How to choose the right ghostwriter (without getting burned).

By- Michael McKown

Choosing the right ghostwriter is one of the most consequential decisions in the publishing process. In this article, I’ll address the risks, the common pitfalls, and the practical steps that protect both your investment and your reputation.

No doubt some sections will come to your attention that you’ve not considered previously. As of this writing, I’ve been in the ghostwriting business for 24 years. I’ll bring my perspective to bear, for better or worse. Let’s begin, shall we?

Why choosing the right ghostwriter matters

If you choose the wrong one, your book probably won’t survive agent screening. Quality writing matters. Structure matters. If you choose the wrong one, your finished work may not arrive by deadline, thus delaying publication. The wrong ghostwriter may “borrow” text from other authors, which can lead to a plagiarism lawsuit. And the wrong ghostwriter, with or without a contract, may just take your money and run.

My intent is not to frighten you, but to enlighten you. The scenarios I listed above are, unfortunately, not unheard of in this profession. I receive calls regularly from angry clients who mistake my company for the one to which they sent money. I do what I can to help them reach the right person or company.

Aside from the financial commitment you’ve made and don’t want to lose, you will have made a significant investment in time. If the finished manuscript is dispatched to the publisher without being edited and vetted by the client, there’s the chance of reputational damage. You should not risk having a book in print that inaccurately profiles you.

A poorly-written book is unlikely to survive a literary agent’s review. Literary agents are the publishing industry’s screening mechanism. If your manuscript isn’t professional, it won’t make it past their desk, let alone to a publisher.

Red flags to watch for

Take these things to heart. Bear them in mind when talking with prospective ghostwriters.

Contracts

Do you need a contract for any project, large or small? The answer to that is a definite “maybe.” It depends on the writer and the client. My company prefers to go without contracts for very small, prepaid projects. We don’t see any need to create complications for small projects. Contracts typically call for phased payments. If a prospective ghostwriter says no contract is necessary for substantial projects, certainly anything in the thousands, find out why. If the explanation isn’t satisfactory, walk away.

Unrealistic timelines

Over the course of decades of providing professional ghostwriting services, I can state clearly and factually that the writers I have under contract have hit some insane deadlines. We do accommodate tight timelines if we possibly can. But if it’s just not possible, we don’t. At my company, we want to give the client the maximum amount of time to find someone else if we can’t help them.

The biggest problem with insane deadlines is writer availability. The longer you wait to find a writer, the harder it will be.

If your prospective ghostwriter flippantly says they can knock out your big project quickly, that’s when you ask for references or other credible evidence that there is reason to believe that claim.

Suspiciously low pricing

Deep discount writers should incur your skepticism. Even if such a writer actually completes the work, you can expect delays. For example, if that writer can make more money on someone else’s project, they’ll probably shelve yours until the more profitable one is completed. Expect to be presented with excuses for the delay. Also expect to be presented with additional fees. You’re better off to expect performance from a writer who charges a fair price.

Refusal to provide samples

Non-disclosure agreements legally forbid ghostwriters from discussing clients or their projects. However, any writer has articles, books, screenplays or speeches they’ve written that are not covered by an NDA, and they should be willing to send them as examples of what they can do.

Bear in mind that the samples are likely to not be in your preferred style or voice. A skilled ghostwriter should be able to create any “voice,” including yours, if you give them an opportunity. Do not think that an article not in your voice means the writer cannot adapt to your voice.

Try asking the writer to write a few paragraphs, for free or a token fee, based on a scene you envision for your book. If they refuse to provide samples or to create a custom sample, I recommend you move on. That’s a silly mistake.

No interview process

Interviews are mandatory if you expect the finished manuscript to be written in your “voice.” Your voice means the unique, authentic blend of your personality, tone, cadence, use of idioms, and vocabulary. The ghostwriter not only uses interviews to flesh out the story, but also to learn your manner of communication. This is the process by which that writer emulates you. The goal, of course, is to write your project so that it reads, or sounds, like…you.

If that’s important to you, then expect to book hours of interview time. If your prospective ghostwriter says no extensive (or no) interview time is necessary, then don’t expect readers to believe that you wrote it.

Agency vs. company vs. freelance ghostwriter

Depth of bench

A ghostwriting agency or company will usually have a roster of writers available. A ghostwriting agency may present a list of writers they believe would be suitable for your project but otherwise don’t manage the writers or projects. Contracts and payments are normally between the client and writer, not the agency.

A ghostwriting company is proactive. The company representative will discuss your project and recommend a qualified writer. Then you and the writer make contact, discuss the work, pricing, payment terms, ownership and delivery dates. The company prepares an NDA if required, prepares the contract, handles billing, collections and funds distribution. The company assures that your project is completed, and resolves any problems, which could include substituting writers.

There is no depth of bench with an individual ghostwriter. There is no one with the authority to change writers. There is no supervision. There is no appeal if matters unravel. There is no one to assure the contract terms are fulfilled, aside from the courts. Many clients prefer having someone in overall command who is not the writer.

Skills matching

The writer you select must be able to competently write your project. A person who writes technical and user manuals for a living may very well not be the one to write a steamy romance novel. That’s equally valid the other way around. You wouldn’t expect someone to write a screenplay for a hit mafia movie, unless his name was Mario Puzo, the guy who wrote the novel. But sometimes you get lucky. It’s important to ensure your prospective writer has the experience to handle the genre of your story.

