together a professional quality proposal package for the author to submit. The ghost must learn what agents look for.
4. The ghost gets paid. A lot. The ghost must learn how to be worth it.

How to learn the right way to market yourself as a ghost

I signed on to audit Claudia’s 14-week ghost writer training program. Audit, as in she waived the tuition so I could report to you women. Two weeks into the program, I was so impressed with her teaching, her knowledge, and the value of the class that I paid the tuition. Claudia has fueled new, lucrative careers for hundreds of students. Her past students have branched into editing, small press publishing, novel writing, and lots of other fields.

If you need a new career and have experience or solid skills as a writer - you could do a lot worse than investing in this ghost writer certification training. The pace is like a master’s level college program - the work serious and multi-layered. Weekly class time is three hours; homework is at least five hours. The “classroom” is a telephone conference call each week - an extremely effective distance learning method. Claudia’s style is warm, professional, serious.

If you take the certification training and meet completion requirements, you’ll earn the only ghost writing certification in the industry. You’ll learn how to find customers, set rates that reflect your level of expertise, and how to make a name for yourself in the business, even though your name may never appear on a book’s cover.

Ghost writing is one of the fastest growing careers. As the changing publishing business lets more people publish writing cheaply and quickly, more people want to write books. But many understand they don’t know how. They are willing to pay for help. You can put yourself in the hands of one of the most respected ghosting experts and learn to provide that expert help.

Read the details about ghost writing certification training.

Read more:

A review of Claudia’s course

Burgeoning author Susan Hasset, for some reason, sent a copy of her self-published book to Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Now, Hassett is suing Hasselbeck for plagiarizing Hassett’s book about surviving and managing celiac disease, which, if you follow the media, half of America seems to have.

Hasselbeck is the abrasive, blonde pseudo-celebrity who sits at the table on ABC’s The View and complains about practically everything on earth. I find her most annoying and most untalented. My opinion only, I’m sure. I love the idea of having opposing points of view. But Hasselbeck is such a parrot. I can’t really believe anything that comes out of her mouth is actually her opinion or that she actually has researched, studied or even read about the issue at hand.

Hassett is a Cape Cod resident, tile installer, and entrepreneur. Hassett says she can’t work because of celiac’s disease. She wrote her book, she told me in a quick phone conversation, to help other people .

According to a blog post about her, by a woman named Kelly,

On June 23, 2009, Sue Hassett

Women keep each other afloat (Photo by Oddsock)

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Doing some housekeeping today, I dove way back into the contents of Women Day By Day and found some articles our newer readers may have overlooked. Here, then, are some of the best web articles for women from Women Day By Day.

Sexy Stories for a Hot Summer Beach Read

Women in need find recovery and independence

Low Cost Activity Books for Young Children and Moms

Pro-Life Thinking: Understanding the Basics

Pro-Choice: The Basic Issues

Aging Tissue Can Be a Risk Factor for Breast Cancer

Lose Weight or Lose Yourself - Truths About Dieting

Resources for Military Women, Women Veterans and Families

Women-Fix Your Own PC? Windows Ailing? Tips from Computer Guru

Our site for writers and freelancers

Take a look at some of these and then dip into our archives. Tell me what you think - add your comments or contact me about doing a guest blog! I want to engage with you.

The economy has tanked. What goes down will probably come up. The pundits say depression - human or economical - can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s time for all Americans, indeed, the world’s people, to act as if. See Ten Good Things About the Economy.

Acting as if is a mental health technique. Your counselor encourages you to act as if a certain set of desireable circumstances is true. Example: You and your mate are falling apart. You want the relationship to survive, but you have gotten so distant neither of you risks rejection by reaching out to hug, or kiss, or compliment or support.

So therapists have you list small actions you could perform, or used to perform, that help you reach out. Like this” “I could give a quick goodbye kiss each morning.”

Then act as if you’re in love, and do those things.

You don’t feel like giving that kiss. You might recoil from the thought. You are so far apart emotionally. But remeber, you want this relationship to survive, to heal. Quick cheek peck.

