Arbor Books Ghostwriting Guidelines: Choosing the Right Company for Your Book.

Those new to the idea of Arbor Books ghostwriting services can even meet for free with either Joel Hochman or Larry Leichman, the owners of the company. Mr. Hochman specializes in fiction, memoir and business. Mr. Leichman specializes in business, how-to, medical, motivational and memoir.

The question of how to decide which company to hire is the number-one hurdle facing most prospective clients.

"The important thing is to choose someone with whom you feel comfortable, someone who understands the goals you have for your book," says Mr. Hochman. "However, you still have to verify that he or she is legitimate, and you have to check credentials before signing any contract."

For this reason, Mr. Hochman offers his Arbor Books Publishing and Writing Guidelines for hiring a ghostwriting company. These tips include:

Making sure that there is adequate supervision and that the company doesn't simply farm out the work to independent freelancers.

Insisting on an easy-to-read contract that clearly states your rights and responsibilities and those of the ghostwriter.

Checking to make sure the company has insurance against defamation and plagiarism.

Demanding assignment of 100 percent of the literary rights to you.

Verifying that the publisher you select is listed with the Better Business Bureau with a rating of "B+" or better. Arbor is rated "A."

And what about choosing an individual writer instead of a company? Well, that can be problematic, and there are fewer safeguards in that situation for the customer. If you get into a disagreement with an individual writer, you're stuck with little or no recourse. Basically, you're at the mercy of that writer.

Let's face it: the Internet is full of disreputable people, and your chances of hiring a charlatan are high. A firm, on the other hand, offers a vetted staff of writers and backup writers as well as editorial oversight and project management, from proofreading to the design of the final product. Also, reputable ghostwriting companies will be insured, whereas most individual writers will not be.

"The best way to protect yourself against heartache and headache is to work with a reputable ghostwriting firm," says Mr. Leichman. "Instead of getting one person working on your book, you'll be getting an entire team."

Just make sure you hire the right "team" by following Arbor Books ghostwriting guidelines. For more information, please visit www.arborbooks.com or call 1-800-877-2500.