How to Find a Ghostwriter for a Book (Who’s Worth the Price)

Here's a situation I often see: A successful businessperson wants to publish a book, but they don't have the time or desire to write it themselves, so they decide to research how to hire a ghostwriter.

Then, one of two things happens:

1. They can't find a good one, so they give up on the idea of writing a book.
2. They hire a bad one, spend a ton of money, and end up with a terrible book.

Why is this so common? Because when it's your first time hiring a ghostwriter, you have no idea where to look to find a good one (or how to tell if they're any good).

More importantly, you're likely to focus on the wrong things, such as:

• Price shopping (aka looking for the cheapest options).
• Whether or not you like them as a person.
• Whether or not they were recommended to you.

Good ghostwriters are expensive. If you price shop and hire a cheap one, you'll (usually) get a bad book. I've said this before, and I'll say it again:

The reputational damage from publishing a bad book is worse than not publishing a book at all.

And just because you like someone or a friend recommended them, doesn't make them a good fit for you.

Fit is what matters most when you hire a ghostwriter. You need someone who gets you—someone who can capture your voice and has a process that works for you.

If a perfectly good ghostwriter does amazing work for your friend but can't capture your unique voice, or their working style doesn't match your own, they'll be a terrible fit for you.

So how do you evaluate the skill and fit of a ghostwriter and get a book that's worth what you paid for it? That's what this post is all about.

What Is a Ghostwriter?

A ghostwriter is someone hired to author a book that someone else will be credited for. Quite simply, you're paying someone to write your book for you.

Here at Scribe Media, ghostwriters are so much more than behind-the-scenes writers. They're interviewers. They're consultants. Sometimes they're therapists.

Above all, the ghostwriters you'll find at Scribe are experts. They know how to find your story, pull it out, and craft it into a book you love.

Whether you're a CEO, an executive, a consultant, a business owner, a coach, or an entrepreneur, hiring a ghostwriter has been the solution people have turned to for centuries.

The Pros of Hiring a Ghostwriter

1. You Save Time

This is a clear benefit of ghostwriting, possibly the main benefit. If you can afford a ghostwriter, then it means that your time is very valuable. It takes a normal author 1,000-2,000 hours to write a nonfiction book by themselves. Ghostwriters can reduce that time as much as 100x, taking your time commitment down to the tens of hours (or even less in some cases).

2. You Don't Have to Learn How to Write a Book

One of the reasons it takes so long for people to write a book is that the process of writing itself is very complicated and difficult to learn. A book has a very different structure and set of rules from almost any other type of writing or communication, which makes writing a book harder than writing anything else.

Most people who write books learn these things as they go, which is why it can take years to write a book. Hiring a ghostwriter solves that problem.

3. Your Book Will Get Completed

This might seem obvious, but bears repeating: most people who start their books don't finish them. A ghostwriter, by writing the book for you, ensures that the manuscript does, in fact, get finished.

4. You Get to Author a Book on a Topic You're Not an Expert On

A good ghostwriter can rely heavily on the author's knowledge, but doesn't need to if the author doesn't know their subject very well. A good business ghostwriter can fill in the gaps and ensure that the author's knowledge deficits don't hurt the book.

The Cons of Hiring a Ghostwriter

1. Hiring a Ghostwriter Is Expensive

All of the positives above assume that you get at least a good ghostwriter (if not a great one).

Any ghostwriter is going to be expensive, and a good business ghostwriter is very expensive.

If you don't get a good one, then you will probably get a book that makes you look bad. In fact, this is a very important point: if you hire a cheap ghostwriter, you will almost certainly end up with a bad book.

2. Business Ghostwriters Are Hard to Find and Hire

There is no equivalent transparent, reliable marketplace for ghostwriters.

In order to find a ghostwriter, you will have to look in many, many different places, and each one will have different people listed at different prices.

Furthermore, unless you are skilled at hiring and testing writers, you will have problems evaluating them. The very nature of their profession, writing things for other people, means that they often don't get credit for their work, and cannot show it to you to prove their skill as a writer.

