Who this is for: For anyone about to start a book with a ghostwriter, and anyone worried about one already underway.
On Notable Authors: You never pay for the whole book up front here. Each stage is held until you approve it, and a stage you’ve paid for that’s never delivered comes back to you.
How it works →How do you keep a book on track?
From Notable Authors: Michael keeps a book on track one chapter at a time, with your comments on each. His whole process is in his guide to how ghostwriting works.How does ghostwriting work? →
On Notable Authors: Each stage of a contract here is a piece of the book you approve before its money moves, and a revision round is one set of comments on a delivered stage.
How hiring here works →Can I start from an outline ChatGPT wrote?
I have seen plenty of book plans generated by AI. My clients sometimes share them with me, as if to say, “Look what I got from ChatGPT in 16 seconds! What do I need you for?” Here’s the problem. Virtually the same book plan that AI provided you is what it provides everyone else in your industry. Typically, it is a generic rehashing of everything that’s already been said on the topic.
If something goes wrong on Notable Authors
From Notable Authors: The rest of this guide is ours, not Michael’s: how the site handles a problem, from our terms and the standard agreement.
What if I’m not happy with a stage?
Your contract splits the book into stages, like an outline, the first chapters and the full draft, and each stage has its own price. You pay for each stage as it comes up, and that money is held. The writer can’t be paid it yet.
When the writer delivers a stage, we email you, and you have three choices. Approve it, and the money goes to the writer. Ask for a revision, and the writer works on it again. Or report a problem, if the two of you can’t sort it out.
If you’re not happy with what you got, don’t approve it. Write to the writer in your message thread on the site and say what isn’t working. Then ask for a revision round. Your contract says how many rounds you get. A round is one set of comments on that stage, sent all at once, so gather everything you want changed before you send it.
Asking for a round you still have pauses the clock. If you do nothing at all for 7 days after a stage is delivered, its payment goes to the writer automatically. We email you when those 7 days start, and again before they run out.
Once you’ve used all your rounds, more changes become a change order: the writer prices them, and you both sign. If you still can’t agree, you can report a problem, which the next answer explains.
What if we can’t sort it out between us?
Raise it with your writer in your message thread with them first. Say exactly what isn’t working, and give them the chance to fix it. Most problems end there.
If that doesn’t settle it, you can file a problem report. Do it within 14 days of the delivery it’s about. Filing one keeps that stage’s payment held while we look into it.
Someone on our team then reads three things: your contract, the work that was delivered, and your message thread. We answer within 21 days.
We don’t decide whether the writing is good. That’s a judgment between you and your writer, and no outside team can make it fairly. What we check is whether the contract was followed: what it said the writer would deliver, what was actually delivered, whether the steps in the contract were followed, and how many revision rounds are left.
Based on that, we decide what happens to the money for that stage, which is still being held. We can keep holding it, release it to the writer, return it to you, or split it between you. Our decision about that money is final.
That’s all we can decide. We can’t rule on who owns the work or award damages, and money already released to the writer isn’t part of it. For anything we can’t decide, the courts stay open. Our terms →
What if my ghostwriter stops answering?
A stage you’ve paid for that’s never delivered comes back to you. If a paid stage is 90 days past its date, we contact you both, and if nobody acts within 14 more days, the money goes back to you.
Can I get a refund from a ghostwriter?
It depends on where the money is. Here you pay one stage at a time, and each payment is held until you approve that stage’s work. So the answer is different for each stage.
A stage you haven’t paid for yet: you owe nothing. You can stop at any time. And before the first stage is paid for, either of you can walk away with nothing owed.
A stage you’ve paid for that the writer never delivers: the money comes back to you. If a paid stage is 90 days past its date, we contact you both. If neither of you acts within 14 more days, it’s returned to you automatically.
A stage that’s been delivered but you haven’t approved: the money is still held. If you’re not happy, don’t approve it. Ask for a revision, or file a problem report within 14 days of the delivery. If we find the contract wasn’t followed, we can return all or part of that payment to you. It isn’t automatic, and it doesn’t turn on whether you like the writing.
A stage you’ve approved, or one where 7 days passed after delivery without you approving it, asking for a revision or reporting a problem: that money has gone to the writer, and it isn’t returned. An approval can’t be taken back, so only approve work you’re happy with.
What if I want to stop?
You can stop at any time and owe nothing for stages you haven’t paid for. A stage you’ve paid for but not approved stays held until it’s resolved.
What if the book changes direction?
Books change as they’re written, and small adjustments are normal: a chapter moves, a story gets cut, the order shifts. Those are part of writing any book, and your revision rounds are there for them.
A real change of direction is different. That means things like writing for a new audience, a new structure, a lot of new material, or someone new who has to approve the book, like a business partner or a family member. When that happens, you both pause and agree what it does to the schedule and the price before the writer carries on.
What you agree goes in a change order. The writer proposes it in writing, with a price, and you both sign it on the site. Neither of you can force one on the other. It adds to your contract and doesn’t cancel anything in it.
Your total and your stages are fixed when you accept the contract, so a change order is the only way to change them. The same goes for more revisions once you’ve used the rounds your contract includes.
What if I go quiet?
If you don’t respond to a delivered stage, its payment is released after 7 days. If you’re more than 30 days late paying for a stage that’s due, the writer can end the contract, and you get the work for every stage you’ve paid for.
Can I dispute the charge with my card instead?
No. When you approve a stage, you’re confirming that you received the work and accepted it. Our terms and your contract both say you won’t dispute the charge for an approved stage with your card company.
A card dispute won’t speed anything up. It comes to us, not to your writer, because you pay through Notable Authors. While it’s open, we can freeze payments on your whole contract, which can stall your book. And disputing a stage you approved breaks the contract you signed with your writer.
If something’s wrong, use a problem report instead. It’s the process you agreed to, and it’s faster. For a stage you haven’t approved yet, it can return money that’s still held.
The simplest protection is to approve a stage only when you’re happy with it. Until you do, the money stays held. The agreement →
On Notable Authors, you pay one stage at a time, and each payment is held until you approve the pages.
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