I was recently contacted by a woman who was interested in having me ghostwrite a book for her. It sounded like an interesting idea, but I was wary of her proposal because she never mentioned the subject of payment. Having seen quite a number of book-writing scams, I didn’t want to bother talking to someone who was going to promise me “future royalties” based on “guaranteed sales” of their “really interesting” book.

But then she pointed out that she had never done this before, and wasn’t sure how to proceed, which struck me as reasonable. After all, how many of us have ever approached a stranger and asked them to write a book for us? Probably very few. Since it’s not exactly a common occurrence, I decided to write a bit about the process of hiring a ghostwriter.

Hiring a ghostwriter to create an entire book for you isn’t quite the same as hiring a writer for a short-term gig like writing an article or putting together a newsletter. It’s a major investment of time, energy and money, and you don’t want to get hosed! Neither does your writer, who is putting forth most of the effort. Here are a few things to consider when hiring a ghostwriter.

Whose book is this, anyway?

Do you want to take all the credit, with your name alone on the cover? Then, my friend, it’s going to cost you. Once a writer loses her byline, the price goes up accordingly (usually 2 to 3 times the regular price, in fact). If you’re willing to share the spotlight, this is the cheaper route, but remember that your ghost will still be earning a paycheck, so don’t try to tell them their “payment” is a byline.

What’s your genre?

Are you looking for someone to write your life story? Do you want to do an industry tell-all? Do you just want to have your name attached to a really good piece of fiction? There are many reasons to have someone write a book for you, and most of the time the goal is biographical, but if it’s not, be prepared to tell your writer what genre you’re aiming for. Travel, history, technical manual? Romance novel, murder mystery? Be as specific as you can be, thinking about what section you’d find your book in on a visit to your local bookstore.

What’s the time frame?

Realistically, despite the fact that you are 80 years old and want to tell your entire life’s story, that just isn’t going to fit into one book. (Unless you’ve lived an exceedingly boring life—in which case I’m not sure why you’d want to have your story written down in the first place.) So pick some of the highlights, and tell your writer what time frame you’d like to cover. Maybe you were a wild child back in the 1960s and want to remember your days of wine and glory? Great! Tell her it’s a hippie’s journey through the psychedelic ‘60s, and she’ll get the gist.

Got a deadline?

Let’s say it’s almost Halloween and you want your book done in time for Christmas so you can mail it to all your relatives as a gift. Great! But you do realize this is now a RUSH JOB, right? The fee will be higher if you’ve got a specific deadline shorter than six months from now. Sometimes books can take up to a year to complete, depending on the complexity of the project, the time required for research, interviews, transcription of any audio or visual recordings—and various unexpected bumps along the way. Just be sure you’re giving your writer enough lead time to meet your deadlines, and you’ll both be happier with the results.

Show me the money!

After some of these preliminary details are hashed out, the writer is going to ask you for money up front. Probably quite a lot of money, so be prepared for a figure ranging anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000. This is pretty standard, as books are big projects that require lots of time and effort. They’re also things that don’t mix well with additional projects, so the writer is going to be counting on your fee to pay most (or all) of her bills for the next six months, give or take. Telling a writer that your total budget for her writing your entire novel from scratch is $100 is not only insulting, it’s wasting her time. Don’t be that guy (or gal).

Signing the contract

Once you’ve agreed to the writer’s terms, she will send you a contract describing both of your responsibilities, as well as any provisions for future payments in the form of royalties (ghostwriters typically ask for 50% of all future sales of the book). Whether you already have a publisher lined up or need to shop the book yourself, the writer is not under any obligation to help you with this part of the process. She may offer additional services at additional fees, but her only responsibility to you at this point is to write the best book she can. Check over the contract to make sure everything seems fair to both of you, and then sign on the dotted line.

Where do we go from here?

Once the contract is signed, the writer will get to work on your book. The process isn’t entirely straightforward, as sometimes there is a lot of staring at the wall waiting for inspiration to come. However, this is generally how I would proceed with any ghostwriting book contracts:

1. Interview the subject, as well as any additional contributors to the book, until enough material is gathered to form a coherent story
2. Transcribe any interviews (i.e. type them up from any phone or face-to-face recordings), as well as any additional documents the client provides (videos, recordings from other contributors, etc.)
3. Perform additional research/fact-checking as necessary (this may or may not be required, depending on the book’s focus and the writer’s background)
4. Create an outline for the book’s chapters, with input from the client
5. Write a rough draft based on the outline
6. Submit rough draft for client approval, and begin the process of editing the draft, chapter by chapter
7. After one complete round of editing is complete, additional drafts may be requested, but would require an additional fee

So there you go! A quick and not-so-dirty guide to hiring a ghostwriter.

Want to work together on a book?

I’m easy to work with, and if you’ve got a specific project in mind (and a minimum of $10,000 burning a hole in your pocket), I’d love to hear from you! Just use my handy contact form to drop me a line, and I’ll be in touch within 24 hours.