3. Business Ghostwriters Can Be Difficult to Manage

Finding and hiring the ghostwriter are just the first steps. Are you a good manager, especially of someone you don't know, working in a field you don't know well? Because that's going to be required if you hire a ghostwriter.

After you hire them the relationship changes. Their selfish goal is to get the work done as fast as possible and get you out the door, so they can sign their next client.

If you did a good job picking a ghostwriter, this won't be an issue. They'll do a good job, even if they do it quickly. By definition, a good ghostwriter wants to deliver good work.

But if you didn't pick the right ghostwriter, then you now have to worry about missed deadlines, payment issues, conflicts, poor work product, and any number of other issues that come from managing a freelance contractor who is looking for their next project.

4. There Are No Guarantees in Ghostwriting

The only thing you can be sure of in ghostwriting is that it is expensive. You cannot get guarantees of quality, or reliability, or get your money back.

Even if you spend a lot of money, you are doing it on the hope that it works, not on a guarantee that it'll work.

The reason you can't get a guarantee is because you are not paying for a manuscript. You are paying for the time of the ghostwriter.

5. There Is No Defined Process with Ghostwriting

This really gets at the heart of the issue. Ghostwriting has no defined PROCESS to it. Each ghostwriter has their own personal system, so you can't know at any given stage what is going on, how well it's going, etc. You are totally in the hands of the ghostwriter that you are working with.

These are all the ways ghostwriting can go wrong that can't really be guaranteed against:

• You're a bad match with your writer
• Your writer delivers a bad manuscript
• There's no defined process to rely on, so you can't really check the work of the ghostwriter ahead of time; you just have to hope they can get it done right
• There is no centralized authority to appeal to

This is a LOT of risk.

This is why the best ghostwriters are so expensive. The more money you spend, the more experience and reputation the ghostwriter has, the lower the risk.

6. You're Not the Author of Your Own Book

This is possibly the biggest negative, at least for most people.

It might seem shocking to an honest person, but many authors who use ghostwriters don't actually know much about the subject of their book. They have some ideas and some things they know, but they hired the ghostwriter so they do not have to do the hard work of coming up with the ideas, and the expression of those ideas.

This is especially important for business books. Part of the reason you are writing the book is because you are saying that the book contains your unique knowledge. If it does not in fact contain that, then there is a major trust issue.

How Much Does a Ghostwriter Cost?

Ghostwriters range vastly in price. For a 100-300 page nonfiction book, prices and quality break down like this:

• $1,000-$14,000: You should automatically rule out anyone charging less than $15k. This is the bottom of the barrel, and it will result in a bad book. If you can't afford more than $15k, I'd keep saving until you can (or question hiring a ghostwriter at all).
• $15,000-$75,000: This is the range where you begin to find great ghostwriters with credits and reputations. But there are substantial quality differences in this price range.
• $100,000-$250,000+: This is a much smaller pool of elite ghostwriters (many of whom have written bestsellers and published books under their own name). Quality in this price range is almost guaranteed to be high.

In general, a reliable ghostwriter with good references will charge at least $40k. You can use this as a rule of thumb for determining the quality of candidates.

For a detailed breakdown of ghostwriter costs, payment structures, indirect costs, and how to negotiate a contract, read our complete guide to ghostwriting costs.

Where to Find a Ghostwriter

If you want to find a ghostwriter, the first step is to understand where to search for candidates.

When I ask book agents the best place to find ghostwriters, they always confirm what I've found: there is no single place to find vetted, professional ghostwriters.

In our business ghostwriting guide, I compiled a comprehensive list of the many places to find them. As far as I can tell, it's the only list on the internet based on actual research with book agents and ghostwriters.

The list is split into 3 categories:

1. Individual Search

Searching through Google and LinkedIn is one option for compiling a list of ghostwriter candidates. Many of our Scribes say this is how people find them.

But both of these platforms have their drawbacks.