It’s the same with this economy. New York Magazine sees it in their new positive news blog. If business people, bankers, entrepreneurs and consumers act as if the end is near, we will bring it about. If we fear living our normal life - do no spending, wise or otherwise - we add to the problem. If banks refuse to loan money because they are busy buying other banks to make bottom line look stable, we can’t grow. If fearful employers lay off people before that is really needed…

Act as if the economy is ok. Make thoughtful purchases if you can afford to. Take one step toward making your business grow just a hair - even if it feels slightly risky. Don’t give up on your loan application until you find a bank that will lend to you, if you can afford it. Buy a home, if you need it and can afford the mortgage.

Act as if we will face an economic upswing, and we will, you know, soomer or later. Act as if the new U.S, government has and will take sound steps to recovery. Act as if we don’t choose to live in fear or to profit from that fear in others.

Web design - something I’ve done on and off for many years. Remember when we used Gopher? I do. Remember TalkCity? I do. Often website development technology gets ahead of me - I am not a computer programmer or web programmer. But I am a kick ass content developer and I understand how websites should work, what websites should do and why entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs, spend time and money on their sites.

I am now proficient with four content development systems, including Joomla and Wordpress. I have taken training in both Joomla and Wordpress. I’ve built a couple of sites with each and I have used other systems for years. I’m going to work on WomenDayByDay and make changes so this site is easier for you to reach, easier to comment on and contains highest quality content. I’ll be looking for women to contribute articles to the site as we move ahead. At first, I’ll offer prizes for articles submitted. Later, it’ll be money.

I feel warm and powerful when I can engage in the wonderful task of empowering women.

Keep an eye here, at DigitalGrandparent.com and at OnText.com. Let me know if you’d like to be involved.

I’m an entrepreneur. I see everything, or nearly everything in terms of revenue streams and I’ve got one if I can only figure out the best way to make use of it. First, read my blog post at DemystifyingDigital.com about electronic books and the demise of the newspaper and paper publishing industries.

Now, work with me here. I’m looking for the best way to adjust my business so this idea of electronic and self publishing works for me. I’m thinking a series of short books - one idea things like, how to publish your own ebook in 12 easy steps. I’m thinking an online course for aspiring writers. Stuff like that.

But I’m also thinking there are a lot of women out there who could leverage this ebook idea into a cottage industry that would augment their income or even allow them to quit their day job. Like this - you like to cook? Write a cookbook of 100 recipes your family has passed down for eons. Call it, oh I dunno, “100 Recipes My Family Has Passed…”?

Are you crafty? Ok. An ebook, or series of them, that show beginners some really cool projects, tips or techniques that will make their hobby cheaper or simpler.

If you kick ass at accounting, or Web design, or nursing, come up withan easy-to-write but invaluable short book with great illustrations and then market it online. It costs nothing to almost nothing to sell an ebook. It costs a fortune to self-publish a print book. It is next to impossible to get one publsihed by a publishing house unless you have a platform - a ready-made, built-in way for the publisher to be sure they will make money fast off your book. Like, say, you’re Madonna or Billy Crystal or someone with a name. You’ll get something less than 10% and be expected to market the book anyway.

I’m trying to motivate you, sisters. This is a goddess-given opportunity to jump on a bandwagon coming down the pike at a furious pace. Rememebr pet rocks? And the other gee-I-wish-I-had-thought-of-that ideas. Well, this is your chance. Now, get out there.

Want an editor or a writing coach? Contact me.

It’s a long time battle - women should be paid equal wages for equal work output. Everyone knows that, but for some reason, our nation has been slow to make it a fact. Obama hasn’t solved the problem, but he signed his first piece of legislation yesterday and that law gives people a larger window in which to file suit against workplace discrimination based on gender, religion, creed, race or national origin.

Washington Post says:

“…workers may bring a lawsuit for up to six months after they receive any paycheck that they allege is discriminatory. It is named for Lilly Ledbetter, who after years as a manager at Goodyear Tire & Rubber discovered she was being paid less than her male counterparts.”

Thanks, Ms. Ledbetter - who brought suit against Goodyear Tire and Rubber and lost because she waited too long to file. The law is named for her. In 2009 women still earn 79 cents against every dollar men are paid. What the hell is wrong with this picture? May the young women of today refuse to let this continue.