How to Hire a Ghostwriter: 14 Questions to Ask Before You Sign

How to Hire a Ghostwriter: 14 Questions to Ask Before You Sign

You have an idea for a book but don’t have the time or writing skills to do it yourself. A professional ghostwriter can turn your expertise, your stories, and your ideas into a finished manuscript with your name on the cover. The ghostwriter handles the writing. You remain the author.

Finding the right ghostwriter takes some effort. You’ll be working closely with this person for months, and the result will carry your name. The stakes are high enough to justify a thorough evaluation before signing anything.

Whether you need a fiction ghostwriter, a memoir ghostwriter, a technical writer, or someone who understands specialized subjects, the evaluation process is the same. Here are 14 questions to ask during your consultation, and what the answers tell you about whether this is the right person for your project.

Where to Find Ghostwriters

Ghostwriters work through referrals, search visibility, and professional networks. A few places to start your search: writing groups (local and online), search engines, professional directories, referrals from other published authors, and ghostwriting service websites. Content mills like Upwork can produce ghostwriters at low rates, but the quality varies dramatically and you often get what you pay for.

The Initial Consultation

Once you find a ghostwriter, schedule a consultation to discuss your project. Virtually all professional ghostwriters offer a free initial consultation. Use this time to evaluate compatibility, ask the questions below, and get a sense of whether this person understands both writing and project management.

Come prepared with a list of questions. Don’t feel pressured to decide immediately. If you need time to talk with other ghostwriters before committing, take it. You’ll be listed as the author of this book. The quality of the ghostwriter determines the quality of the work that carries your name.

1. Have Your Books Been Published?

The point of writing a book is getting it published. A ghostwriter who has completed manuscripts that reached publication has demonstrated the ability to manage a project from concept through delivery. This matters more than you might think.

Books stall for many reasons. Clients lose interest, run out of budget, get busy with other priorities, or change the scope without being willing to pay for the changes. In my experience ghostwriting 54 books, I’ve seen clients get new jobs that consumed their attention, clients who were enthusiastic at the start but disappeared at the 25% mark, and projects that required renegotiation when the scope expanded beyond the original agreement.

A ghostwriter with published credits has navigated these obstacles and delivered finished work. If contractual obligations prevent them from showing ghostwritten titles, ask about books published under their own name. I’ve published 113+ books, including novels, nonfiction, and handbooks, all of which are publicly available for quality evaluation.

A ghostwriter without published credits isn’t automatically disqualified, but it’s a caution flag worth weighing alongside other factors.

2. Can You Send Samples of Your Work?

Nondisclosure agreements often prevent ghostwriters from sharing client work directly. This is normal and expected. The NDA exists to protect the client’s confidentiality, and a ghostwriter who readily shares client manuscripts should concern you more than one who can’t.

Instead, ask for books published under their own name, sanitized excerpts from ghostwritten work (with identifying details changed), or a portfolio showing different writing styles. The portfolio should demonstrate range. When I send samples, I include fiction, nonfiction, technical, and biographical writing because a ghostwriter needs to adapt to your voice, not write everything in their own.

Look at whether the samples read like they were written by different people. That’s what you want. A ghostwriter who sounds the same regardless of the project is writing their book, not yours.

3. What Steps Are Involved in Writing and Publishing a Book?

Writing a book involves much more than typing. A competent ghostwriter manages interviews, research, outlining, drafting, client review cycles, revision, scope changes, and coordination with editors, proofreaders, cover designers, and publishing platforms. The ghostwriter is a project manager as much as a writer.

Ask your prospective ghostwriter to walk you through their process. They should be able to explain the stages clearly: initial interviews to understand your goals, content interviews to gather your material, research, drafting, review and revision cycles, and the steps between finished manuscript and published book.

Pay attention to how they handle client management. Some clients want daily updates. Others want to be left alone until a milestone is reached. Your ghostwriter should ask about your preference and adapt accordingly.

4. Will Any of the Work Be Outsourced?

Outsourcing parts of a project is common and often appropriate. Proofreading, editing, cover design, illustration, indexing, and marketing are frequently handled by specialists. The ghostwriter should be transparent about what gets outsourced and who pays for it.

The writing itself should not be outsourced without your knowledge. I’ve seen ghostwriters set up arbitrage operations, accepting projects and farming the actual writing to low-cost content mills without telling the client. One got caught when the client noticed the quality was far below what was discussed in the consultation. When confronted, the ghostwriter admitted the entire manuscript was written by someone else.

Ask directly: will you personally write my book? And get the answer in the contract.

5. Does Your Contract Include a Non-Disclosure Agreement?

The decision to disclose that the book was ghostwritten belongs to you, the client. A professional ghostwriter treats the relationship with confidentiality regardless of what the contract says, but the NDA makes it enforceable.

The NDA should be part of the contract or statement of work. If it isn’t included, insist on a separate NDA before work begins. Simple NDAs work better than complicated ones. If the ghostwriter provides their NDA, review it carefully or have your lawyer review it.

6. Do You Understand the Legal Issues?

Books create legal exposure. Nonfiction must be factual, properly cited, and free of plagiarism. Memoirs risk defamation claims when real people are portrayed negatively. Even fiction can create liability if characters are recognizably based on real individuals.