LinkedIn requires a lot of time and effort to sift through profiles. When you search "book ghostwriter," thousands of results appear. Searching through them one by one is a terribly inefficient process.

With Google, you also have to sift through a ton of search results. The first few pages are dominated by freelance marketplaces and ghostwriter agencies, so you have to dig deep to get to the websites of individual ghostwriters. And it's not easy to tell who is legitimate.

I'd be wary of this path because it can easily lead you down a rabbit hole that doesn't yield results. You're better off starting with other sources first.

2. Freelance Writer Marketplaces

Freelance writer marketplaces are one of the richer sources of ghostwriters for hire, although you'll still have to search through many different profiles to find good candidates.

Reedsy is the best platform I know of for hiring high-quality book ghostwriters. If I were looking for one, this is probably where I'd start.

The search filters are much more useful than LinkedIn. You can select book ghostwriting as a service. Then you can filter down to nonfiction and your preferred language and genre. If you want to write a business book, you can search for ghostwriters who specifically write in that genre.

From there, you can view profiles to assess freelancers by their portfolios and testimonials. Like Amazon and other marketplaces, reviews can help you see who is actually credible.

Mediabistro and American Association of Ghostwriters have also been recommended to me, but I haven't used them.

3. Ghostwriter Agencies

There are a LOT of ghostwriting agencies out there, but most are scammers.

The problem is that they only make money when they connect you with a writer. They aren't paid based on whether or not it's a successful pairing. So they're incentivized to create a connection as quickly as possible, regardless of how it works out.

Unlike Scribe's services, agencies' incentives aren't aligned with ghostwriters or Authors. With Scribe's model, we're incentivized to create the right connection from the start. If we don't, it costs us money. The amount you pay stays the same, while our costs increase to pay a second writer.

If you decide to hire a ghostwriter agency, choose the established ones that have a long track record of success. They're the ones who have proven they care about reputation and doing a good job.

How to Tell If a Ghostwriter Is Good

Regardless of the channel you use to search for ghostwriters, you need to separate the good ones from the pack. Whether or not a writer is a good fit for you won't matter if they aren't any good. So this is where you need to start.

Unlike nonfiction writing coaches, you don't need to work with a ghostwriter to know if they're good. You can tell by evaluating their:

1. Price
2. Reputation and Experience
3. Book Writing Ability

1. Price

In the same way you wouldn't put your life in the hands of a cheap doctor or lawyer, you shouldn't put your book (and reputation) in the hands of a cheap ghostwriter.

It's best to think about ghostwriters as high-end service providers.

If you are price shopping, you should NOT hire a ghostwriter. $15k is the bare minimum, and really you should be spending around $40k or more to be sure you're getting someone good.

I know it seems weird to price shop in reverse, to look for expensive rather than cheap, but I just cannot emphasize enough that quality ghostwriters do not work for cheap. They are highly talented and skilled artisans, and they command high dollar fees because they do good work. You get what you pay for.

2. Reputation and Experience

You can evaluate a ghostwriter's reputation and experience based on:

• How many books they've done.
• What level of book they have done (meaning the status, reputation and quality of the books they have done).
• What level of Author they've worked with.

For most ghostwriters, this information will be listed on their website and social media profiles.

Experienced and reliable ghostwriters will (usually) have written a minimum of 5 books.

They'll have worked with Authors who are significant in their industry or niche (subject matter experts, thought leaders, etc.). And books they've written will have strong reviews and generally be considered well written.

3. Book Writing Experience and Ability

The last way to tell if a ghostwriter is good is to read their work and evaluate their writing ability.

When you read a ghostwriter's work, the questions you should ask are:

How well do they capture the Author's voice?

The best ghostwriters know how to get the ideas and voice of the Author on the page with absolute fidelity. And the true test is whether or not the Author's voice remains consistent throughout the entire book.

For example, it's easy for ghostwriters to capture an Author's voice when writing a story the Author told them. But it's much more difficult to fill the gaps in between stories with that same voice.

