How do I find the right ghostwriter?
Choosing the right ghostwriter, like choosing any business service, takes time and effort to be done correctly. Below I will list a few criteria to check and a few items to watch out for as you shop for someone to help you write your book.
Please note: even if you have a name or names of ghostwriters you can use, I highly recommend reading the suggestions below to make sure you choose the right ghostwriter. Because even if you know someone who is a good writer, and maybe even a good ghostwriter, that doesn’t mean that they are the right ghostwriter for you and your book.
How do I find a ghostwriter in my price range?
First, you need to decide what your budget is. Even if you have unlimited funds, you want to determine what you can spend and want to spend to get your book written by the right professional.
While your budget is up to you, know that you can expect to spend anywhere from $25,000 on up to $100,000 or more to get your book written. Basically, hiring a ghostwriter is not a task for someone with few funds.
And of course, if you only have $500 or a few thousand to spend on getting your book written, you may want to consider writing your book by yourself or hiring a book coach instead of a ghostwriter.
Where should I look to find a ghostwriter?
Next, once you decide what you’re willing to spend to get the book you want, you can then begin your search. I suggest looking in the following places and in this order:
- Referrals from friends
- Other writers you may know
- Search engines
I’ll explain each in a little more detail here.
Referrals
When looking to hire any kind of professional, be it a plumber, a carpenter, or a ghostwriter, referrals are a great way to start your search. If you work in business or own a business, it’s likely that you know someone who has written a book. Chances are they may have hired editing or ghostwriting help. Thus, reach out to all of your business contacts, as well as your personal contacts, via email or social media, and ask for recommendations for a good ghostwriter. Just make sure that you know if they are referring you to someone merely because they’ve heard of them versus having used their services. Obviously, someone who has actually hired a ghostwriter and loved the experience is a stronger, more meaningful referral.
Other writers
Other writers can often be a good referral source because they themselves often know other writers, including other ghostwriters. Professional writers, though they generally don’t hire ghostwriters themselves, may have good leads on who the good ghostwriters are for the book you want to write.
Now, you may not know published authors or professional writers, but then again, you may but just don’t realize that you do. You can always post a request on social media, especially LinkedIn or Facebook, asking for help.
LinkedIn is the new platform where business professionals of all stripes seem to be congregating. And while LinkedIn isn’t perfect, it has great reach and a lot of very qualified professionals (of all stripes) are on LinkedIn.
Within LinkedIn, you can run a simple search, and then you can review the profiles that appear. Look for profiles that click with who and what you are looking for. Pay attention to how well-written their profile sections and posts are. A ghostwriter might reveal how good of a writer they are—or aren’t—right on their profile. LinkedIn is not the be-all, end-all for finding business professionals, but it is a good place to look. A few of my clients have found me via LinkedIn. I came up in their search results and they liked what they saw and read and then contacted me.
Search engines
Many people naturally use search engines first when searching for a business service, like ghostwriting, and online search can certainly yield many results. Still, I personally think you should use this option after you have already exhausted the other options I’ve listed.
Why? Because online search is pretty much a pay-for-play game, and much of the results you see reflect those who have the funds to help their site or name come up higher in the results. And if you end up paying attention to paid ads, remember that those whose paid ads appear in your search, they did so because that professional paid to have their ad appear higher. In other words, this means that they are good at manipulating online search results for their category rather than any actual skill at ghostwriting. Again, I recommend using online search only after you have exhausted the previous methods I have already listed.
How experienced does my ghostwriter need to be?
The person you hire to help you write your book should have at least a few years in the saddle as a professional writer. Even if they have written their own book, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a good writer—plenty of mediocre or poorly-written books get published every year.
But you probably don’t want someone who hasn’t yet finished school or has only been writing professionally for a short time. While there are no magic numbers, I would say you should hire someone who has at least five years of experience behind them as a professional writer or business writer.
Each ghostwriter had to start somewhere, but most ghostwriters also worked as professional writers or had some success writing their own book. Either one or both of those can help give someone the knowledge and experience needed to help you navigate your book from start to finish.
How can I tell if my ghostwriter is a good writer?
So, how can you tell if your future ghostwriter can write well? From what I can see, there are few places you can check, a few items you can read that can give you a hint regarding how well your ghostwriter can write.
First, ask for writing samples. This is not a foolproof way, since there’s never any way to know if those samples are theirs and theirs alone, but it’s a good start. If the samples you read are compelling, well-organized, and tightly written, you’re in luck. If not, keep looking.
Second, read their website copy. Chances are they wrote their own web copy, and if you read that copy and have a hard time understanding them or see tons of errors or find their writing a little sloppy, guess what—that’s how they write.
Third, read anything they’re published online, including blog posts, social media posts, and articles. Again, they may have had help or be working with someone, but many ghostwriters write their own social media posts, and that can be a good place to watch how they write when it matters less.
Lastly, ask them to connect you with one or two of their former clients, and then ask those people what they thought of their ghostwriter’s writing. Again, no one is going to connect you with someone who won’t give them a good recommendation, but it can be one more way to vet your potential ghostwriter.
One final thought on this topic: just because someone, especially a ghostwriter, has written a lot of books doesn’t always mean they are a capable, polished writer. Self-publishing companies will print whatever you send them, and if you have a big enough name, so will traditional publishers. So, just because someone you want to hire is bragging about how many books they’ve written as proof that they’re a capable writer, do your own investigation anyway. You’ll be glad you did.
Do I need to hire a ghostwriter who is an expert in my subject?
When hiring a ghostwriter, it sometimes makes sense to hire a writer who has worked in the subject area you’re writing about. At other times, it doesn’t matter if they know your subject, and if they are an expert in your subject, that could actually work against a smooth and fruitful collaboration.
Why? Because when you hire someone who knows your subject as well as you do or even better, you risk being influenced too much by their opinions, no matter how kind they are and how much they try not to steer your book’s course. When you write your book, you need to be the only captain of your ship, with your ghostwriter is your first mate.
Of course, if your book is about your life, you are the expert. At the same time, when writing a memoir, for instance, it helps to hire a writer who has worked writing memoirs before.
I feel that it’s less important how much your ghostwriter knows about your subject and more important that they are a good writer, a good fit with your working style, and share your vision for your book.
How can I tell if my ghostwriter is a good fit?
Again, choosing a ghostwriter, like choosing many professional services, involves opinion and personal choice.
A ghostwriter who might be perfect for one job might not do as well working on another job. So, how can you tell if your ghostwriter is a good fit for you?
One way is to agree to work on a small section of your book first before committing fully. Or, by making sure that the ghostwriter you hire has a way for you to exit the process early if you aren’t getting your expectations met.
Another way is to trust your instincts, which I explain in the next section.
In the end, follow your gut
If your potential ghostwriter looks good on paper and fits your budget and everything seems to add up, but you still have a gnawing sense that this isn’t a good fit, then follow your gut and keep looking. At the same time, even if a potential ghostwriter is less experienced and isn’t flashy but seems sincere, has solid writing samples, and is easy to talk to—but lacks flashy credentials—give them a chance. You may be glad you did.
Good luck, and if you have any questions about ghostwriting or writing in general, or if you think you’d like to talk about writing a book, fill in my contact form below!: