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You made a good decision hiring a ghostwriter. You have the expertise, the story, or the business knowledge that deserves a book. The ghostwriter has the craft to turn it into a manuscript that reads well, holds together structurally, and represents you at the level your audience expects.
But hiring a ghostwriter is not like hiring a contractor to remodel your kitchen. You do not hand over the keys and come back when it is done. The best ghostwritten books come from active collaboration between the client and the writer. How you participate in that process directly affects the quality of the final product.
After 54 ghostwritten books and 113+ published titles, here is what I have learned about what clients can do to get the best possible book out of the collaboration.
Show Up for the Interviews
The interview process is where the book gets built. This is where the ghostwriter captures your voice, your stories, your expertise, and the specific details that make your book yours rather than a generic treatment of your subject.
The best clients treat interviews like they matter. They show up prepared. They answer thoroughly. They tell the stories behind the stories. They share the details they think are too small to mention, because those details are usually what makes a chapter come alive.
If you rush through interviews, give surface-level answers, or cancel repeatedly, the ghostwriter has less material to work with. Less material means a thinner book. A thinner book means a product that does not represent what you actually know and have experienced.
Be Honest About What You Want
Tell your ghostwriter what you actually want the book to accomplish. Is it a credential that positions you as an authority in your field? A memoir that captures your life for your family? A business book designed to generate leads? A manifesto that lays out your philosophy?
Each of these requires a different approach, and the sooner the ghostwriter understands the real goal, the better the book serves that goal. Clients who are vague about what they want end up with a book that does not quite fit anywhere.
If you change your mind about the direction, say so early. A course correction at chapter three is manageable. A course correction at chapter fifteen means rewriting half the book.
Trust the Process
Writing a book takes time. A quality manuscript of 50,000 to 70,000 words takes months of interviews, writing, revision, and polish. The ghostwriter is not being slow. They are being thorough.
The temptation is to check in constantly, ask for daily updates, or request to see chapters before they are ready. This interrupts the writing process and can actually slow the project down. A good ghostwriter will give you regular updates and deliver chapters on the agreed schedule. Trust that schedule.
If something is not working, you will know when you see the first chapters. That is when feedback matters most, not during the drafting process when the writer is still building momentum.
Give Real Feedback During Revision
When you receive chapters for review, read them carefully and respond with specifics. “I like it” is nice but not useful. “This chapter captures exactly how I felt during that period” is useful. “The section on supply chain management needs more detail about our vendor relationships” is useful. “Something feels off about chapter seven” followed by silence is not useful.
The revision process is where a good book becomes a great book. Your ghostwriter needs to know what landed, what missed, and what needs more depth. The more specific your feedback, the fewer revision cycles the book needs and the stronger the final product.
Do not disappear during the review cycle. If you take three weeks to respond to each chapter, a six-month project becomes a twelve-month project. Your ghostwriter has blocked time for your project. When you delay, that time goes to other clients.
Provide Your Materials
If you have speeches, presentations, articles, previous interviews, or any existing content related to your book’s subject matter, share it with your ghostwriter early. This material provides additional source material, helps the writer understand your existing voice, and can surface stories or ideas you might not think to mention in interviews.
Clients who hand over a folder of twenty years of keynote speeches give their ghostwriter a goldmine. Clients who say “I will get that to you later” and never do are leaving quality on the table.
Understand What Your Ghostwriter Cannot Do for You
Your ghostwriter writes the book. That is the job. What happens after the book is written is your responsibility.
Promoting the book. Building a platform around it. Using it to generate speaking engagements, consulting leads, or media appearances. Sharing it with your network. Getting it into the hands of the right people. All of that falls on you.
The best ghostwritten books in the world fail if the client publishes and then does nothing. Your ghostwriter can advise you on publishing strategy and point you in the right direction, but the promotional energy has to come from you. It is your book, your name on the cover, and your audience to reach.
Leave a Review
Once your book is published, leave a review on Amazon. Ask people who read it to do the same. Reviews drive visibility. A book with zero reviews is invisible to potential readers no matter how good it is.
This is the simplest thing you can do to support the investment you made in having the book written. Five minutes of your time can determine whether the book gets discovered or sits quietly in a catalog.
Recommend Your Ghostwriter
If you are happy with the book, tell people. The best ghostwriting clients come from referrals. When a colleague mentions wanting to write a book, that is your opportunity to connect them with the person who made yours happen.
Ghostwriters cannot promote themselves the way other professionals can. The nature of the work is confidential. Most of my best client relationships started because a previous client said “You should talk to Richard.”
For a deeper look at the ghostwriting process from concept to published book, see The Ghostwriting Advantage.
Schedule a free consultation to discuss your book project.
11 Responses
I totally agree with you. It’s not easy to get an inspiration or feeling to write a good article today but readers are always willing to discourage the writers. A small support truly helps a lot.
Very informative, I will keep these in mind and love that you mentioned the discouraging practices as a writer is not so easy to maintain progress and growth. These will help writers to keep going and achieve.
your article resonates deeply with me as both a writer and a supporter of writers. Your insights on the importance of positive reinforcement and constructive feedback are spot on. I’ll definitely be sharing these valuable strategies with my writer friends. Thank you for shedding light on this crucial topic!
Your recent post on The Writing King is such a heartwarming reminder of the importance of supporting writers. It’s evident that you’re passionate about uplifting fellow writers and creating a supportive community. By encouraging readers to support writers through simple gestures like leaving reviews and sharing their work, you’re making a positive impact on the writing community as a whole. Keep spreading kindness and encouragement—it truly makes a difference in the lives of writers everywhere!
I agree with you. Not easy to write but for todays world it is easy now. All positive review with what youve written thanks!
Writing takes a lot of dedication to achieve success. These are all good points to think about when working towards your goals.
I love that you included leaving a positive review. That’s the best way to get other people to read the book.
What a fabulous article. I just posted to my FB page how friends and family can ask their local libraries to buy the book so people can read it, too! It’s amazing how one little thing can help an author out, you know?
I agree with these points, but would add ‘be honest’.
If they write in a genre which doesn’t interest you then say so – you can still be supportive without posting fake reviews or praise (which are usually spotted as such). If there are errors, and you’re asked for your opinion, then say so. A gentle suggestion that it’s given another proofread or edit will be more helpful than saying it’s brilliant and letting their reputation as a writer be destroyed by something which could be fixed.
Carol’s suggestion to buy their books as gifts is excellent. This will bring their writing to the attention of those who’d otherwise have been unaware of it – and we writers need that.
Thank you, Richard. What a useful batch of suggestions. With Christmas so near, I would also add “Give books written by your author friends as presents.” Then watch the book love snowball!
I would add, connect them with your contacts for speaking, or hosting author events!