If the voice feels authentic in some parts of the book and inauthentic in others, the writer didn't do their job. If it feels authentic throughout, that's a sign of an experienced ghostwriter.

Also, look at the stuff they've written under their own name. The best ghostwriters like writing and almost all of them are ghostwriting because it supports them to do their own writing. I would be very concerned if they haven't written anything under their own name; it tells me they're almost certainly a hack.

Take Tiffany Haddish's book The Last Black Unicorn. It was ghostwritten through Scribe, and it reads exactly like she wrote it. Not just the stories she told us, but the gaps in between too. She did not write a word of that, but every word feels like her.

How engaged are you when you read?

The tell-tale sign of good writing is: how engaged are you? How much do you want to keep reading?

Great storytelling makes a book engaging. If you're falling asleep while reading, the writer is probably a bad storyteller (and you shouldn't hire them to write your book).

If you have a hard time putting the book down and you're very engaged, the writer is probably a great storyteller. These are the ghostwriters you want.

Is it easy to follow along?

The best books make it easy for readers to follow the story. If you're reading a ghostwriter's work and you find yourself lost, it's a sign the writer failed to structure the story properly.

When a great structurist writes a book, you're never lost or confused about where you are in the story. This is not to be mistaken with being confused with the book's ideas.

How to Tell If a Ghostwriter Is a Good Fit for You

Once you've created a list of quality ghostwriters, you can begin the process of figuring out who is actually a good fit for you.

Remember: This is the most crucial step that people miss. But you can't skip this if you want your ghostwriting project to work out.

Many of the quality ghostwriters out there will be a bad fit for you. To see who could be a good fit, you should focus on 2 things:

1. Will their process and working style work for you?
2. Do you feel they truly get you and the message you want to deliver to your audience?

The only way to know this is to talk to them and their past clients.

Before Reaching Out to Ghostwriters and Their Past Clients

Before you reach out and talk to anyone, you need to begin with being upfront with yourself about what you need and want.

How do you want to work?

What time of day do you want to take calls?

Do you need to work with the ghostwriter in person, or are you okay working with them remotely?

You won't know if someone is a good fit if you haven't gotten clear on what you really want and need. Once you are, then you can interview ghostwriters and their past clients to learn if you're aligned with them.

Questions to Ask Their Past Clients

When you talk to ghostwriters, they're going to try to tell you what you want to hear. By talking to previous clients of a ghostwriter, you can get first-hand insight into what it's actually like to work with them.

To do this, start by getting a list of books they've ghostwritten. You can ask the ghostwriter for this, but I would try to get the list from their website or portfolio. Then, reach out directly to the Authors. This way, you can ensure the ghostwriter isn't sending you only to people who've had a great experience.

You can ask basic questions like:

• What were they like to work with?
• Did you enjoy the process?

But the best questions to aid your decision are:

• What was your favorite thing about working with them?
• What was your least favorite thing about working with them?
• If I work with them, what problems or issues should I look out for?

These questions will help to draw out more telling details from the references. For example, let's say you're talking to a reference who liked the ghostwriter. If you ask them what problems or issues you should watch out for, they might say:

"Well, she was kind of flaky on calls. She was always late. On the last zoom, she was 10 minutes late. It doesn't bother me because I'm often late too, but that's something you should watch out for."

Now you have valuable insight into the writer's working style. If you're someone who can't stand when people are late, you know this writer isn't a great fit for you (despite this otherwise rave review).

Note: You should also ask how much they charged. The same ghostwriter can charge $50k to one client and $30k to another for a similar project. So asking about what they charged can give you an accurate gauge of their pricing (and some leverage in negotiating price).

Questions to Ask Ghostwriters

Just like when you talk to their past clients, you should come prepared with specific questions that will help you see if they're a good fit.

Don't ask them leading questions about yourself. For example, don't say, "Hey, are you okay with early morning calls?". Remember, they want your business. They're going to say yes.

