Most people have no idea how ghostwriting actually works, which is how the bad ones get away with it. These articles explain it from the inside: the process, the cost, what to expect, and how to tell a real professional from someone playing one.
GhostwritingThe numbers behind a ghostwritten book: 50,000 to 60,000 words for a memoir or coaching book, about six months to write, 10 to 30 hours of interviews, and seven phases from the first call to launch day.
Ghostwriter EthicsInternational Translation Day falls on September 30, the feast of St. Jerome. Translators write every sentence a foreign reader sees and rarely get their names on the cover, which makes them the closest cousins a ghostwriter has.
Co-AuthoringJames Fox read Keith Richards's manuscript aloud so Richards could edit by ear. J.R. Moehringer turned down cover credit on Open. The best-known memoirs were written the same way: long interviews, real access and a draft the subject recognized as…
GhostwritingReedsy accepts about 3% of applicants and wants ghostwriters to show five published books. That bar runs straight into the NDA every serious ghostwriter signs, and once you're in, every message, call and payment stays on the platform. Why I've…
AI vs Human GhostwritingThe favorite argument against AI writing is that it has no soul. A one-prompt book has none, but plenty of human writing doesn't either. The soul in writing is the little human parts the author puts on the page.
AI vs Human GhostwritingAsking whether AI has a soul misses the point, because art itself has no soul. The soul lives in the mind that made the work and the mind receiving it, and Game of Thrones showed how fast an audience feels…
GhostwritingAt 65, I'm not going to build a ghostwriting business that scales. Scaling means hiring other writers, and the client pays for it by losing the one person who knows their story.
Contracts and AgreementsWhen a ghostwriter goes silent mid-book, a week of ordinary follow-up is enough before you send written notice. Read the contract, recover your drafts and recordings, and set a firm date for hiring someone to finish.
Contracts and AgreementsA ghostwriting deadline should never slip without warning, because a working ghostwriter reports status as the book goes. When one does, fix the communication first, then the date.
GhostwritingYou can hate the first draft of a chapter and fix it in a week. Hating a whole ghostwritten manuscript means both sides waited too long, and the fix starts with sorting out exactly what's wrong.
Contracts and AgreementsA ghostwriter can list your book in a portfolio only if you acknowledge them in the book or give permission. Here's how acknowledgments, NDAs and your contract decide what a ghostwriter can show.
GhostwritingA ghostwriter's sample chapter takes interviews and days of drafting, so if you want one, pay for it. Free samples invite scams, and there are better ways to judge a ghostwriter's work.
Professional ghostwriting for executives, founders, coaches, and authors who want to get the book done right. 113+ books authored. 54+ ghostwritten for clients.
Ready to discuss your book?
BOOK YOUR PRIVATE CONSULTATIONNo pitch. No pressure.
© 2026 Richard Lowe. The Writing King. All rights reserved.
