Updated May 2026 to reflect current data. Original recording: 2021.

Richard Lowe, The Writing King, joined Ken on 22nd Century Management, recorded live from Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, for the most complete walkthrough of the ghostwriting process he gives anywhere, from the first phone call all the way to a published book and beyond. After 33 years in tech, the last 20 as Director of Computer Operations and Technical Services at Trader Joe’s, he left the corporate world and found ghostwriting, and he’s since written 113-plus books under his own name and pseudonyms and 54-plus for clients, across artificial intelligence, digital transformation, computer security, the Internet of Things, and businesses from a dental practice to a cleaning-supply company.

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The Conversation

It’s your book; I’m the bricklayer

Ken: What is ghostwriting?

Richard: It’s work for hire. You hire me to write, usually a book or blog articles, though ghostwriters write everything from Hallmark cards to songs. You bring the ideas; I do the writing. I interview you to capture your concepts, your values, your voice, and then I write the prose. The crucial part is that it’s still your book, not mine, the same way a contractor builds your house, not his. I’m the writer; you’re the author. I’m the bricklayer. And because I’m the writer and you’re the subject-matter expert, I can write about almost anything, leaning on you, on research, or both.

The whole process, start to finish

Ken: What’s the strategy for someone who wants to work with a ghostwriter?

Richard: Let me walk the entire thing. We usually connect through LinkedIn, my website, or increasingly referrals. You contact me, we have a free consultation of up to an hour about what your book is and what you want, and then I put together a statement of work, the contract, with all the terms and the price. You sign it through DocuSign, pay the first invoice as a down payment, and we begin.

The first two weeks to a month is strategy, not writing: the table of contents, the theme, the point of view, the voice, or for fiction the plot points and characters. After that I target one to two chapters a month. Each chapter starts with interviews, then an outline you approve, then a rough first draft, deliberately rough and not even spell-checked, so you can confirm the concepts are right before I polish. I take your comments, polish it, and we move to the next chapter. By the end the book is in good shape, and we do a full final revision. Then I always recommend you send it to a line or copy editor for the final polish, because editors get nitty-gritty about markets and style in ways that matter.

Meanwhile, the author has a job too: build an engaged following. A traditional publisher’s first question is how many engaged followers you have, and if you self-publish, those are the people who buy the book on day one. Pick one channel that suits you, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and focus there. One author I interviewed recruited 600 volunteers from her church to spread the word about her science-fiction books and turned it into a game with little prizes. Then it’s your choice of path, traditional or self-publishing, and I can help with the publishing either way; I’ve published hundreds of books because I publish my clients’.

What it costs, and why there’s no royalty deal

Ken: A listener asks how you price it, and whether you do outcome-based contracts.

Richard: By outcome-based you mean royalties, and the answer is essentially no. I price by the word, occasionally by the hour for certain books, paid 25% down with the rest divided across the months. The reason I don’t take royalties is simple: this is my living. You wouldn’t work your job on the chance of being paid in a year or two, and I can’t either. On top of that, the promotion isn’t under my control, so if you lose interest, I earn nothing, which isn’t fair to me. The only real exception is a name like a former president or a major celebrity, where the income is all but guaranteed. For everyone else, it’s a flat no.

Ken: For a 60,000-word book, what’s it going to cost?

Richard: At my current rate of a dollar a word, a 60,000-word book runs about $60,000, which is mid-range for ghostwriting. I’m not the bargain option. You can find ghostwriters who’ll work for almost nothing, and you don’t want them, just like you don’t want the low bidder on your renovation. You can also find ones who charge ten times my rate; those tend to be Pulitzer-level authors with names that sell books on their own. My price includes a normal amount of research and interviews; extensive third-party interviews or unusual research, defined in the statement of work, are billed by the hour. Out of 54-plus books, only two have crossed that line, because usually you’re the expert and there isn’t much research, with a chapter running 2,000 to 5,000 words. I don’t write the kind of technical book that needs a citation every fifteen lines.

How long it takes

Ken: How do you determine the timeframe?

Richard: I target a set number of words or chapters a month and divide. Most books take six months to a year, and the budget drives it: a shorter timeline just means higher monthly payments, but it works out the same in the end. A few clients have wanted three months, which is doable for more per month. Remember the first month is strategy, not writing, and after the draft comes revision and the outside editor.

One book, many products

Ken: You mentioned splitting a book into multiple products.

Richard: One client right now is a good example. We’re finishing his book, and the next step is to turn each chapter into speaker notes so he has talks ready, turn each chapter into a blog, and write a companion workbook. He owns his company, so one book becomes a whole set of tools to sell his products and services. That’s the real power of it; a book is a tool, like a hammer or an air drill, and it does you no good sitting in a drawer. You have to use it, and there are a lot of ways to use it.

Copywriting is a different animal

Ken: What about copywriting versus ghostwriting?

Richard: Completely different. A copywriter writes to sell a product, and a single page can cost $100,000, ten to fifty times my rate, because that page might make millions. Good copywriters charge whatever they want. If you’re in advertising, you want a copywriter, not a ghostwriter.

Find Richard Lowe at TheWritingKing.com.

Notable quotes from this conversation

Common questions from this conversation

What is the full ghostwriting process?
A free consultation, then a signed statement of work with terms and price, a down payment, a two-to-four-week strategy phase, then one to two chapters a month, each moving from interview to approved outline to rough draft to polish. A full final revision and an outside editor follow, then the publishing path you choose.

How much does a ghostwriter cost?
Richard prices by the word at a current rate of a dollar a word, so a 60,000-word book runs about $60,000, mid-range for the field. Payment is 25% down and the balance spread monthly. Unusually heavy research or many third-party interviews are billed by the hour.

Do ghostwriters work for royalties or outcome-based deals?
Almost never. Ghostwriting is the writer’s living, so working on the chance of future payment isn’t viable, and promotion is outside the writer’s control. The rare exception is a major name whose income is all but guaranteed.

How long does a book take?
Usually six months to a year. A shorter timeline simply means higher monthly payments for the same total. The first month is strategy rather than writing, and revision and outside editing come after the draft is done.

Can one book become more than a book?
Yes. Each chapter can be turned into speaker notes for talks, a blog post, and the basis of a workbook, so a single book becomes a whole set of tools to support a business or career.