Writing isn't for everyone, from people who have great knowledge and experiences worth sharing to potential authors poised to share great works of fiction. That's because writing everything from scratch requires time, effort, and art to pen your heart down, which not everyone has. As a result, they eventually end up hiring ghostwriters who would write the minds of who hired them.
Whether you're hiring full-time, one-time, or freelance ghostwriters for hire, there are some essential contemplations you must consider. You've posted your requirement for a ghostwriter at places, and now you have gotten many proposals. Before you proceed to hire them, make sure you ask yourself these questions:
1.How Comfortable Is The Writer With You?
Experience and professionalism are one part of the picture, but you need to trust your potential ghostwriter with your secrets or pieces of your independent research. You can expect them to ask a few intimate and private questions that you may not feel comfortable answering, but the writer should make you think that he's your friend, and you can have a kind of a bond with them.
They should be available to meet and discuss with you whenever you're comfortable. Professionalism and politeness would be their way of trying to create a sense of comfort. A good ghostwriter will never make you feel anxious.
But don't expect the ghostwriter to be available for you 24/7. For a long-term project, the ghostwriter may be busy prepping the project in advance, but that might not be the case for a shorter project. In short projects, you can expect quick responses and meeting times, and they can start quickly too.
2.How Much Would It Cost? Can I Negotiate?
A ghostwriter will be spending a great amount of time in getting your words recorded in the matter you desire. Ensure that if you're setting a price range, be sure that you and the writer are comfortable with it.
Hiring a qualified ghostwriter for a book can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $80,000. But if you want them to charge as low as $1000, you're better off doing the work on your own. Any amount like that could be charged for a very concise book (less than 15,000 words). Otherwise, if you feel that you can do some parts of the book yourself and rely on a ghostwriter for some later parts, you can check on your writer if he would be okay with that sort of work with a lower budget.
However, if the ghostwriter finds a great chance the book can be a best-seller, you might be surprised to know that they can work for reduced rates. But in such a case, the ghostwriter could demand either a royalty plan, or their name written on the front and back as a co-author.
3.Other Than A Book, What Else Can You Expect From The Ghostwriter?
Whether you're writing a work of fiction or nonfiction, you can expect the ghostwriter to conduct a brief interview with you that would identify and outline the book's goals. It would be one or a series of one-to-one sessions where you'll flesh out your stories.
If it's a fictional book, you're expected to provide the story in as many details as possible. The main characters and plot should be clear enough. But do keep in mind that it's always best to keep some room for including plot twists and surprises all over the book. Let the ghostwriter know that the first few drafts may need some additions sometime later down the line. The ghostwriter will have to keep the chapter breakdown adjusted accordingly.
For a nonfiction book, you might go through several similar sessions, but expect to provide as many materials as possible. The author will do his own research but you can make the quality of the work better by providing the resources you personally used to draft the plot or research in your mind.
All kinds of projects are prone to changes and last minute updates, books are no different.
4.Are You Open To Outside Input And Feedback?
An experienced ghostwriter may know that the author can, in instances, provide them with some level of creative freedom, but not everyone would be okay with it. Maybe their additions might cause some intrusion in the plot, which the author may or may not like.
If you're willing to have such feedback or want the ghostwriter to entirely depend on you for the kind of content in your book, make sure, that's cleared out since the beginning. One thing to be clear is that outside feedback here strictly implies feedback from the ghostwriter. If you feel that the ghostwriter is outsourcing the work to someone else, he may not be the right fit for you or anyone for that matter.
5.Will Your Book Sound Like You?
To have someone else write your mind, you need to trust them and know how they can adapt their writing tone to your speaking style and content. It's important to determine if your writer will sound like you, because your readers want to hear you.
If you have an excellent vocabulary for yourself where you tend to use complicated but elaborate words here and there, the ghostwriter must also have a great vocabulary to ensure that your book sounds like you do in real life.
6.Do They Have Contracts?
You will have to sign a contract with them, and they should be able to show you a sample of the terms they have worked on with previous clients. Also, like freelancers, ghostwriters are also on the lookout for their following clients and projects so that they have steadily incoming work. By their contracts and clients on their plate, you can judge how much time they might take for your work to reach completion. Their quality can come at a price, and it may come at the cost of time too.
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, things may not work out. It may be not because your idea was wrong or your hire ghostwriter wasn't a good one. But it could be scheduling delays, emergencies, or lack of communication, be sure that you have some clauses in your contract that protect your work, and the ghostwriter gets compensated for the work he has done up to that point in time.