What Is A Ghostwriter (And How Do I Become One)?

Curious about what ghostwriting is and whether or not it’s for you? Here’s a basic overview to give you insight into this prevalent — and sometimes controversial — side of the writing world.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

You know what a writer is, but what is a ghostwriter, you ask? The Merriam-Webster online dictionary succinctly defines ghostwriting as, “to write for and in the name of another.” Making a living as a writer is downright difficult, so the possibility of ghostwriting as an adjunct to your personal writing pursuits might be worth considering.

Ghostwritten material is everywhere

Personal branding as a writer is important, but sometimes it’s beneficial to adopt a faceless (and potentially lucrative) persona and indulge in the art of ghostwriting. If you haven’t yet experienced it in your writing career, ghostwriting encompasses almost every sector of writing.

• That polished corporate manifesto in the annual report reputed to be from the CEO: ghostwritten.
• The blog article highlighting a new technology just introduced by the chief technical officer of a chip company: ghostwritten.
• That risqué beach novel that bends the limits of erotica in steamy new directions: ghostwritten.
• The memoir of a famous musician, complete with incidents of scandalous behavior: ghostwritten.

You can find ghostwriting in nonfiction and fiction spaces. Anywhere the written word appears and fluid, skillful writing is needed lurks an opportunity for a ghostwriting gig.

Ghostwritten books at the top of the scale — telling the story of a business executive, celebrity, politician, or other noteworthy figure — can earn anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 for the writer, depending on the level of expertise brought to the project and the stature of the publisher. Payment for articles, technical perspectives, personal stories, and other shorter content is all over the map and tends to vary by industry. Higher-paying gigs are often those that require some background knowledge of the topics, such as medical, engineering, electronics, and science.

Writing in the name of…

If you’re thinking ghostwriting is somehow not “real writing,” you might want to take another look. Numerous companies exist that hire out ghostwriters for everything from memoirs to screenplays to commercial eBooks. If there is a niche that you are particularly good in — such as fleshing out screenplays from a bare-bones synopsis or making sense of dense technical jargon — this could be an income-generator for those periods when your typical bread-and-butter work is a little scarce.

You may need to sign a statement saying that you will never tell anyone that you have written the piece. You may face ridiculous deadlines, especially for projects that involve a popular series of books. It can be tremendously challenging, but there is also something exhilarating about facing down insane deadlines and being able to write in the name of someone else.

Bylined ghostwriting

Halfway between true ghostwriting and credited writing are bylined ghostwriters, who are formally identified as co-authors. Witness the string of best-selling books from James Patterson in which Patterson collaborates with writers who do most of the writing work. In turn, their names appear on the book covers of novels structured within a template that has resulted in a wildly successful book publishing empire for Patterson.

The ideas and characters are Patterson’s and the books are churned out through a number of back-and-forth collaborative conversations, but the vast bulk of the writing is done by the co-authors. If you are going to be a bylined ghostwriter, a gig where you get a byline with someone as successful as Patterson is a plus.

Writing for LitHub, Patricia Mulcahy details what it was like to take on a project already started, working to tell the story of the musical accomplishments of Quincy Jones. “I certainly know how to edit and shape a manuscript but had never been asked to help create one. This was a radically new perspective — from the page up, so to speak.”

The project, resulting in the release of Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, turned out to be intensely rewarding, encouraging Mulcahy to launch a freelance career. “Working on Q was only my second freelance assignment,” writes Mulcahy. “Though I doubted many future gigs would be as educational, exhausting, inspirational, and just plain fun, I decided to chance flying solo.”

Getting started as a ghostwriter

Your contact list and networking skills are vital as you forge a writing career, even if that career is in the early stages. Within that network are ghostwriting opportunities waiting to be uncovered. Talk to people you have worked with and learn about their aspirations.

Maybe you’ve done projects for a computer company and one of their programmers needs help writing a book on a new object-oriented language. Perhaps you’ve done marketing collateral for a company involved in organic food production and they want to gain market visibility with a book on sustainable food practices. Or maybe one of your friends from college has a novel in the works and needs a ghostwriter to apply polish to the narrative.

Terms of agreement

Whatever angle you choose to launch a ghostwriting project, spell out the terms of the agreement in advance. You can likely adapt whatever type of agreement you are using for your freelance contract work; just be sure the terms are clear regarding word count, deadlines, authoring credit, and payment. Royalties aren’t usually a part of these agreements; they’re typically work-for-hire.

There are agencies galore that match projects with writers, maintaining a stable of writers ready to step into book projects with prospective authors solicited by the agency. Whereas this approach can be a stepping stone to work, it also presents potential dilemmas. The typical company doesn’t turn down anyone with money, regardless of the quality of the book idea or qualifications of the client. This can put you into a difficult position as a writer, given the task of turning a poorly framed idea — or truly bad one — into a respectable work.

Masterclass, which has some of the top writers in the world on their class roster, offers their perspective on getting started as a ghostwriter in the article “How to Become a Ghostwriter: 5 Steps for Finding Ghostwriting Work.”

Ethical boundaries

In an article for Forbes, Cheryl Conner asks, “Is it wrong to use a ghostwriter? Is it wrong to be a ghostwriter?” Her take:

Collaboration with a professional writer is a wonderful concept and a tremendously effective means of getting the great thinking of a great leader into the words and format that will be interesting to readers and will make the material memorable and compelling to share. In the world of communication, it’s an extremely valuable service, whether for a book, an article, or a speech.

However, ghostwriting, when it means the creation of material without the participation of the represented author, or without disclosing having utilized a ghostwriter, is a terrible idea, and in my opinion, an ethical breach, especially when non-transparent ghostwriting is used to promote a leader’s or public figure’s image or brand.

Expanding your versatility

The role of a session musician is akin to the role of the ghostwriter, favoring the ability and versatility to get into different types of projects, quickly adapt to the challenges, and produce top-notch material. A musician with skills in multiple music genres and the ability to quickly jump into an unfamiliar or new piece of music and add just the right sounds to be complementary and enhance the work is much in demand. Likewise, someone with the writing savvy to cover multiple kinds of styles is in demand in the publishing world.

If you can keep your ego in check and be comfortable with someone else being credited with what is, in truth, your work, ghostwriting can be a way to extend your skills, venture into different forms of writing, and generate income.

You may even find you enjoy the freedom to investigate different subjects, meet individuals in the arts and business, and sharpen your writing skills while getting paid to do something many people wish they could: earn money stringing words together.

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