Finally Find a Ghost Writer Who Sounds Like You
Are you too busy helping people and building your dream to sit down and write the book that's been in your heart for years?
Do you have a big speaking engagement or a new service launch coming in just a few months, and you've realized you need your book done before then?
What if you could invest just 15 hours into your dream, and twelve weeks later, hold your finished book in your hands?
What if, while we write, edit, and format your book, we also make sure it has a real offer built into it—one you can pitch from the page without gimmicks or high-pressure tactics—so the book has a clear path back to paying you back?
Scale Your Business Without Spending All Your Time Writing
In a world full of noise, why should anyone write yet another book? Can it actually bring its author money, visibility, or satisfaction? The honest answer is: maybe, but only if the book is built around the one thing your buyers already want from you—what we call your Wonder-Work—not just around a good story.
We Learned This the Hard Way
Kristin Spencer, founder of Literary Symmetry, didn't start out helping people connect the dots from their Wonder-Work to a book that would serve them as a business tool.
Early in her career, she worked behind the scenes at one of the largest ghostwriting firms in the industry, and watched clients invest $100,000–$250,000 in beautifully written books that generated little to no ROI. The writing wasn't the problem. The books had no offer built into them, no messaging behind them, and no plan for what was supposed to happen after the last chapter was delivered.
Here to Help
Ghostwriters (AKA ghost writers for hire) are expert writers who have the unique ability to write your story in your voice.
Based on those experiences, Literary Symmetry learned never to deliver a manuscript without a strategy attached to it.
Where the Listening Actually Comes From
Long before she ever ghostwrote a word, from 2015 to 2018, Kristin worked with survivors of human trafficking in Greece, training them to cut, pin, and sew commercial-strength bags. Many of the women she worked with were relearning how to communicate after surviving deep trauma, so she couldn't rely on what they said out loud. She had to watch for the tension in someone's shoulders, the pause before an answer, the thing that was true underneath the thing that was said.
She didn't know it yet, but she was training for exactly what ghostwriting would later demand of her: hearing what a person means before they've found the words for it themselves. That's still the hardest part of this work, and it's the part that comes most naturally to her.
A Ghost Is Born
After watching that gap—expensive books, no offer, no ROI—play out again and again, Kristin built Literary Symmetry to close it. Every ghostwriting engagement now starts with a high-ticket offer (typically $25,000+) built directly into the book, so when you use it from the stage, on a podcast, or in a client meeting, there's a clear path back to your investment. We haven't seen another firm build it this way.
Now Kristin spends her professional days helping business owners create books that give readers the tools they actually need, while proving they're the expert their dream clients can depend on.
If you've found your way to this page, it's probably because you've been asking, "Should I hire a ghostwriter to write a book for me?" You're wondering if a book could finally be the thing that grows your business and brings you the clients who need you.
It could. But only if you find someone who cares about your dream clients as much as you do, and who builds your book around an offer that actually works. So how do you know which ghostwriter is right for you? And how do you find ghost writers for hire in general?
It might not be us. But we can help you find the right ghost—one who loves your clients and wants to help them as much as you do. Let's do this.
How to Find a Ghost Writer for Hire
01
Understand the Goals of Your Project
What do you hope to accomplish by writing your book? Yes, you want to grow your business—but what specifically do you want to do for the people in your target market? What can you teach your dream clients that no one else is showing them how to accomplish?
If you have a concrete goal when you start this kind of project, you're much more likely to finish it.
02
Know What Kind of Specialty Ghostwriter You Need
One of the most important things to know about ghostwriters is that they specialize. Is there a ghostwriter who can write every genre well? Probably not—we haven't met one, and we're not one either. Our specialty is business nonfiction.
The ghost writers for hire you interview should have a specialty that matches your project, because they need to be able to pair your goals for the book with the content inside it. If they don't understand how to write business books, they won't be able to write one that helps your dream clients find you.
03
Things You Need to Know Before Your Ghostwriter Search
There are marketplaces like UpWork and Reedsy where you can find ghostwriters, but if you want someone who isn't stretched thin from being underpaid, it's better to find a private ghost with strong recommendations. Those platforms tend to be full of bargain hunters, and the ghostwriters active on them are usually overworked and underpaid for it.
We used to find clients that way too, before phasing it out—getting messages asking us to write books for $20 an hour gets old fast. Which leads to the next step.
