Who this is for: For anyone about to hire a ghostwriter for a book, and anyone who hired one before and was let down.
Do you need a ghostwriter at all?
There are other ways to get a book done without having to do the writing. You open the voice recorder function on your phone, and you talk. Simply talk through the chapter as if you were making a short speech or having a conversation. It doesn’t have to be the most formal language. It just needs to be natural. It needs to sound like you.
And then you get that recording transcribed. There are companies that do mechanical, automated transcriptions with voice-to-text software. They have gotten a lot better, but they still get words wrong.
If you don’t feel comfortable editing, you may want to hire an editor to make sure your chapters read as smoothly and as gracefully as possible. One way to do this on the cheap is to email the dean of the English or journalism grad school at your local university or college, and let them know you have a project and will pay $100 per chapter. That is the cheap and dirty way to get a book ghostwritten.
Why a book ghostwriter, and not a freelance writer?
So here’s a quick primer on what to consider when you are hiring a writer.
Some writers list the fact that they do blog pieces, speeches, white papers, and books. Seriously? Books are a different animal.
Jacks of all trades are typically masters of none. Book writing is simply different from other forms of writing. Don’t ask a sprinter to run a marathon. Don’t hire a generalist.
On Notable Authors: Everyone on the list writes books. We list book ghostwriting only, not editing, coaching or publishing.
Browse the writers →What do past clients say?
Ghostwriting is typically confidential, but many clients will be happy to give words of praise to their writers if they have done a great job.
On Notable Authors: A review on a writer’s profile is stamped Paid in full only when the client paid the whole contract here, and a person checks it before it appears. Some writers also say on their profile that client references are available on request.
What Paid in full proves →Get on the phone with the past clients and say:
- “What was it like working with George?”
- “Was he a good ghostwriter?”
- “Did he understand you?”
- “Did he show up for all the meetings?”
- “Were you pleased with the work product?”
- “How did the editing process go?”
The sorriest people are the ones who don’t ask these questions and just plunge in with a ghostwriter, without ever having seen samples of their work, without having ever spoken to prior clients, and therefore having no way to know whether this person can do the job or not.
Have they worked with people like you?
You also want to see if the writer has worked with people at your level. If you are the CEO of a Fortune 100, do you really want to work with someone who has never done a book for a high-level executive? Do you really want to be the first? Something to think about.
Again, people want specialists today, and that includes this field. If you have a book of a technical nature, your ghostwriter really ought to have experience writing technical books.
You want to have alignment with your writer about how you think and how you feel, because your writer has to be able to express those thoughts and feelings effectively in order to do justice to your ideas.
Do they have a process?
Ask about their process. Make sure they have one! If it is simply, “We talk a lot, and then I write the book, and you get it six months from now,” then buyer, beware. Do they have a clear, detailed process for how they get this done? Does the process they describe inspire confidence? If not, there are plenty of other fish in the writing sea.
On Notable Authors: You start by sending the writer an inquiry from their profile, and you can book a call to talk it through. Ask about their process on that call. Their contract then sets the process out as stages, each with its own price and what it delivers.
How hiring here works →What should the contract say?
Your writer ought to specify, in writing
- The project fee
- Triggers for payments
- How many hours of interview time you can expect
- How long the book will be, in words or pages
- Refund terms
- A confidentiality clause that protects your privacy
If you don’t see most or all these things on the agreement, you have got to ask yourself whether you are really dealing with someone professional.
On Notable Authors: All of our writers use an agreement that meets each of these standards. Every contract here sits on the same standard agreement, which covers confidentiality, credit, who owns the book and what happens if either of you stops. The writer fills in the price, the stages and what each stage delivers, so read those closely. The price and the stages are fixed when you accept. You fund one stage at a time, and each payment is held until you approve that stage, or for 7 days after delivery if you don’t respond. If a stage you’ve paid for is never delivered, the money comes back to you. You owe nothing for stages you haven’t funded, and money already released stays with the writer. The contract also says how many hours of interviews are included. The book’s length goes in the writer’s description of the work, so check that it’s there.
Read the agreement →Can you start with something smaller?
On Notable Authors: Some writers offer a paid book plan, or a proposal with sample chapters, as a smaller first contract. It’s worth asking about, though it isn’t a must.
How hiring here works →On Notable Authors, you pay one stage at a time, and each payment is held until you approve the pages.
Browse the writers