Despite what it sounds like, a “ghost writer” is not a ghost but a real deal. So what does a ghost writer do? It’s an accepted industry standard to hire and brief someone so as to come up with a book, an article, a story or a blog post for publication. This means as an author of the piece, you will explain what you’re after to your ghost writer.

It’s highly unlikely that a ghost writer does all the writing by themselves — at the bare minimum, you will be providing them with the dot points or core ideas you want to be covered.

A ghost writer is also a subject matter expert in specific genres. It could be that you have an almost finished manuscript, or a rough draft which needs editing. In such a case, most of the work is done by the author and the ghost writer comes in to polish the manuscript so as to make it fit to be accepted for publishing.

You can hire a ghost writer for several genres of work. If a ghost writer is engaged for an autobiography, he or she will interview the author, their friends and family and refer to the self-notes given by the author. Or, if it is a self-help book, the ghost writer, along with author notes, will do quite a bit of research on their own.

Typically, writers get paid by the hour or flat project-wise fees. If you want an article ghost written, the cost is anywhere from $1 to $4 a word. If it is a 200-300 page book, the price can anywhere vary from $12,000 to $25,000, however, some experienced ghost writers may charge more than that.

Depending on your contract, you may or may not acknowledge the ghost writer for their work after the book is published.

Celebrities and public figures hire ghost writer on a regular basis. It could be either because they don’t have the writing skills, or they don’t have the time and/or effort to invest in the book.

So if you have a rocking idea but don’t know how to put it into words, why not get in touch with a ghost writer and discuss your next best-seller during a one-on-one meet!

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