The need to hire ghostwriters is common. Not just celebrities and business leaders, but even well-known authors hire these writers. Ghostwriters are employed to write novels, books, articles, speeches etc. They also create web content for industry experts, web design agencies and SEO executives. 

The term ‘ghostwriter’ is not a new coinage. Ghostwriting has been in practice since ancient times when poets would write on behalf of their patrons. The practice has only grown in popularity over time. Today, you’ll find ghostwriters working in many industries across the world. These writers can work for individuals as well as businesses and publishing houses. Maybe you are thinking about working with one of these writers but don’t know much about how the whole thing works.

If you’re on the lookout for someone who can help you write a novel, book, article or other written material without taking credit, ghostwriting is what you need.

What is a Ghostwriter?

A ghostwriter is hired to write for another person on condition of anonymity. Although the ghostwriter produces the finished project, they let their clients have the official credit. So, the person who hires the ghostwriter for a job is the credited author and, in many cases, it is formalized by way of a non disclosure agreement. In case the credited author decides to acknowledge the work of the ghostwriter, they can include the latter’s name as a researcher in the published work.

Today, there are a lot more ghostwriters than ever before. In fact, several ghostwriting services are also available online in order to cater to businesses and organizations that need help with writing expert content.

The Earliest Forms of Ghostwriting

The act of anonymously writing for someone else dates back to the Greek and Roman era. Scribes were hired to write on behalf of public figures. Public figures delivered speeches written by someone else. Letters sent from one public figure to another were also written by hired scribes.

The tradition of writing on behalf of someone else continued through the Middle Ages and beyond. Monks were assigned to write manuscripts. This is how the practice of ghostwriting originated and became common over time. During the 18th century, many authors and writers began hiring ghostwriters to expedite production of content in keeping with the demand for new works. With the growth of the publishing industry in the 19th century, ghostwriting gained more popularity. 

The emergence of celebrity memoirs as a new genre further increased the demand for hiring ghostwriters. Famous personalities hired ghostwriters to write autobiographies on their behalf. The business world too felt the pressing need to employ ghostwriters to produce thought-leadership content.

Today, ghostwriters are hired to produce a wide range of written material and content across industries. Thanks to the internet, persons and companies can now hire and work with ghostwriters online. Whether you look for generalists or specialists, you’ll find all types of ghostwriters for your writing and content creation projects. All in all, working with professional ghostwriters is a legitimate and useful way of turning your ideas into well-crafted stories for the public.

Types of Ghostwriting

The practice of ghostwriting isn’t limited to just one or two niches. The constant vital need to produce more content in less time has expanded the ambit of ghostwriting to include a host of genres and categories of writing. The existence of various types of ghostwriting means you won’t have difficulty finding and hiring the right ghostwriters for your specific content writing projects. 

Here is a list of different types of ghostwriting:

Fiction

Publishers are under pressure to satisfy the audience’s hunger for more books. In order to expedite the process, they may want to employ ghostwriters to write on behalf of actual authors and writers. Ghostwriters who specialize in fiction are often tasked with writing mystery, romance, thriller and detective novels. They are required to adhere to the publication’s style, tone and format.

Non-Fiction

The non-fiction genre offers a great deal of ghostwriting work. Celebrities and public figures need this type of ghostwriters to write their memoirs and autobiographies. Either the hired ghostwriter starts the assigned work from scratch or uses the provided content to build upon and complete the project. 

Fantasy

Fantasy ghostwriters are in high demand. A type of speculative function, fantasy writing requires high imaginative potential. The job of these writers is to build a fascinating world with a deep understanding and use of intricate elements. Those who want to produce several fantasy novels and books fast take help from ghostwriters specializing in the genre. There are many online writing services that provide skilled and experienced fantasy ghostwriters for hire.

Academic

Many people hire ghostwriters to write thesis, dissertations, entrance essays and term papers. Though using freelancers for such tasks isn’t illegal in most countries, many argue the practice to be unethical and unprofessional. Ghostwritten university papers could lead to charges of academic fraud. 

Medical

Think of these ghostwriters as professional medical writers. Usually, it is pharmaceutical companies that hire these writers to write for scientific and medical journals and create content for their websites and blogs.

