When you know what you want your book to say but you don’t know just how to say it, you’re ready to hire a professional ghostwriter.
You know you have a story to tell. You know there’s a market for your message. You know that you have the grit and ambition to take this project all the way — but there’s just one problem: you’ve never written a book. Your project will require research, ideation, book proposals, several manuscript drafts, and a knowledge of the publishing and representation industries, but unless you’re an industry veteran, it’s likely that you’re not sure where to start. Luckily, there are skilled, professional writers for hire who can guide you through this otherwise-turbulent process and make it as smooth as possible along the way.
Why Hire A Ghostwriter?
Gaining the skills, knowledge, and experience to pen a book from ideation to polished manuscript is no simple task. In fact, if you don’t make a living writing professionally, it’s likely that going solo on your book project will mean biting off more than you can chew. Most aspiring nonfiction writers are already maxed out doing whatever it is that makes their ideas special, and trying to write your book in your spare time can potentially take years. The reality is that most brands, influencers, and thought leaders want to publish their stories pronto, and hiring someone to write on one’s behalf is becoming increasingly common as the demand for content increases. So, how does one approach finding such a person?
How To Hire A Ghostwriter For Your Book
So, you want to be an author but not necessarily a writer. You’ve come to the right place. Finding a ghostwriter might sound as simple as a Google search, but there are several steps to finding the perfect one for you and your author brand, so we’ve put together the guide you’ll need to do so:
Step One: Determine What You Have and Where You Are In The Process
Ghostwriters produce everything from manuscript analysis to chapter summaries, book proposals, and, of course, completed manuscripts. What you’ll need to know before reaching out to a ghostwriter for hire is what you’d like to commission one to write for you. Do you have an existing book synopsis? A rough outline of book sections and chapter summaries? While there’s no prerequisite that demands you bring anything but an idea and an open mind to the table when looking to collaborate with a ghostwriter, it certainly helps to take stock of what you have already accomplished as the aspiring author before reaching out.
Take note of your goals: What impact do you want this book to have on others? What impact do you want it to have on you and your career, as an author or otherwise? How does this book contribute to a larger conversation? Why is this book a necessary component of your brand strategy? Understanding your goals will help immensely in the search for the perfect ghostwriter.
Additionally, it’s helpful to make sure you have a basic understanding of the book marketplace so you can begin to think about how well your book will sell. Under what genre does your book fall into? Here are a few examples (but by no means an exhaustive list) of non fiction book genres to consider before proceeding with hiring a ghostwriter for your book:
Memoirs & Biographies
These nonfiction books consistently fill the pages of the New York Times Best Sellers list. This type of highly personal writing requires that you find a ghostwriter that can capture your unique voice, story, and essence.
Business & Management
This nonfiction genre is typically informative first and motivational second. This type of writing is meant to provide a guiding framework to leaders and inspire them to achieve greater things for themselves, their companies, and the people they lead.
Health & Wellbeing
These books are informational and motivational. This type of writing can rely on both science and data as well as inspirational tone that gives readers the tools and empowerment to make better choices for themselves.
Self-Help & Personal Development
These non fiction books rely heavily on eye-opening insight and meaningful content and tone. This type of writing should be uplifting and provide a framework for future public speaking and coursework opportunities. For this genre, it’s best to hire ghostwriters based on tone that will appeal to your target demographics.
Religion & Spirituality
These books typically have a lot of freedom in terms of tone and structure. They range from historical hybrids to motivational to scripture devotionals to fiction. Above all, this type of writing requires an abundant knowledge of your target audience and their values.
History
This genre typically requires abundant research as well as established credibility to write and get published. While you and your name may be able to lend the clout required to sell a history book, the right ghostwriter for this genre should also be a skilled researcher.
Political Science & Current Affairs
These books are typically informative first and persuasive second. Working with a ghostwriter in this type of writing will, much like for historical books, require an avid researcher. In addition to the skills needed to write a history book, writing for the political science and current affairs genre will also require that your writer keep a tight pulse on, well, current affairs. If you want to find the perfect writer for this genre, he or she will not only write eloquently, compellingly, and informatively — your writer will need to have a strong intuition for the collective temperature on any given issue.