Experienced ghostwriters understand these risks and take steps to mitigate them during the writing process. Inexperienced ones often don’t. I once heard about a ghostwriter who wrote a book for an ex-convict that named real people as prostitutes, drug dealers, and smugglers without changing names or any identifying details. The lawsuits were predictable and expensive.

Your ghostwriter should understand the basics of defamation, privacy law, and intellectual property as they relate to publishing. But regardless of your ghostwriter’s knowledge, hire a lawyer who specializes in publishing law to review the manuscript before publication. The AI-Enhanced Writing Legalities Handbook covers these issues in detail.

7. Do You Understand the Subject Matter?

Your ghostwriter doesn’t need to be an expert in your field. You’re the expert. The ghostwriter’s job is to extract your expertise through interviews and research, then structure it into a readable manuscript.

That said, a ghostwriter who has some familiarity with your subject will require less ramp-up time and fewer explanations. Ask about their research process and how they handle unfamiliar topics. Experienced ghostwriters include research time in their quotes and set clear limits on how many hours are allocated, with a rate specified for overages.

8. Do You Have a Contract?

If a ghostwriter doesn’t use contracts, find a different ghostwriter. The contract defines what gets delivered, when, at what cost, under what terms, and what happens if things go wrong. Without one, there is no agreement, and the result is almost always anger and disappointment on both sides.

The contract should include: deliverables, timeline, total cost, payment schedule, termination clause, indemnity clause, arbitration clause, NDA, and a description of the project scope. It should also specify what happens when scope changes (and scope always changes).

Good contracts tend to be relatively short and clear. Long volumes of legalese typically protect one party at the expense of the other. If the contract is fair and straightforward, that tells you something about the ghostwriter’s approach to business relationships.

9. What Is the Rate?

You need to know the cost, and the ghostwriter needs to understand your project before they can quote it accurately. Be cautious of anyone who quotes a price without asking about your project first.

I charge $1 per word for ghostwriting. A 50,000-word book costs $50,000. Payment is milestone-based with monthly advances. Book proposals start at $15,000 and include the first two chapters.

Low rates are a red flag. Writing a book involves interviews, research, drafting, editing, revision, and more revision. A ghostwriter charging $5,000 for a full-length book is either outsourcing to cheap labor, cutting corners on quality, or undervaluing their time in a way that will show up in the manuscript.

You get what you pay for. The 2024 Business Book ROI Study found that ghostwritten books produced four times the revenue of self-written ones. The investment in quality pays back.

10. How Is the Rate Calculated?

Ghostwriters charge by the word, by the hour, by the page, or by the project. Some use a combination. I charge per word for writing and include interviews in the project scope. Other ghostwriters charge hourly for interviews and research on top of a per-word writing rate.

Make sure you understand: what the rate covers, whether interviews and research are included or billed separately, how expenses are handled, what happens if the project scope expands (additional chapters, more interviews, longer manuscript), and what could cause the price to change during the project.

Get everything in the contract. If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist.

11. What Research Will You Do?

There are no industry standards for ghostwriting. No required certifications, no licensing, no union, no governing body. Ghostwriting “certifications” exist but don’t carry the weight of credentials in fields like medicine or law. They typically reflect coursework based on one instructor’s experience.

This means the quality of ghostwriters varies enormously. The difference between a ghostwriter who manages projects professionally and one who just writes is the difference between a finished book and an abandoned manuscript.

Ghostwriting requires more than writing skill. It requires project management, interviewing technique, research capability, client coordination, voice matching, and the ability to write as someone else. Many writers underestimate this last part. Writing a book in another person’s voice, from another person’s perspective, with another person’s ideas, is substantially harder than writing your own book.

12. Are You Fluent in the Language of My Book?

If your book is in English, your ghostwriter needs to be fluent in English. Hiring writers from other countries can reduce costs, but language fluency issues will show up in the manuscript and increase editing and proofreading costs.

This isn’t about nationality or culture. It’s about the quality of the final product. If you hire a ghostwriter who isn’t fully fluent in the language of your book, budget for additional editing to clean up grammar, idioms, and readability.

13. Do You Offer a Discounted Rate for Cover Credit?

You can list your ghostwriter as a contributor, co-author, writing coach, or editor. The choice is yours, not the ghostwriter’s. Some ghostwriters will negotiate a reduced rate in exchange for a cover credit because it allows them to add the book to their public portfolio.

If you don’t want the ghostwriter on the cover, you can still include their name on the copyright page or in the acknowledgments. But this is entirely your decision.

14. What Happens When Scope Changes?

Projects always change. Books get longer, chapters get added, interviews reveal new material that needs to be included. A professional ghostwriter anticipates scope changes and has a process for handling them.

I recently completed a project contracted at 5,000 words per chapter for two chapters. By the time we finished, each chapter exceeded 20,000 words because the client realized more depth was needed. That’s a scope change, and we renegotiated the rate to reflect the additional work.

Ask your ghostwriter how they handle scope changes before they happen. The answer and the contract terms should align.

Making Your Decision

Treat your ghostwriter as a professional and pay accordingly. Insist on samples, a clear contract, transparent pricing, and honest answers to these 14 questions. The right ghostwriter will deliver a book you’re proud to put your name on.

If you’d like to discuss your book project, schedule a free consultation. I’ll give you an honest assessment of scope, timeline, and cost, and you can ask every question on this list.

For a deeper look at what ghostwriting produces for clients, see the ghostwriting case studies and the ghostwriting services page.

Frequently Asked Questions