Find Ghost Writers for Hire in 11 Steps Who Use Your Unique Voice
Are you too busy helping people and building your dream to sit and write the book that’s been in your heart for years?
Do you have a huge speaking engagement or new service launch coming in just a few months and realize that you need to have your book before then?
What if there was a way for you to invest just 15 hours into your dream, and then, 12 weeks later, you’d be holding your book in your hands?
What if while we write, edit, and format your project, we also teach you how to use your book to make back all of the money you invested with us, and then some?
What if you could also have an offer expert make sure that before one word is written, that you’ll be able to pitch inside your book without gimmicks or high-pressure sales tactics?
Discover Why You Should Find Ghost Writers for Hire to Take Your Business Growth to the Next Level
In a world full of noise, why should anyone write yet another book? Can it bring its author money, fame, or satisfaction? The answer is “Maybe, but…” You see, I wasn’t really trying to figure out how to hire a ghostwriter. I wanted to know if I should become a ghostwriter.
I Was Wrong
When I first started writing, I thought that if I could just gain a following, my life would be set. I would be able to make money, meet amazing writers I would turn into friends, and live the dream of making money doing something I love.
Here to Help
Ghostwriters (AKA ghost writers for hire) are expert writers who have the unique ability to write your story in your voice.
Back then, I didn’t understand the complexities of working in the service industry or owning my own business.
But I was about to learn a big lesson in a hard way.
A Journey of Seeking Something More
After 10 years of writing my butt off, I realized that writing good book wasn’t enough. It didn’t bring me money, fame, or lasting satisfaction. I wasn’t ready to admit that I was looking to find help from my readers instead of striving to teach them what they needed to know. So, I decided to try something new. Instead of writing for something, I wrote for someone. Quite a few someones.
And the book I co-authored with my best friend and English expert Maria helped hundreds of first-time authors write amazing fiction books. But that wasn’t the end of my story. Once I helped people live their dreams through the art of fiction storytelling, there was another group of people who I realized I could help. As a business owner, I realized I could use nonfiction storytelling to accelerate my stage of growth.
Can I Really Help Business Owners, Too?
After learning to write business sales copy, email sequences, and social media posts, I realized that the one thing I knew how to do extremely well was something that hadn’t been used enough in the business world: use the art of storytelling. So, I got to work testing my ideas for free. Then, I realized I could use these tested methods to help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses to help more people who needed their expert advice.
A Ghost Is Born
Part of writing business copy is understanding that each business owner has a unique voice. One that has taken them years to fully understand, shape, and express. The single most difficult part of being a ghostwriter is understanding how to capture and convey that voice: and it is something that comes completely naturally to me. You see, I’ve learned how to be empathetic. Honestly, sometimes I care too much. But because I care, it means I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life learning to listen.
Now, I spend my professional days helping amazing business owners create helpful books that give their readers the tools they really need to grow and thrive. All while proving they are the expert that their dream clients can depend on.
If you’ve found your way to this page, it is because you’ve been asking “Should I find a ghostwriter to write a book for me?” You’re wondering if a book could finally be the thing that grows your business and helps you find the clients who need you.
The answer is that it could, and it will, but only if you find someone who cares about your dream clients as much as you do. So, how do you know which ghostwriter is for you? And how do you find ghost writers for hire in general?
It might not be me, but I promise to help you find the right ghost, 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 that will help the people who live 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.
02
Know What Kind of Specialty Ghostwriter You Need
One of the most important things you need to know about ghostwriters is that they specialize. Is there a
ghostwriter who can write every genre well? Probably not. So far, I haven’t met one. And I’m definitely not one. While I love science fiction and fantasy, I don’t ghostwrite in those genres. My ghostwriting specialty is business nonfiction.
The ghost writers for hire you interview should have that specialty because they need to be able to pair your goals for your book with the content inside of it. If they don’t understand how to write business books, they won’t be able to write a book that helps your dream clients find you.
03
Things You Need to Know Before Your Ghostwriter Search
There are various websites that have ghostwriters on them like UpWork and Reedsy, but if you want to make sure you’re getting a ghostwriter who isn’t stressed out from a lack of pay, it’s better to find a private ghost who has stellar recommendations. Platforms like Reedsy and UpWork tend to be full of bargain hunters, and ghostwriters who are active on those platforms are usually underpaid and overworked.
I used to find my clients on UpWork, but I eventually phased that path out of my business because I was
tired of getting ten messages a day asking me to write books for $20 an hour. And that leads me into 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 quality ghostwriter. That’s just the truth. Ghost writers for hire posesses a highly specialized skill set, which means it’s expensive because not a ton of people
have the training and past work experience to do it well. Like my mentor says, to ghostwrite, you have to download someone else’s brain into your brain before you can write a word.