Religious or Spiritual

Religious ghostwriters can help you turn your spiritual insights into narratives that carry the potential to touch hearts and minds. Writing about religion and spirituality requires profound knowledge and understanding of the subject matter as well as the faculties to simplify and explain complex ideas. 

Website Content

Businesses often need ghostwriting services to produce content for their websites and blogs. Whether it’s a startup, company or individual blogger, all of them have a constant need for content creation. Well-known bloggers rely on ghostwriters to develop content for their sites and digital campaigns. Even those companies that employ in-house writers at times hire freelance writers to cope with increased workload. Ghostwriters engaged in creating web content are good at SEO, as optimization for organic searches is a crucial part of this type of writing. 

No matter what the writing project, ghostwriters with proven experience are available to fulfill your unique requirements. 

How Ghostwriting Can Fuel Business Growth

To cut through the noise, businesses need to move beyond the basic requirements of having an eye-catching website and a good social media presence. Most of your key competitors are treading the same path. What you actually need to do is invest in high value and well-structured content and deliver it to the target audience through various digital marketing channels. 

This is where the role of ghostwriters comes in. Instead of overburdening your staff writers and creating mediocre content, you should seek the help of skilled ghostwriters for fast and quality content creation.

Here are some ways ghostwriting can benefit your business:

Establish Thought Leadership

Ghostwriting is an effective way to expedite the process of high quality content creation in a wide range of formats. Brilliant ghostwritten materials including articles, blog posts, e-books and whitepapers can help you display your expertise as an industry leader and stand out from the competition. 

Thought leadership content helps you earn the trust of the target audience and build long-term customer relationships.

Boost Visibility

When you have professional ghostwriters by your side, it becomes easy to create high value and relevant content, consistently. This is the kind of content you need to attract and engage your audience. Publishing and promoting a mix of quality content including how-tos, insightful blog posts, latest industry developments and case studies will boost your brand’s reputation and visibility.

Get Higher SEO Rankings

Ghostwriters with experience of writing for the web are good at incorporating organic search optimization tactics for higher page rankings. While they craft engaging copies for your websites and blogs, they also see to it that all the content is well-optimized for potential keywords, both short-tail and long-tail. The higher your web pages appear in searches, the more visitors you’ll get.

Improve Brand Awareness

Does your audience recognize your brand with all the qualities that make it unique? It doesn’t mean much to merely know the name of a brand. You need to create awareness about your brand to defeat the competition. Ghostwriters can help you build a positive image of your brand and increase brand awareness, which in turn leads to customer loyalty, brand recall and referrals.

An experienced ghostwriter has mastered the craft of producing copies that don’t just strike the right chord with the target audience, but also familiarize them with the most important qualities of a brand. 

Increase Customer Engagement

It is paramount for a business to build long-term connections with its customers. It is through quality relationships that businesses can create loyalty and excitement among customers towards the brand.

There are many ways to engage customers. But it all starts with high-value and thought provoking content. Exceptional content immediately attracts eyeballs and helps you make better connections with customers. Professional ghostwriters spend time doing research on the target audience’s exact needs and then craft content in a way that attracts and engages customers. Increasing customer engagement is crucial for the growth and lasting success of a business.

Generate Leads

Using ghostwriters will make it easy for you to prioritize high-quality content that resonates with the audience. You’ll be able to create and repurpose content to drive sales leads for your business. E-books, whitepapers, reports, case studies and landing pages are some good examples of lead-generating content that you can create with the help of professional ghostwriters. 

Save Time and Resources

Hiring one or more ghostwriters for your business will save you a great deal of precious time and internal resources. Outsourcing tasks such as researching, editing and writing will bring down costs and create more time for you to focus on core business activities, leading to better business growth.

Professional ghostwriters understand the exact needs of a business and create copies that are precise, engaging and typical of the brand. They are well-versed with writing to fulfill diverse marketing needs. Hiring a ghostwriter means you are outsourcing content creation to experts. If you need exceptional content to achieve your marketing targets, you should definitely hire ghostwriters.

Tips to Hire a Ghostwriter

Now that you are fully convinced of the multiple benefits ghostwriting has to offer, you should hire one or more ghostwriters for your unique business needs. But do you know how to choose, vet and hire the best ones? 