04
Be Realistic With Your Expectations
If you don't have a healthy budget for a ghostwriting project, you won't be able to hire a ghostwriter who can deliver real results. That's just the truth. Ghostwriting is a highly specialized skill, and it's priced that way because not many people have the training and experience to do it well.
But budget alone isn't the real risk. The real risk is paying for a beautifully written book that has no offer built into it—which is exactly how clients end up spending $100,000–$250,000 on a book that never pays for itself. Every Literary Symmetry ghostwriting engagement builds a high-ticket offer (typically $25,000+) directly into the book, so the investment has a real path back to you. And our ghostwriting packages start at $35,000.
05
Start Your Ghostwriter Search
The best way to find a ghostwriter is through your already-established business network. If you don't have a friend of a friend who specializes in business nonfiction ghostwriting, the internet works too—just remember that if UpWork or Reedsy show up in your search results, you'll probably want to scroll past them.
This is only the first part of the hiring process. Never hire the first ghostwriter you interview, and always ask for sample work before you commit. It is likely they won't be able to show you a sample of ghostwriting (as those pieces are protected by NDAs). However, they should be able to show you a sample of writing in general.
A Literary Symmetry, we give you an option to work with us for a paid outline and introduction so you can see what it would look like for us to write for you.
06
Think About How Your Personalities Mesh
You'll spend a lot of time talking to your ghost over the course of this project—if you don't, something's wrong. So you need to genuinely enjoy talking to this person. If you don't, it's fine to say, "I loved your sample, but I don't think we're a good fit."
An experienced ghostwriter expects this to happen sometimes after a discovery call. If someone takes it personally, that's a sign they weren't the right ghost for you anyway.
07
Ask Them to Explain Your Goals for the Book Back to You
A lot of people will tell you to demand a writing sample that mimics your style and voice before you decide who to hire. We don't think that's a fair test—it takes real time to research your life and get to know you, and a ghost shouldn't have to do that for free.
Instead, test their ability to listen to you and reflect what you said back in a voice that sounds like yours. If someone can do that for something small, in a conversation, they'll be able to do it for something big, in a book. That's the whole skill.
08
Ask What Their Method Is
Every ghostwriter has their own way of gathering what they need from you, but the good ones will offer options depending on what works best for you.
The two methods that tend to work best are audio recordings you send on your own time, or live sessions over Zoom, where your ghost can see your face and hear your voice while you talk through something that might be scary to say out loud for the first time.
Make sure whoever you hire has an actual method and a plan. It shouldn't be your job to come up with chapter ideas or discussion questions—that's why you're hiring a ghostwriter in the first place.
09
Talk About Next Steps
You should talk about next steps with any ghost writers for hire before you sign a contract. A lot of ghostwriters only write the book and stop there, so know what you're actually getting before you commit.
Some clients just want the manuscript. Others want it copyedited, formatted, and marketed too, using a small team of book professionals. If you order everything at once, you'll usually get a better rate than piecing it together yourself.
Find out whether your ghost is handing you a Word file and calling it done, or whether they offer full book creation services—because trying to find a copyeditor, cover designer, formatter, and marketer on your own, without existing relationships, is its own project. And it's easy to hire people who say they're experts but aren't.
10
Talk About Next Steps
Once you've found a ghostwriter who gets you and can write the kind of book you want, it's time to sign. Don't be wary of a contract—it protects you as much as it protects the ghostwriter.
Just read the whole thing before you sign, and double-check the delivery dates.
11
Celebrate!
You're about to start a creative journey like no other, and before you know it, you'll be holding a book written in your voice. It's an amazing feeling—one you'll be able to use to reach dream clients, earn media coverage, and build a new stream of income.
But what if you've read this whole article and realized you don't have $25,000–$30,000+ to invest in a ghostwriter right now, but still want to write your book? We've got you.
If you'd rather take more of the process on yourself, start with our free Borrowed Words handbook and video walkthrough. It answers the four questions every nonfiction author has to ask about copyright, sourcing, and writing about real people—so you can write boldly instead of nervously.
If you're ready to have us build the whole thing—the book, the offer inside it, and the plan for using it—the Author Architecture Intensive turns "I should write a book" into a fully mapped publishing plan and a ghostwritten introduction in your own voice.
Whatever path you choose, writing a book is a genuinely good way to grow your business, and we want you to have everything you need to hire the right ghost for it. If you have questions, reach out and we'll get back to you.
Are you ready to find ghost writers for hire to accelerate your business growth? Take the steps in this article, and we're confident you'll find someone who can write your book well.