Meet the ghostwriters behind bestsellers
Ghostwriters are the unsung heroes behind thousands of books you see every day, from celebrity autobiographies to business books to novels.Â
Reedsy ghostwriters are handpicked for their experience writing award-winning and bestselling books. If you have a story to tell, you can be sure our ghosts understand industry trends and reader expectations in your genre and know how to bring your book to life.
How to hire a ghostwriter
You’ll find 200+ of the best ghostwriters in the industry on Reedsy. We handpick our ghostwriters for their industry experience. They’ll work with you to develop the structure and voice that breathe life into your story. Together, you’ll create a manuscript poised to achieve your publishing goals.Â
The key to a successful ghostwriting collaboration is working with an expert who understands your vision and fits your budget. On Reedsy, you can request quotes and chat with ghostwriters to find the perfect fit. (And we’ll auto-generate the perfect contract.)
First, create a Reedsy account for free. There, you’ll meet 200+ professional ghostwriters on our marketplace. You can browse profiles by genre and topic to find ghostwriters with experience in books like yours.
Assemble your team
Request quotes from up to 5 professionals in your genre with a free Reedsy account.
Beyond their credentials, you want someone willing to spend time getting to know your vision. As you chat with Reedsy ghostwriters, you’ll discover whose personality gels with yours and whose style appeals to you. Get a sense of both their writing style (by reading what they’ve written already) and their personality (by arranging a video chat, if possible). Communication is absolutely key to ensuring you make the best decision for your book.
It’s important that you feel completely safe from the get-go and ready to entrust the ghostwriter with the inner secrets of your story. Choose someone you’re confident will do your story justice.
What is the process of working with a ghostwriter?
Before you begin your collaboration via Reedsy, you’ll settle on the structure and timeline for your communication. Most collaborations will involve a mix of video calls and back-and-forth on the text itself.
Andrew Crofts, one of the ghostwriters on Reedsy, shares how you might work together:
“In an ideal world, you will spend a few days recording before the ghost goes away to write the first draft. You will meet up again, tell them if they are going wrong, and put right anything that they have misunderstood, or that you forgot to tell them at the first meetings. They will then produce a final version.”
In reality, the process can, of course, be longer, requiring a few rounds of revision before you get to this final version. You can also ask your ghostwriter to share the chapters with you as they write them (just make that expectation clear from the start).
Once you’ve agreed on the structure of your collaboration, you’ll begin your journey with Reedsy project protection to make sure all goes according to plan. Throughout, you’ll exchange documents and drafts on our secure platform.
If you’re working on a longer project, you may find that you need to adjust the timeline to get the story arc or the voice just right. To that end, you can always amend your collaboration. In the end, it’s all about keeping open and honest communication to make sure you’re both on the same page.
Why should I trust Reedsy ghostwriters?
Like all of the professionals on the marketplace, Reedsy ghostwriters have been carefully handpicked by our staff from thousands of applicants. We have done all the background checks for you to ensure the ghostwriters on our website are veteran professionals with established reputations.
Our ghostwriters have:
- Written for Olympians, entrepreneurs, and celebrities
- Been published by Harper’s, Picador, Bloomsbury, and other major publishers
- Been covered in The London Times, the Wall Street Journal, and on CNN
- Worked on memoirs, novels, and screenplays — sometimes all three, with an eye for work that can be adapted for film
They are used to working with publishers, agents, and first-time authors alike, so they will be able to help guide you through the entire process.
FAQs
How much does a ghostwriter cost?
The cost of ghostwriting will vary based on the genre of your book, the target word count, and the individual ghostwriter's level of expertise. Reedsy allows professionals to set their own fees, and when you request quotes, you can expect a range.
In general, ghostwriting a complete nonfiction book or novel can range from $3,500 to $42,000. (Since children’s books are shorter, the cost of ghostwriting may be lower). Once a year, we analyze the data from our marketplace and make it public in a blog post. Click here to learn more about the most up-to-date data on ghostwriting costs.
Do ghostwriters receive credit?
A ghostwriter is rarely the official “author” of the book, though they are sometimes mentioned as a “co-author” in a book’s acknowledgments. Some ghostwriters prefer the term "collaborator" as they see the project as a partnership with the author. More often than not, however, they are bound by confidentiality clauses that prevent them from revealing which books they have ghostwritten.
What if I’ve written parts of my book already?
If you’ve taken extensive notes or written a messy first draft that you know needs significant work, ghostwriting may still be right for you. Some ghostwriters will accept unfinished manuscripts, working with the author to write the missing parts. Such a job usually requires a mix of developmental editing (to restructure the book) and ghostwriting.
Keep in mind that starting with a partial draft won’t necessarily affect the budget for your collaboration. Re-working existing material can be just as time-consuming for the ghostwriter as writing the book from the outset.
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