Cooking & Food
Increasingly, these books are becoming narrative as well as descriptive. It’s becoming easier to mistake a cookbook for a memoir and visa versa. To find a ghostwriter for cooking and food will require someone with both a passion for and understanding of culinary arts, but also the ability to tie recipes into a larger story about you and humanity. Food writing is about connecting with what makes us all human — eating. You’ll need a writer who can capture the detailed experience of flavor and texture of sustenance while also weaving it into the big, beautiful picture.
Misc. Fiction
While it’s certainly less common to hire ghostwriters for fiction, it can certainly make sense in many instances. You may be a celebrity looking to pen your first children’s book, or you may have a fantastic idea for a screenplay or comic book series. Whether you already consider yourself a writer or not, making the transition to fiction can be tricky and an entirely different skill set altogether, so it’s important to hire a writer with experience in fiction writing. Next up: how much does it cost to hire a professional writer?
Step Two: Determine Your Budget
It’s crucial to have a clear vision of what you’re looking to spend on your project from start to finish before you hire a ghostwriter to write a book. It would be a real bummer if you started the project of your dreams with the perfect ghostwriter only to run out of funds halfway through. Hiring someone to pen your masterpiece isn’t cheap (and if someone tells you it will be, it won’t be a masterpiece), so it’s important to understand the value of what you’re asking for and to be realistic with yourself about the budget when evaluating the cost to hire a ghostwriter. Of course, cost will depend on the experience and background of your ghostwriter and fees range anywhere from five thousand to six-figures. Another thing to consider is the cost of the time to write your book, as you and your ghost writer may be talking anywhere from a few months to a year and more in terms of interviews and research on top of the time to actually write the book. Budget and cost is one of the first things you’ll want to make sure to talk about as an aspiring author when initiating a conversation with a potential ghostwriter for your book. Ideally, the agency you align yourself with will have a stable of ghostwriters to choose from. In most cases, more junior writers can be a great choice, as long as the agency provides guidance and supervision for their writing every step of the way.
Something to note is that, on occasion, ghostwriters may work for a reduced rate in exchange for royalties or a co-author credit. It’s never polite to assume this co-author credit exchange will be enticing for a prospective ghostwriter (unless, say, you are a public figure). However, if you believe wholeheartedly in your idea, it’s possible that a writer may share your sentiment and passion (and be an aspiring author herself!), so if you simply don’t have the funds, you may find it worthwhile to explore this scenario upfront.
Step Three: Begin The Search
Where does one begin to look for a ghostwriter/co-author? The ghostwriting-for-books marketplace can seem elusive, and it certainly can be. Ghostwriters are limited in the work that they are allowed to share as it’s common for them to sign non-disclosure agreements with the clients they write for. This might sound unreasonable at first, but try to consider the fact that you will expect that same level of confidentiality when your book goes live. You are hiring a ghostwriter after all!
Reputable agencies like WritersBlok are a great place to begin your search, as they do the work of matching you with qualified ghostwriters based on your specific writer needs. You’ll want to look for writers or agencies with multiple traditionally published and self published books under their belts. Once you’ve perused the options online, it’s time to reach out! The next few days should be a telling process in that the responses you receive from potential ghostwriters will be indicative of their professionalism and passion. You should talk to at least a handful of ghostwriting prospects about what you know so far (Steps One and Two) and have questions about ghost writing prepared for them. What are their values? What writing styles do they capture best? What writing samples can they share? What genres are they best known for? What perspectives might they lend to the collaboration? Your decision to hire a ghostwriter will be based on the answer to these questions and more — and of course, your gut. Remember, the collaboration of writing a book will be an intimate experience — more of a partnership throughout the course of the project than a work-for-hire job. Hire someone you’re comfortable with above all else.
Step Four: Determine The Scope Of Work
Congratulations — you’ve chosen a highly skilled ghostwriter who shares your values, understands your vision, and fits within your budget! Next up, you’ll need to delve into the scope of work and determine what you’d like the ghostwriter to pen for you, what you’d like them to advise you on, and what you’d like to tackle yourself. This will have been touched on in Step Three (when discussing the budget with potential ghostwriters for hire), but the nitty-gritty will involve a firmer commitment than merely shopping around for a writer. One scenario might look like this: you decide that you would like your ghostwriter to generate a book synopsis and chapter summaries for you based on your creative conversations. You then might choose to use those materials as guidance to write the manuscript yourself, for which the ghostwriter might then provide a subsequent analysis to help you polish the work into that masterpiece that’s ready to hit the market and go out to publishers! In another example, the ghostwriter may pen the entire book and all deliverables from start to finish. Whatever the scope of work looks like, the important thing is that it works for you!
