u/AlphaWolf132

Got into the July batch. No updates on the notice board. Regional website is mostly clunky. What now? Any groups that I need to join for updates?

I am in the Mumbai region, Panvel RC.

Hey, everyone. I am a Top-Rated Ghostwriter and Editor on Upwork.

First-time authors are racked with insecurity, and it's usually gentle coaching from editors that allows them to find their truest voice (while adhering to clean writing standards).

Many authors on this sub-reddit are struggling.

I am offering free manuscript critiques and self-publishing know-how for authors still on their first rodeo. With my schedule, I can do around 5 right now.

I specialize in Non-fiction: Memoirs, Biographies, Self-help, and KDP.

If you want a free analysis to see if your manuscript is ready for readers, drop your book's premise below and we can connect.

See you.

(No poetry please; I am not a poet. And poetry jargon makes my head hurt.)

Upwork Profile for Reference (testimonials, portfolio, trust; that sorta thing): https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~011c5e10247d92e107

Hey, everyone. I am a full-time top-rated ghostwriter and editor on Upwork.

First-time writers are racked with insecurity, and it's usually gentle coaching from editors that allows them to find their truest voice (while adhering to clean writing standards).

Many writers on this sub-reddit are struggling.

I am offering free manuscript critiques. With my schedule, I can do around 5 right now.

If you want a free analysis to see if your manuscript is ready for readers, drop your book's premise below and we can connect.

See you.

(No poetry please; I am not a poet. And poetry jargon makes my head hurt.)

Many founders and businesses are invisible. They either lack the time or the writing skill to share their insights.

If you have professional expertise, life experiences, or a legacy worth preserving, I can help you share it with the world.

Current services offered:

Brand / Business Ghostwriting:

-Weekly/Monthly Newsletter

-Lead Magnet Book Creation

-LinkedIn Thought Leadership Posts and Articles

-AI Content Humanizing

-Other Writing Categories (discretionary basis).

Book Ghostwriting:

-Memoir

-Biography

-Self-Help

-Editing

Rates range from $250 - $3,000 depending on service needed. Negotiable and flexible to client preferences.

If you need help with any of the above, shoot me a DM.

(You can also approach me for other content writing needs for your brand/business on special request.)

-

Can provide Upwork profile, testimonials, and portfolio in DMs (against the rules to include links in the post body).

Many founders and businesses are invisible. They either lack the time or writing skill to share their insights.

If you have professional expertise, life experiences, or a legacy worth preserving, I can help you share it with the world.

Current services offered:

Brand / Business Ghostwriting:

-Weekly/Monthly Newsletter

-Lead Magnet Book Creation

-LinkedIn Thought Leadership Posts and Articles

-AI Content Humanizing

-Other Writing Categories (discretionary basis).

Book Ghostwriting:

-Memoir

-Biography

-Self-Help

-Editing

3 spots available right now. If you need help with any of the above, shoot me a DM.

(You can also approach me for other content writing needs for your brand/business on special request.)

Profile for Reference: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~011c5e10247d92e107

I notice many people on the sub-reddit are in the grey about how self-publishing works.

I am a Top-Rated Non-Fiction Ghostwriter and Editor on Upwork. I've helped a few KDP business owners create successful books that are live on Amazon and making a hit with readers.

If you have any questions related to the process, whether how to go from idea to raw draft to final manuscript or about how the publishing process works, ask away.

Happy to lend my experience.

Other self-published authors are welcome to share their experience with the process in the comments.

Don't let the image fool you.

This is not a win story.

I saw (let's call him Ian) Ian post an editing project for his book last week. He was convicted of drug trafficking charges and thrown into prison some years ago. Underwent a spiritual transformation behind bars, learned the importance of discipline, and now wanted to use his story to inspire others.

The catch was, he used AI to draft the book.

I centered my outreach around "aggressively targeting the AI patterns." Readers are getting smart and no author wants to be outed for using AI. (It's that open secret no one likes admitting to.)

"I’m getting extremely discouraged here," Ian wrote back, "people keep sending me samples that are obviously AI generated."

"I hope I can find someone trustworthy with you."

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺, I told myself.

I was out sipping kulhad chai when his response dropped. So once my peregrination was done, I skeetered home and prepared a free consult. Hit send and moved on. His response dropped in the evening, the image you see.

Any time you're able to speak right to the client's problem, and they acknowledge it, it's a special feeling.

Naturally, with that open-cheque question at the end, I thought I had it in the bag.

But Ian wanted three services rolled into a peanut package of one: Editing and Humanizing (any decent editor will tell you to steer clear of drafting with AI; it sucks the life out of us and it's just easier to draft something new), Ghostwriting of a Companion Workbook, and Publishing Assistance.

I made it clear that clients had trusted me with heftier budgets for just one of those services, but I'd adjust if he "has budget constraints." He had a good story; I didn't want to pass on the chance to work on it.

Two days of silence, and the third day he monotonously writes back: "I’m sorry I already hired someone else that will help me see the project all the way through till its uploaded on Amozon [sic]. Thank you for your time."

What bothered me the most was the abject lack of communication.

If you have questions, ask me.

If you have budget constraints, tell me.

If you don't want to work with me, make it clear.

I'll take it like a champ. You win some, you lose some, you move on. I understand the game well.

What you don't do is let someone stew in silence and bitch-slap them with "I've hired someone else. Thank you."

Here I was, already prepared with an encyclopedia of ways we could use to make your book a hit with readers. Here you are, ready to slam me back with a different intent.

That void of communication is unbecoming. Let's just have some decency to respond and be courteous.

I am sure anyone reading this has plenty of ghosting stories of their own.

Encounters like these make us question why quality clients are disappearing.

When was the last time you suffered at the hands of uncouth silence from prospects?

(Context: I am a top-rated non-fiction and memoir ghostwriter.)

https://preview.redd.it/pknlsuq32kah1.png?width=746&format=png&auto=webp&s=e35ed59b231e26c348512f8f0e140d6a5a736293

Got into the July 2026 batch. What happens next?

*Title correction: "Enrolled in Bachelor of Arts in English (Honours)".

Any time you stroll along the promenade of the Taj Hotel — Mumbai’s crown jewel — you witness a throng of visitors from across the globe sprawl around a grand stone arch on the left end. The Gateway of India, built to herald the first coming of India’s British emperor, King George V.

For one man’s arrival, thousands of poor laborers were put to work. Such has been the desire of monarch’s past. Forever etch your memory into your subjects’ minds long after your demise. While Shah Jahan could erect Taj Mahal for his departed beloved, what can we do to preserve our legacy?

Memories fade into obscurity, but stories endure. Tales passed from grandfathers to grandsons, around campfires, across seas through sailors’ lips. The names change, the backdrop evolves, details grow in the telling, but the wisdom imparted remains the same.

The irresistible urge to preserve your legacy has driven men mad before. Napoleon waged wars to outlive his ambition. Plaques arose, streets renamed, buildings erected. When the rich pranced around constructing busts and palaces, the every man — the “you and I" of antiquity — wrote. On parchments and bones and tablets. Then scrolls of paper when that commodity spread. They recorded chronicles and annals; travelogues of journeys to the Far East; unknown lands and strange people. They sailed and journaled, only one nagging need in their mind — to live forever.

In our day, all of that is captured in one word: memoir.

Why do you think people write memoirs?

(Anyone going to comment "GPT slop" because they see em dashes or rule of three, kindly piss off.)

Gateway of India. Taken on a lonely walk some years back.

I don't think you lose love for your craft in one day. The affection slowly chips away from your derelict heart. It discreetly slips past you—a night stalker decimating a town one victim at a time—until you wake up one day, deserted, detesting the very medium that breathed purpose to your existence, gave structure to your day, became your path to mastery.

I believe you can lose love of your craft if you let dissatisfaction go unchecked. Unfortunately, we rarely realize when the fractures appear. When that happens, the artist who once reveled in his craft devolves into a technician who knows his way around words.

Writers who have lost their love for the craft and found their way back, what was the decay like and how long did it take you to rediscover the craft?

This falls in the camp of discovery vs structure. Caveat: Everything I mention is strictly pertaining to one-off pieces, not books, but authors are free to share their thoughts. Also pertains only to hobby/passion/personal writing, not professional.

I almost never do outlines for my pieces. Once I have fettered myself with headers and sub-headers, I feel the potential of my words to flow is strangled.

But therein lies the dilemma. If all pre-planned structure is evil, why do writers clamor to use the “best templates” and strategies to bring themselves to a page — before they have written a lone word?

In my mind, there is no one right way to write. God created us in varying shades. Some (like me) have an aversion to structure while others cannot breathe a word without it. For me, I do not need to have figured out the why, the when, the how, the who, the what. I know my intentions are sincere. If I sit to write, and what emerges is graceful, then my words will find a willing audience that’s elated to entertain my madness.

But there's no judgement here since I have straddled both sides at certain points. I want to hear from the other camp. Writers who feel they can't function without an outline, what draws you to that approach, and have you tried discovery writing before?

I see independent professionals—I denounce the term "freelancer"—make this grave mistake again and again. They believe they are "not good enough" to work with international clients.

If you ask, "Why do you think that?" they say, "I am an Indian," or, "I am a Pakistani," or "I am..." some other sub-continental flavor. I held this misconception for the longest time, too. I thought the international market would judge me for my skin color. But that's all it was—a misconception.

Over the past five years, I've ghostwritten for clients from the USA, Canada, UK, Romania, Japan, and all over. I've ghostwritten for CEOs, Startup Founders, Life Coaches, Small-Time Business Owners, Podcasters, Oncologists, a PhD Professor, Agency Owners, and Digital Nomads. Their only concern was the value I offered.

I truly believe we are in the Second Age of Exploration. The trade routes are open. No one cares about your skin or the way you speak; they only care about what you bring to the table. So I say pillage, plunder, and loot as you please. The world is your oyster.

I am always mesmerized by the process of Writing — how each letter is conjured by the mind through an unknown design, strung together into an assembly of words, to be materialized on a page by the gliding will of our pens.

Yet, when you willingly sit down to write, channeling your focus with intent, an Abyss stares back and no words come out. In that moment, you blame yourself as a writer and your crippling inability to exercise your craft.

Most writers throw in the towel at this point. I was at the breaking point, too — resenting Writing and wishing for an escape.

I tried two things that helped me break free of this mental rut.

1. Embrace Your Fear

Fear is a dominating force. When you sit to write, and your hand goes limp, it is a classic fight-or-flight response. You freeze because you are afraid to make yourself vulnerable, silently inviting judgement and criticism.

The devil on the left whispers, “No one likes you. No one asked for your opinion. And no one needs to read this crap!"

Silence that unfeeling wretch. Embrace your fear and un-clutch your mind from its cold grip.

2. Create the Perfect Atmosphere

I belong to a generation that was trained to write by hand. We stood at the crossover from handwritten to digital, growing up with computers and phones but not being dominated by them.

At the start of 2026, I decided to return to my roots and started experimenting with journaling in a gray A5 hardcover. “Write everything,” I told myself.

I was able to renew my love for Writing and rediscover the pleasure and satisfaction that felt so long lost.

Writing is unique and beautiful and messy and mysterious. Learn more about who you are and what allows you to channel your words efficiently.

Do not forget to enjoy the process.

I am going to say something that's been said a million times before. 

You can't be successful today without having an online presence, not in "I am the mega-successful, million-dollar-earning expert you need to listen to" sense anyways. 