She’s right. It’s hard work. And that is why you should expect to pay between $200 and $500 an hour
for a ghostwriter. This is why most ghostwriting projects start at $30,000.
05
Start Your Ghostwriter Search
The best way to find a ghostwriter is to go through your already-established business friend channels.
But if you don’t have a friend of a friend who specializes in business nonfiction ghostwriting, you can always turn to the internet. You can type
phrases like “find a ghostwriter” into a search engine, but remember that if you see UpWork and Reedsy pop up, you’re going to want to scroll past those.
This is only the first part of the hiring process. Never hire the first ghostwriter you interview and make sure you get sample work before you hire anyone.
06
Think About How Your Personalities Mesh
The truth is, when you work on a ghostwriting project, you will spend a lot of time talking to your ghost (if not, there’s something wrong). So, you need to like chatting with this person. If you don’t like being around someone you interview, you can just say, “Hey, I loved your sample but I don’t think we would be a good fit.”
An experienced ghostwriter expects this to happen after some of their discovery calls. Newbies might take this personally and get mad. This just confirms they weren’t the ghost for you.
07
Ask Them to Explain Your Goals for the Book Back to You
A lot of people will tell you to demand a sample that illustrates the ghostwriter can mimic your style
and voice to determine who you should hire. I personally don’t think this is a fair test, because it takes the ghost time to research your life and get to
know you. In order to do a sample like this, a ghost would need to put in a ton of time for free. I don’t think that’s right. I like to pay my contractors for
their time, and I expected to be paid for mine.
Instead, what I would test is their ability to listen to you and communicate what you said back in a
similar style and voice. If a ghost can do this for something small, they should be able to do it for something big.
08
Ask What Their Method Is
Each ghostwriter will have their own method from getting the information they need from you. But great ghostwriters will have different options depending on what works best for you.
I always try to help my clients understand what interview techniques will help them best by asking them how they usually work. The two best interview methods I’ve found are having them send audio recordings, or doing live sessions with them over Zoom so they can see my face and hear my voice. Telling the world your life story is scary, and Zoom calls allow me to work with them while encouraging them to keep going.
I also have a proprietary framework that gets my clients results every single time, and I’ve seen the
results blow my clients and their readers away. Just make sure that whoever you hire has a method and a plan. It shouldn’t be your job to come up with chapter ideas or discussion questions. That’s why you hire a ghostwriter.
09
Talk About Next Steps
Yes, you should talk about next steps with ghost writers for hire before you sign a contract.
A lot of ghostwriters only write the book for you, so you should know what end result you’ll get out of your time together before you sign a thing. For
example, I do have clients who just want me to write their books. I also have clients who want me to write their book, get it copyedited, formatted, and
marketed. I have a small staff of wonderful book professionals that can help me with this.
If a client orders everything at once, they get a significant discount. So, make sure you know if your ghost is just giving you a Word file and that’s it, or they can offer you full book creation services.
I will tell you that it can be stressful to try to find a copyeditor, cover designer, formatter, and marketer on your own if you don’t already have established relationships with these types of professionals. It is also easy to hire people who aren’t really experts but say they are, so be careful.
10
Talk About Next Steps
Once you know you’ve found a ghostwriter who gets you and can write the kind of book you want, it’s time to sign a contract. Don’t be wary of signing. Contracts protect both parties, not just the ghostwriter.
But make sure you actually read through the entire contract before you sign it, and double check the dates of delivery.
11
Celebrate!
You’re about to embark on a creative journey like no other, and before you know it, you’ll be holding a
book written in your voice in your hands! It’s an amazing feeling. And, you’ll be able to use that book to help dream clients, get media coverage, and earn
passive income. That all sounds awesome, right? Well, it is.
But what if you’ve read this entire article, realized you don’t have $30,000+ to spend on a ghostwriter, but still want to try to write a book? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
While it might take more of your personal time, you can use the proven framework Maria and I came up with for one low price by getting a copy of our book Write the Perfect Read–The Self-Help Edition here.
It will tell you everything you need to know about what kinds of stories need to be in your book, and how to hire support services once you’ve finished writing. But maybe you’re also realizing you don’t want to have to do it on your own.
If you’re interested in hiring me as your ghost, I would love that. Go ahead and set up an interview and make sure to answer the intake questions for me. I look forward to our conversation!
Whatever path you choose, it is definitely a good idea to write a book to grow your business, and I want to make sure you have all the information you need to be able to hire a ghostwriter. If you have any questions at all, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.