Use these tips to select the best ghostwriters:

Project Needs: You may need a ghostwriter to write an e-book, an autobiography, social media posts, website content, whitepaper etc. Whatever the project, you should be fully aware of your exact needs.

Writing Samples: Ask potential candidates for writing samples. Additionally, you can ask them to write sample articles or blog posts on relevant topics. See if the tone, style and format are at par with your needs.

Interviewing: Make a list of key questions that you would want to ask candidates. Use the interviewing process to find out more about their writing background and shortlist the most suitable candidates for the job.

Experience: Hire ghostwriters with adequate experience in a particular niche or genre of writing. If you plan to write a thriller or mystery novel, for example, you should hire those with experience in fiction writing.

References: Remember to ask the ghostwriter for some references. To dig deeper into the work experience and background of a specific candidate, you can get in touch with the reference via a phone call or email.

Payment Terms: Talk to the ghostwriter about their fees. If there are additional costs, you need to know about it upfront. Both you and the ghostwriter have to be on the same page to avoid future discrepancies.

After you have hired the right ghostwriter for your writing project, provide them detailed instructions including general background, information on the target audience, purpose of the work, schedules, deadlines etc. Be clear about what you expect from the ghostwriter. Give feedback without any delay to help them understand what you look for and do the necessary revisions.

Ghostwriting FAQs

By now, you must have known a great deal about ghostwriting, hiring ghostwriters and how the whole business works. If you still have additional questions, you’ll hopefully find the answers in this section.

Who hires ghostwriters?

Ghostwriting services are needed by a wide range of professionals as well as publishing houses and businesses. Anyone who has creative ideas for stories but is time-strapped to put them into words in eloquent language can employ ghostwriters. Ghostwriters are experienced in writing for several niches.  

Professionals who commonly hire ghostwriters include business leaders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, celebrities, politicians, diplomats, consultants, corporate executives, speakers, life coaches, SEO executives etc.

What types of content can ghostwriters help with?

There are ghostwriters to work on every type of writing project. Professional ghostwriters carry specialization in different genres and niches. They can help you write novels, books, memoirs, autobiographies, speeches, blog posts, articles, whitepapers, e-books, social media content, video scripts etc.

What is the cost of hiring a ghostwriter?

Every ghostwriting project has its own unique requirements. Therefore, variation in rates is quite obvious. The exact cost of completing a project will depend on the type, length and subject matter of that project. Ghostwriters may charge their clients on a per word or hourly basis. Rates for ghostwriting articles and blog posts range from $0.10 to $2 per word or $40 to $85 per hour.

It is a good idea to request a quote from the ghotswriter and discuss the payment terms before starting to work with them.

What does the ghostwriting process include?

The actual process for ghostwriting varies from project to project. Typically, it starts with discussions with the ghostwriter. It is crucial to set the expectations right on both sides. Once the ghostwriter has full clarity on what you exactly need, they will do preparation and research for the project.

Next, your ghostwriter will start giving shape to your ideas. They will write one chapter or part at a time, giving you adequate time to discuss the draft and needs for revision. Once the ghostwriter has completed writing all the sections, they will edit the text for grammar, accuracy and language consistency. The finalized draft will be then submitted to you for review and approval.

If something still remains or further improvements are required, the ghostwriter will put in extra time for final polishing. 

How long does it take for a ghostwriting project to be completed?

The time taken for completion varies from one project to another. The general timeline to write most non-fiction books is 4-6 months. If it is a fiction book, you should expect the ghostwriter to take 10-12 months to complete. Whitepapers containing 20-30 pages can take 20-80 hours of work.

For long-form blog posts, articles and e-books, most ghostwriters take anywhere from 3 to 4 hours per 1000 words.

Need a Ghotswriter for Your Writing Project?

Hiring ghostwriters could be a game-changer for business that plan to increase visibility and brand awareness and establish thought leadership in their industries. Whether you want to write a book or need content for your websites and blogs, ghostwriters can do it all while saving you valuable time. Ghostwriting will help you streamline your content creation process and ensure that your brand message is communicated to the target audience in an effective manner.

If have a question or want to hire a ghostwriter, feel free to reach out to me via a phone call, WhatsApp message or email.