Step Five: The Real Work Begins
You and your ghostwriter have agreed upon the scope of work. What now? Once you’ve solidified your budget and hashed out the workload with your ghostwriter, you’ve arrived at the exciting part: birthing your book! This is the part at which your book finally begins to take form and make its way into the world. Keep in mind that, depending on how you’ve divvied up the scope of work with your ghostwriter, this checklist of deliverables may vary, but the following is a look into a standard ghostwriting process during which an author hires a ghostwriter to pen everything from the book synopsis to the final draft of the manuscript. Let’s dig in!
- You will provide the ghostwriter with any and all stories, case studies, research, and information that you have. This content will help shape the writer’s process and next steps.
- The ghostwriter will likely conduct additional interviews, over several months, with you and potentially other book subjects in order to fill in the blanks and create a well-rounded story with rich details. The same applies to additional research.
- The ghostwriter will produce initial deliverables such as chapter summaries, and in some cases a book proposal in order to make sure you both are on the same page before continuing with the first draft of the manuscript. These materials will likely evolve as the manuscript evolves.
- The ghostwriter will produce the first draft of the manuscript.
- You will discuss feedback with the writer and provide edits using a tracking tool.
- The ghostwriter will produce a second draft of the manuscript.
- You will repeat Step 5 in greater detail and with greater accuracy.
- The ghostwriter will produce a third and final draft.
The timeline of these events will depend entirely on your budget and the ghostwriter’s availability which could vary widely. It’s important to be realistic about the timeline: producing something that’s quality won’t happen overnight. Once the final draft is delivered, you will need an editor and possibly a literary agent if you are pursuing a book deal. It’s important not to expect these services from your ghostwriter, as editing and selling are separate skill sets and separate hiring processes. You don’t want the same person who wrote the book to also edit their own work — you’ll want a separate pair of eyes for that. The same goes for a literary agent. If you don’t already have one, you’ll need a designated person to represent your book in the marketplace — someone whose job it is to know the ins and outs of what’s selling at any given point in time.
Final Words Of Wisdom For Hiring A Ghostwriter
Leave your pride at the door.
Hiring a professional to write your book is a serious investment. While it’s normal to feel territorial about your life story or big idea, it’s important that you check your ego throughout the process, lest it sabotage the whole thing. It would be a shame to shoot yourself in the foot over rigidity or pride. While this is your story, it’s crucial to trust your chosen ghostwriter to execute your vision — that is, after all, what you’re paying for. Having your book ghostwritten is ultimately a collaborative process. A good ghostwriter will respect your story, knowledge, and experience, and in turn, you should respect his or her expertise as a writer. Ghostwriters are used to anonymity and regularly foregoing credit, so it’s a safe assumption that your ghostwriter is genuinely trying to help you and is rooting for your success.
Practice patience.
Your excitement for your project is valid, but good work takes a lot of time. If you believe your idea won’t be relevant six months or a year from now, stop to consider whether the investment is worth the time, money, and effort spent writing it. If you believe that your story is important and timeless, continually remind yourself that all good things come to those who wait. Your patience throughout the course of your project will create a much more harmonious environment for creativity and collaboration, and you will ultimately be happier with the result than if you were to have hastily rushed through the process.
Be confident.
No one can tell your story except for you. While it may seem intimidating at times if you lack storytelling credentials, remember that a good ghostwriter is here to help you and make the process easier as either a vessel or co-creator. If you trust yourself and stay humble, you’re sure to have a successful experience with ghostwriting.
The time is now
If you’re still reading, chances are you are serious enough to begin your search for the perfect ghostwriter. If you’re ready to take the next step, WritersBlok wants to get to know you and your vision for your future book.
The team at WritersBlok is highly skilled and equipped to tackle your next book project with care, expertise, and passion. Wherever you are in the process, today is the day to reach out and take the next step towards your written masterpiece!
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