When it comes to ghostwriters, there are a lot of misconceptions. It’s understandable: What even is a ghostwriter?
Quite simply, a ghostwriter is hired to author a book for which someone else will be credited. 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.
But finding the perfect ghostwriter for your book isn’t always easy. This is why we do the heavy lifting and hire only the best writers—and then make the perfect match with each project.
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about ghostwriters, from finding professional ghostwriters and uncovering matchmaking strategies to learning what makes Scribe’s ghostwriters unique.
Let’s get started.
Why Hire a Ghostwriter?
The benefits of working with a professional ghostwriter are plenty.
For starters, authors save time when they work with ghostwriters. Normally it takes authors one thousand to two thousand hours to write a nonfiction book by themselves. Ghostwriters can reduce this time commitment to tens of hours, or even less. Unless you have an abundance of free time, working with a ghostwriter makes the most sense.
One of the reasons it takes so long for authors to complete their book on their own is that writing a book is hard. Books have structures and sets of rules that vary greatly from almost any other type of writing or communication. You can learn as you go, but if you’ve ever known someone who has taken years to finish their book, they probably haven’t utilized a ghostwriter.
Another benefit of hiring a ghostwriter is their ability to fill in gaps of knowledge with research and personal insight. If you work with a ghostwriter, you don’t necessarily have to know everything about a topic to write a book about it.
This philosophy is especially helpful for authors who want to write a book for marketing or promotional reasons. Maybe you’re a CEO of a startup or an entrepreneur who knows how to run a business but doesn’t know everything about the products. Good ghostwriters know which information will support the premise of your book, and if they don’t know the facts themselves, they know how to find the facts.
What to Look for in a Ghostwriter
What else makes a writer a great ghostwriter?
- Communication: An important part of a ghostwriter’s role is the ability to ask the right questions. They need to be able to reach below the surface to find the best book an author has in them. From initial structuring to final revisions, ghostwriters must be so skilled in communication that they know what authors want, even when the authors don’t say it outright.
- Organization: Every part of the ghostwriting process must be well organized, and ghostwriters have to excel in all of it. They must know how to organize books, organize interviews, organize the time dedicated to each stage, and organize all thoughts and feedback.
- Writing/Capturing the Right Voice: Ghostwriters need to be impeccable writers. But equally as important is their ability to capture the author’s voice and maintain it throughout the book.
Now here comes the caveat. You may find a ghostwriter who excels in all these areas but still isn’t the right fit for you.
Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly who you’re looking for until you ask the right questions:
- What are some of the books you’ve worked on?
- How many years of experience do you have?
- What is your experience with my book’s subject?
- What are your favorite types of books to write?
- What is your schedule like? How often do you like to have calls, and what time of day works best for you?
These are just some of the questions that will point you toward the right ghostwriter for you and your book. Chances are, these questions will help you think of others based on your book and personal preferences.
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.
Now let’s go back to all those questions for your prospective ghostwriter. We ask the questions for you. 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.
Success Stories: Authors and Their Ghostwriters
We knew we crafted the right matchmaking formula when authors achieved their goals and shared their feedback with us.
Take Dr. Valerie Rein. Her book about intergenerational trauma exposes the concept and provides a healing path forward. Her business went from six to seven figures once the book was released, and, most important to Valerie, she met her goal of impacting women throughout the world.
But Valerie’s topic wasn’t an easy one. She relied on her Scribe team to keep the project moving and support her when she felt stuck. To Valerie, it felt like her team were collaborators. They listened to her fears, championed her, and helped her stay true to her voice while creating an accessible book for the women who need it.
“There were times when I didn’t trust myself, but I knew my team had complete trust in me and the project, and that kept me going.”
Ben Woodward also had specific goals for his book. His lifelong dream was to write a book, and when he learned to persevere through his own adversity, he wanted to help empower others to do the same. By writing his book, he hoped to boost his speaking career.
Working with his ghostwriter was one of the best parts of the process.
“She asked really great questions to help me pull out stories I hadn’t considered so we could get the message across better. Her questions and her love for the subject made a huge difference.”
With his ghostwriter’s help, Ben was able to find the direction and voice that he was lacking when he tried to write the book on his own. She became a true partner in the writing process and provided the confidence he needed to see his book through to publication.
Take a look at what some of our other authors have to say about letting us help them craft their book.
Our ghostwriters are the not-so-secret sauce in our Scribe recipe for success. Let us match you with an ideal writer, and watch your book—and the accomplishment of your goals—become a reality.
