Ghostwriting Rates

If you’re looking for a ghostwriter to bring your idea to life, but you’re unsure of what exactly to expect rate-wise, look no further. For your convenience, I have drawn numbers from several different ghostwriters and sites to determine an average, as well as the typical range.

The truth is, ghostwriting rates vary dramatically. However, so does writing ability. You can’t determine a writer’s talent and how well they’ll suit your project by rate alone, but oftentimes this can be a good indication of ability. There are always exceptions to this rule, but in most cases, you aren’t going to get a brilliant novel for just a few hundred bucks.

If you’re looking to get a well-written manuscript that reflects your vision, you’re looking in the thousands. Just to give you an idea of how much these prices vary, I’ve taken the rates of five random ghostwriters I found online. These are based on if they were writing a 50,000 word book. I won’t provide their names, due to privacy reasons.

Ghostwriter #1: $20,000

Ghostwriter #2: $40,000

Ghostwriter #3: $15,000

Ghostwriter #4: $3,000

Ghostwriter #5: $80,000

So yes… there is a wide spectrum here. This is why it’s important to know your budget going in, but don’t settle for lower-quality writing just because it’s less expensive. You will get what you pay for, so choose your ghostwriter wisely. There are a lot of great ones out there that are on the lower end of the price spectrum, but you’ll only find them if you carefully seek them out.

One great place to find ghostwriters within your budget is on Reedsy.com. I have yet to become a ghostwriter on Reedsy (I’m currently on Fiverr, and also gain clients through my YouTube channel + website), but I know some great ghostwriters who use it.

The average rate for writers on Reedsy is $0.35 per word. If you want your book to be around 50,000 words, you’re looking at about $17,500. However, only trusted professionals are hired on this site, so at least you can be sure that you’re getting what you pay for.

Generally, (according to my research) the ghostwriting rate range is between $2,000 and $80,000, with most rates falling around $15,000. These payments can be done in installments (which you can decide upon with your ghostwriter), or hourly. Most ghostwriters have set rates, but some are willing to negotiate. It never hurts to ask!

As for me, my ghostwriting rate is currently $0.15 per word, or $7,500 per 50,000 words, but I’m open to negotiations (especially when there is a higher wordcount). You can learn more about my process here, and feel free to contact me here.

Good luck with your search!

3 Reasons to Hire a Ghostwriter

You might have wondered why people are willing to spend so much money to have other people write book’s for them. Perhaps you’re one of those people yourself, and you’re considering taking on a ghostwriter for your project.

In this post, I’ll be cover the top three reasons that you should hire a ghostwriter. Let’s see if any of these apply to you!

1. You have an idea… but you don’t know how to write it.

I’ve seen this a lot in the short time that I’ve been a ghostwriter. This is when people get struck with inspiration and can’t get a storyline out of their head, but the actual writing aspect is foreign and daunting to them. While they could always work toward the goal of writing it themselves, this really isn’t for everyone.

A ghostwriter can then step in and do the work of bringing this person’s vision to life. Because the client owns all rights for the book, they are still legally termed the “author”. They aren’t required to the give the ghostwriter credit unless they want to.

2. A Lack of Time

Let’s face it: Some people just don’t have the time to write a book. Not only is the writing aspect time-consuming in itself (needless to say), there are so many other factors that contribute to completing a project. Outlining, planning, character design, and tons of research all come before drafting has even begun. Then, once the first draft is complete, the editing begins.

Not all ghostwriters provide this service (and who can blame them, right?), but if this is important to you, then you can look specifically for someone who does (like me!). That being said, you could always just hire an editor for that part.

3. Business People

Many people who are looking for ghostwriters are doing so because they hope to make money from it. It’s an investment, so to speak. If you think that you could sell enough copies of a book to get rich, then go for it! From a writer’s perspective, marketing is often the toughest part.

If that’s your specialty, that’s great. Some people in this position will hire several ghostwriters so that they can publish as many books as possible, and a good number have gotten really successful this way.

That’s all for this post, but as always, feel free to leave any questions and/or suggestions in the comments. If you’re curious to learn more about my ghostwriting services, check out my ghostwriting page! I offer a free 30-minute phone call consultation to discuss your project and see if it’d be a good fit for both of us.

I look forward to hearing from you!

My Ghostwriting Process

When I first began writing, it took me a long time to determine what my process was. For a while, I didn’t think that it was necessary to have a single way of doing things.

Now I realize that (while it’s great to branch out and try new methods), in most cases, you’ll end up finding what works best for you and running with it. In my experience, it’s the same for ghostwriting.

In this post, I’m going to talk a little bit about my process as a ghostwriter. I hope this is helpful for those of you who are trying to decide if it’s worth hiring a ghostwriter, or perhaps looking to become one yourself.

1. The Hire

While this isn’t technically a part of the writing process, I thought that it was something important enough to mention. The first step in any ghostwriting gig is being hired, of course, and this tends to be the hardest part for those who are new to the career. While I’m not going to turn this post into an advice column for getting clients (I’ll likely do a separate post for that), I think that it’s worth discussing how the client factors into the writing aspect.

Many people who are hiring ghostwriters already have an idea for a story in mind. While ghostwriters are oftentimes allowed to take creative liberties, it’s important for them to stick as close to the original storyline as possible. To ensure that the client is happy with the finished result, I always begin by sending them an outline of the book (unless they’ve already provided this, of course). This will allow them to catch anything they don’t like upfront, before I waste time writing it. I do the same thing with character designs, as well.

2. Increments

While this varies between projects and clients, I like to break up a ghostwriting gig into increments. This is always something that I determine with my client upfront. For example, we might agree that I will submit each milestone of 10,000 words to them separately for their review before moving on, and it’s during each of these stages that I’ll get a portion of my pay. This allows for a broken up payment schedule (beneficial to both myself and the client), and also means that they can review the writing on a regular basis to be sure that they’re happy with it.

3. The Editing Process

Some ghostwriters don’t include editing in their services, but I find that it is the best way to finish the gig. After all, I want my client to have a polished manuscript that we can both be proud of. I go through at least three rounds of edits, and am happy to do revisions at no extra cost.

Of course, each of these segments could be more detailed, but I wanted to make this a concise post for your convenience. I hope that it was helpful to you, and as usual, feel free to leave any questions in the comments!

What does it mean to be a ghostwriter?

Ghostwriting is one of those terms that many people hear at some point in their lives, but never fully understand. Those who know the definition might not know most of the details, even those who are seeking to be or hire a ghostwriter.

So what exactly is a ghostwriter?

Put simply, a ghostwriter is a person hired by a book’s “author” to write it for them. Perhaps the client has an idea for a book but doesn’t have the time or writing experience to put in the work. Or, perhaps they just want to see if they can make money from selling books and therefore want to release many within a short period of time.

There are many other factors involved that determine how one gig ranges from the next, such as credit (the client is not legally obligated to give the ghostwriter credit for the book, no matter how popular it gets) and the rate (some ghostwriters will charge a few hundred per project, while others might charge 100k or more). Even the way that ghostwriters are paid varies greatly; some charge by the hour while others charge by word count (either by individual words or by thousands).

One thing that is true in almost every case that I’ve heard about is that ghostwriters work for a flat fee. Most get paid for the final project rather than getting royalties once the book is published.

I hope that this post was helpful to you, and if you have any more questions please feel free to leave a comment. If you’re interested in hiring me as a ghostwriter, you can find more info on my ghostwriting page. If you’d like, you can request a free 30-minute phone call to discuss your project with me and see if it would be a good fit.