Instead, ask them, "What time of day do you like to take calls?". And let them tell you what their preferences are.

Questions that are important to ask are:

• What's your method of working with clients?
• What are your client pet peeves?
• What questions do you have for me?

The last question, "What questions do you have for me?", is essential. This is the question that will reveal if a writer gets you.

The more questions they have, the more engaged they are with you and the topic you want them to ghostwrite about, the more likely it is that they get you and the message you want to deliver through your book.

For many interviews, this will be the key question, the one where you see if the ghostwriter gets you, cares about you, and is going to be a fit.

How the Ghostwriting Process Works

If you're curious about what it looks like to work with a professional ghostwriting service, here's how the process works at Scribe:

Step 1: Publishing Manager Assignment

As soon as you come on board, you'll be paired with your Publishing Manager. They're your project lead from day one through your book launch.

Step 2: Scribe Pairing

We'll hand-select three scribes who have: 1) Expressed enthusiasm for your project, 2) Demonstrated past success with this kind of content, 3) A likely personality and working style match. You'll then interview all three and choose who you want to work with.

Step 3: Roadmapping & North Star

These sessions are dedicated to building your Book Roadmap and North Star, which clarify exactly: What your book is really about, Who it's for, What content to include vs. exclude, How to structure it, And what tone and style will feel the most "you."

Step 4: Interviews

10 sessions, 2 hours each. These are real-time conversations where your scribe pulls the book out of you, your stories, your frameworks, your perspective.

Step 5: Voice Checks

After your first few interviews, your scribe will deliver preview pages. This is our first voice check.

Step 6: Full Draft & Revisions

Once all interviews are complete, your scribe goes to work on your first full draft.

Scribe Media's Approach to Matching Authors with Ghostwriters

At Scribe, our goal is to find the best writer for you. This makes us, in large part, a matchmaking service. Fortunately, we've formed many happy partnerships.

We don't just hire good ghostwriters. We hire the best ghostwriters. Each has a minimum of ten years of writing experience and has published at least three nonfiction books of their own. We accept less than 1 percent of applicants (that's less than Harvard or Stanford). When you work with one of our ghostwriters, you know you're working with a professional at the top of their game.

We compile your profile and preferences and send this information to our team of ghostwriters. From the list of interested writers, we select the best possible candidates for the project based on our knowledge of the writer and their background. Authors are then invited to thirty-minute "matchmaking calls" with each potential ghostwriter. From there, authors select the ghostwriter they want for the job.

Bestselling Books Written with Ghostwriters

We've worked with over 1,600 published Authors. Almost all of them have become Amazon bestsellers. But over 20 of them have now hit one or more of the top bestseller lists.

Below is an overview of 5 books we've ghostwritten that have landed on lists of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or USA Today.

The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish

Tiffany Haddish is one of comedy's brightest stars. But before she achieved box office success and sold out clubs as a stand-up comic, Tiffany spent most of her life just trying to survive.

She grew up in poverty in South Central LA. She bounced around the foster care system as a teenager. By working with us, Tiffany found her voice and told her story of how she used comedy to overcome those hardships.

The Last Black Unicorn was well-received by critics for its heart, humor, and fearless honesty. It earned Tiffany a place as a New York Times best-selling Author and was also named one of Goodreads best books of 2018.

Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

Over 2.5 million copies sold. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller. Can't Hurt Me is one of the most influential books in recent memory about what's possible through self-discipline and hard work.

We helped David write this book that's part self-help guide and part memoir. In it, David shares how poverty and a childhood tainted by physical abuse didn't stop him from transforming into a decorated Armed Forces veteran and one of the world's top endurance athletes.

Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin P. Hardy

When we want to accomplish a goal, most of us wonder, "How can I do this?" But what we should ask instead is, "Who can do this for me?"

Since its publication in the fall of 2020, Who Not How has sold more than 100,000 copies. And due to its popularity, it earned the distinction of landing on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list.

Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman

When we face high-stakes situations, our unconscious mind takes over. Fear, anxiety, and doubt bring themselves to the forefront, making it difficult for us to rationalize our way out of our emotions.

According to Todd Herman, a performance coach with more than 20-plus years of experience working with top athletes and executives, there is a way out.

Todd explains his approach in The Alter Ego Effect, the book we helped him write, which became a Wall Street Journal bestseller. In it, Todd teaches readers how to craft and manage their inner hero to unlock capabilities they already have.

Never Lose A Customer Again by Joey Coleman

Most business advice centers around the importance of chasing new customers. But to grow a company, it's important to invest as much effort in satisfying the ones you already have.

That's the premise behind Never Lose A Customer Again, a bestselling book we helped business relationship coach Joey Coleman write and self-publish. Before producing this book, Joey spent most of his career consulting unhappy professionals who were sabotaging their own customer retention.

For years, Joey tried to write the book himself, but he failed because he was so overwhelmed by the process. But the agony he felt and the mistakes he made were just a precursor to the success his book generated, including becoming a Wall Street Journal bestseller in the week that it launched.

Business Authors Who've Seen Massive ROI

Michael Mogill's Book Brought Him Six-Figure Clients and $5 Million in New Business within Two Years

The Game Changing Attorney" width="700" height="406" />

Michael Mogill wanted to create a go-to marketing book to help small firms in the highly competitive legal industry. But he knew writing wasn't his top skill, and he didn't know how the publishing process worked.

Once he started working with Scribe, Michael's fear about whether he had enough to say quickly disappeared. It turned out he had enough content for three books. Our team of experts guided him through the process and produced a book in Michael's unique voice.

After publishing The Game Changing Attorney, impressive results came quickly. A phone call from an attorney resulted in a six-figure contract the next day. Michael now uses his book as his business card. He doesn't take on any clients who haven't read it. In the two years since the book was published, he estimates that he's earned over $5 million from his readers.

To read more about Michael's story click here.

How Melissa Gonzalez Used a Book to Raise Her Visibility, Create Authority, and Double Her Business

While Melissa Gonzalez was great at her job as an innovator in the pop-up retail space, she wasn't attracting enough new clients. People wanted her advice and asked her to write a book, but she didn't have the time or know how to write it.

The book has had a massive impact on Melissa's business. Incoming leads tripled in a year, and as she became an established authority, high-paying speaking requests came flooding in. She's also become the key spokesperson on pop-ups in the media and is a regular radio show contributor.

To read more about Melissa's story click here.

How Kirk Drake Used His Book to Help Reinvent the Credit Union Industry (and Create a Million Dollar Business in the Process)

Kirk Drake realized that the traditional credit union industry was very slow in keeping up with technology. He wanted to show these businesses what to do and how to do it (and he wanted to do it quickly). He decided that a book would be the best platform.

He came across Scribe at a conference and learned that his book could be published in less than a year. Working with Scribe also meant that he could spend 100 hours writing his book with our team rather than 1,000 hours if he did it on his own. The saving on his time alone was a no-brainer.

The book was published in time to help the credit union industry make important changes. Kirk has created a 1500-strong Facebook Group and an email list of 13,000 credit union executives who he mentors.

He's signed contracts for 15 keynotes where he sells hundreds of books. All this, plus consultancy fees, means that he now runs a $1 million per year business, all generated from his book.

To read more about Kirk's story click here.

Is a Ghostwriter Right for You?

Ask yourself:

1. Do you enjoy writing?
2. Do you have the time?

Yes/Yes → Guided Author. You write the book with coaching and support from Scribe.

No/No → Scribe Professional. We interview you and write the book in your voice.

Yes/No → Choose based on whether time or writing is more valuable to you.

We attract world-class ghostwriters. To write for us, you must have a decade of writing experience and have published a minimum of 3 nonfiction books. Our acceptance rate is less than 1% (that's lower than Harvard and Stanford).

Once we connect you with the right ghostwriter, we take you all the way through to self-publishing and marketing your own book.