Choosing a ghostwriter is a business decision, not a creative one. You’re hiring someone to spend six months building a product that will carry your name for the rest of your career. This is about the moment after you’ve talked to a few candidates, when you have to decide between them. The wrong choice costs you time, money, and a manuscript you cannot use. The right choice produces a book that works for your business for years.
After completing 54+ ghostwriting projects and publishing 113+ books, here’s what I’d tell anyone starting this process.
Know What You Want Before You Start Looking
The wrong choice costs you time, money, and a manuscript you cannot use.Share on X
Before you contact a single ghostwriter, answer these questions for yourself. What’s the book about? Who’s it for? What do you want the book to do for your business or your life? Is this a memoir, a business book, a how-to guide, or something else? For more, see how to choose your book topic and how to choose a book topic.
You don’t need every detail figured out. That’s what the ghostwriter helps with. But you need enough clarity to evaluate whether a ghostwriter understands your project. If you cannot describe your book in two or three sentences, consider a brainstorming engagement first. You can find current book coaching pricing on the book coaching page.
The prospects who arrive with a clear sense of what they want and why they want it produce better books. The ones who arrive with “I want to write a book about something” need more development time before the project makes sense.
Look at Completed Projects, Not Promises
The single most important question when evaluating a ghostwriter is: how many books have you completed and published?
Not started. Not “worked on.” Completed and published. A ghostwriter who has finished two books is in a different category than one who has finished fifty. The craft of ghostwriting improves with repetition. Interview skills sharpen. The ability to capture someone’s voice develops over dozens of projects, not a handful.
Most ghostwriters cannot show you the books they’ve written because of nondisclosure agreements. That’s normal. But they should be able to show you books they’ve published under their own name, articles they’ve written, or sanitized samples from client projects. If a ghostwriter cannot show you any evidence of their writing ability, that’s a problem.
I have 54+ completed ghostwriting projects and 113+ published books. My clients’ books have helped them raise $30M+ in venture capital, land TEDx speaking invitations, secure traditional publishing deals, and one was adopted for coursework at Purdue University. Those outcomes came from a process refined across every one of those projects.
Evaluate the Consultation Itself
The free consultation is an audition. Pay attention to what the ghostwriter does during that conversation.
A good ghostwriter asks more questions than they answer. They want to understand your subject, your audience, your goals, and the stories behind your expertise. They push for specifics when you speak in generalities. They challenge assumptions that need challenging. The consultation should feel like the beginning of an interview process, because that’s exactly what drives the book.
A ghostwriter who spends the consultation talking about themselves, listing credentials, or pitching packages without asking about your project is showing you how the entire engagement will go. If they’re not curious about your subject in the first conversation, they won’t be curious in month four when the manuscript needs depth.
Understand the Process Before You Sign
Every ghostwriter works differently. You need to understand the specific process before committing.
My projects run on interviews. I conduct in-depth sessions where I draw out stories, frameworks, and original thinking. The manuscript is built from your words and your expertise, not from research I do independently. You review chapters as they are delivered and provide feedback at each milestone. Four to eight months of active work, a month for revisions, then professional editing.
Ask any ghostwriter you’re evaluating: How do you gather the material? How many interviews will we do? How often will I see drafts? What happens if I don’t like a chapter? How do you handle revisions? What’s the timeline? What are the milestones?
If the answers are vague, the process is vague. That means the book will be vague.
When Should You Discuss Ghostwriting Fees?
Professional ghostwriting for a full-length book costs between $15,000 and $150,000 depending on the ghostwriter’s experience, the project’s complexity, and the length of the manuscript. You can find current ghostwriting pricing on the ghostwriting page.
Payment should be milestone-based. You shouldn’t pay the full fee upfront. Payments are tied to deliverables so you’re never paying for work that hasn’t been completed. A typical structure starts with a signing payment, then payments at agreed intervals as chapters are delivered and approved.
Be cautious of rates that seem too low. A 50,000-word book offered at $3,000 or $5,000 is either being written by someone without professional experience or being outsourced to writers who may not produce publishable quality. The most expensive mistake in ghostwriting is hiring cheap, getting unusable work, and then hiring a professional to start over at full price.
Every project is different, and I negotiate terms. The rate is the rate, but how we structure the deal has flexibility.
Read the Contract Carefully
The contract should cover copyright ownership, payment schedule, project timeline, revision limits, confidentiality, termination terms, and what happens if the project is abandoned before completion. If any of these elements are missing, ask why.
Copyright ownership belongs to you in most professional ghostwriting arrangements. For more on choosing the right ghostwriter, hear Richard on Let’s Talk. This should be stated explicitly. The confidentiality clause should cover the ghostwriter and any subcontractors. The termination clause should provide an exit for both parties with clear terms.
A ghostwriter without a contract is an amateur, regardless of their writing ability. Treat this like any other professional business relationship.
What Are the Red Flags When Choosing a Ghostwriter?
After 54+ projects, I know what the warning signs look like.
No completed books. If the ghostwriter cannot point to finished, published work, they’re still learning on someone else’s project. That someone shouldn’t be you.
No questions about your project. A ghostwriter who’s ready to start before understanding what you need isn’t going to produce a book that captures your voice.
Rock-bottom pricing. Professional rates exist for a reason. A writer offering a full book for a few thousand dollars is either outsourcing the work or producing content that will need to be rewritten.
Naming other clients. If a ghostwriter tells you who else they’ve worked with during your consultation, they’ll tell your name to someone else. Confidentiality is either a default or it’s not.
No contract. Walk away.
Promising bestseller status. No ghostwriter can guarantee a bestseller. Anyone who promises one is selling something other than writing.
Trust the Conversation
The relationship between you and your ghostwriter lasts months. You’ll share personal stories, business details, and ideas that matter deeply to you. The consultation tells you whether this is someone you can work with through that process.
Did they listen more than they talked? Did they ask questions that showed genuine interest in your subject? Did they explain their process clearly? Did you feel comfortable, or did you feel pressured?
The best ghostwriting relationships are built on mutual respect and clear communication. The book is yours. The ghostwriter’s job is to make it the best version of what you intended.
Schedule a free consultation to discuss your book project and see whether we are the right fit.