Most entrepreneurs strike out as thought leaders on LinkedIn and X after making tremendous headway in their industries. 

So, here's my question to entrepreneurs here. 

If you guys have seen that level of success (or even close), what has prevented you from writing online and becoming thought leaders in your industry? 

And if you could demolish that roadblock and had the opportunity to share your knowledge with the world, building a robust digital audience in the process, would you take it? 

Cheers!

PS: I am also aware many startup founders are primarily analogue and still find the same level of achievement. If you're in that camp, have you ever thought about carving a corner of the internet for yourself?

It is difficult to find true authenticity in your voice as a writer. Writing is one of the — if not the — oldest professions in the world. My struggle is the same as yours.

I often wonder, how do I materialize my thoughts in their crudest form?

How do I express myself with an almost sacred, virgin purity?

You know, I tried that hackneyed advice everyone was shooting on Medium back in 2023: “JUST KEEP WRITING!!!”

It works for people with low self-esteem, who don’t have a habit of writing, who are just starting to grip the fringes of their artistic ability. It works — until it doesn’t.

How a New Writer Evolves

As a new writer, you will go through many stages. The old adage is true; everyone’s journey is different.

Childish as it sounds, I fell in love with writing when I impetuously ran down to Green Collection, the nearest stationary shop, and bought a 5-subject Classmate Notebook in 7th grade after rummaging through my Diary of a Wimpy Kid collection (I think I owned all the titles till Cabin Fever at that point). I set aside a sacred hour late in the evening once business for the day (playground escapades) was done. I’d record what happened in school, whine about my friends, and, from what I recall, note down some of my aspirations for life. This small phase began an on-and-off love affair with writing that, 10 years later, culminated into a professional freelance writing career.

Note: I don’t enjoy using that word —“freelance writer." I advise other writers to position themselves as "professional [your flavor of] writer” (in my case ghostwriter since I specialize in non-fiction books for clients). But it gets the point across, so.

Anyways, at some point, I started to lose my love for it. If you’ve been at it for a while like me, you, too, will inevitably come to a standstill. You’ll feel stale and obscure, flat and burned out in your delivery — charred to death in the head. You’ll question every sentence you write, word you etch, banging your head on the wall and wondering why you bothered in the first place.

That’s where I was a few months ago.

How to Break Free of the Curse

Between projects, homely responsibilities, and growing distaste, I was stuck in an endless cycle of wanting to write (more particularly, wanting to feel the excitement to write again), juggling underwhelming clients who hacked my mind into limbo. I was seriously questioning if I made the right choice going down the writer’s path.

Does that crossroad sound familiar?

I didn’t know if I’d ever escape my limbo until I revived my old love. I went back to journaling — (I know it sounds cliche, just bear with me ) — a habit I left behind in my childhood.

The rigid constraints of client work garroted my thoughts in a way that went unnoticed until it was too late. The cancer had spread, so to speak. I didn’t realize I needed a space where the chaos of my mind could breathe. My sweet wife helped me set up a small writing space in the corner of our living room, separate from where I do official client work, where ideas could abound without restraint. I was extremely picky about the journal I chose and how I organized everything. Every thing needed to be perfect!

The Result

The experience has been magical. Jotting down the churn of my consciousness’s remnants makes me feel liberated. New ideas and fresh perspectives are flowing in my mind again that I thought were lost forever. I had started to resent writing. This one change — creating a separate space for my personal writing and restarting freeform journaling — allowed me to unfurl the disdain and rediscover my love for the craft. It reawakened me to my why.

But of course, what worked for me will not necessarily work for you. The medicine to my ailment is probably different to the medicine for yours. Our symptoms are similar but the causes for the sickness might be vastly distinct.

All I intend to do with this post is nudge you, dear reader, in the right direction.

Go and experiment. Don’t give up on this beautiful craft just yet. Try to remember why you started in the first place. You might rediscover your love for writing, too.