Project continuity

Books and screenplays take time to write well. The time frame can run from a few months to well over a year. The writer needs to be available throughout the process, otherwise continuity is at risk. That writer needs the stamina for long-form projects. If this will be that writer’s first long-form writing project, be sure the contract states he or she will stay with it to the end. Continuity can also mean writer replacement. Occasionally, life gets in the way and the client will need to find someone else. That becomes an issue with a solitary writer, but an agency or ghostwriting company should be able to help with the transition.

Risk distribution

When you hire a solo freelance ghostwriter, the project’s success depends entirely on that individual’s availability, performance, and stability. A ghostwriting company distributes operational risk across an editorial team, processes, and oversight. That doesn’t mean one model is inherently superior, but it does mean the level of client protection differs.

A ghostwriting company has a reputation to protect, so they won’t hang you out to dry, unless they’re scammers. We’ll discuss that later. A company holds its writers accountable, and accountability ultimately rests with the company. If the project is interrupted for any reason, the company can assign a new writer.

Freelancer: You and one writer. That’s the entire structure. Company: You and a managed system.

Questions you should ask before hiring

How do you capture voice?

Simple. By talking. Via phone, Zoom, FaceTime. Or in person, if that’s convenient. That writer needs to learn how you perceive the world and how you communicate. The writer is much like an actor in this one respect; they need to see the world as you do in order to write as you would.

How many interview hours?

That will depend on how much time the writer will require to obtain the information they need, as well as complete the voice-capture process. For a book or a screenplay, expect to put in a lot of hours speaking with your writer.

Who owns the copyright?

Under U.S. copyright law, a “work for hire,” which covers practically all ghostwriting endeavors, the commissioning party (the client) is considered the author and initial copyright owner. Do bear one detail in mind: An idea cannot be copyrighted, only the “expression” of that idea, such as a book or screenplay.

Revision limits?

That’s to be negotiated with the freelancer, agency or ghostwriting company. Companies have system-wide policies in place to ensure that the client receives the proper services while also ensuring that the writer is not abused by the client. At my company, books and screenplays are created with staged approval to remove need for rewrites. The client and writer collaborate on each stage. Revisions are smaller in scope; my company offers two revisions, and specifies fees for work outside those limits.

Kill fee terms?

The writer deep into a client project has invested a lot of time and effort to develop it, but on occasion, the client needs to cancel a project. When that happens, the writer still must be paid for work performed. A kill fee is a contractual, pre-arranged amount, typically 25% to 50% of the total project cost. The writer-client contract should include kill fee terms, and indicate who has ownership of the work so far completed.

The importance of process

Outlining

Outlines are structure. They’re blueprints for a literary construction. Occasionally, a client provides the outline to the writer, but more often the writer develops the outline after interviews with the client. An outline shows how a book or screenplay is to be built. Which elements go where in the story arc.

My company regularly gets calls from those who can’t afford a ghostwriter. Our advice is to write an outline. If they don’t know how, I tell them to Google it; they’ll find endless examples. Once the outline is completed, the person should take it everywhere. When stuck in traffic, or waiting for an appointment – odds and ends of time – find something on the outline to talk about. As an example, item 7b is an adventure with Rhett Gable in 1991. Turn on your digital voice recorder or dictate to your phone the following: “This is item 7b on the outline, me and Rhett Gable in 1991.” Then just tell the story.

Yes, Gone With the Wind was playing on TCM when I wrote that.

If you later realize you need to add to that section, just say: “This is an addendum to item 7b.” Then add the new remarks. Just speak conversationally. When all the items are checked off, all that’s left to do is get it organized and written. The process goes remarkably quickly. Then hire a transcriptionist to keyboard it verbatim and an editor to put it into publishable shape.

Bottom line: you’ve reduced costs and completed the work.

Interview phases

The process may vary from writer to writer, but generally interviews are necessary to extract information, establish tone and build a narrative arc. The initial consultation moves to in-depth, topic-specific interviews, followed by supplementary sessions. Ultimately, the raw, recorded conversations are transformed into a well-structured and polished manuscript.

Draft sequencing

Draft development typically takes two to six months. The purpose is to ensure the client’s voice is captured and the story is accurately told. Drafts are later resolved into cohesive chapters.

Revision workflow

A revision workflow is a structured, collaborative process where the writer refines a draft based on client feedback. Revisions, in most cases, consist of a few rounds, as specified in the contract, to enhance accuracy, structure, and voice. Revisions typically begin with big-picture structural changes before moving to line-level polishing.

Why chemistry matters

Trust

It matters more than most clients expect. Particularly with autobiographies and memoirs, you will be telling a personal story, including stumbles, gaffes, mistakes, screw-ups and embarrassing moments.

Disclosure comfort and emotional safety

No client will feel comfortable making intimate confessions to someone they don’t feel safe and comfortable with. The client needs to believe the writer will keep his or her mouth shut and not be judgmental. Think of a psychiatric or therapeutic session. The identical forces are at work.

Collaboration rhythm

Once trust has been established and a comfort level achieved, then a rhythm of discussion will ensue. The collaboration should never feel cold and clinical. For this process to work, the relationship between writer and client must be warm, accepting and friendly. From that point on, story development accelerates with no concerns that result in hesitation and delay.

Avoiding ghostwriting scams

Offshore mills

There are several risks involved with offshore ghostwriting mills.

First, there is about zero accountability. If you’re unhappy with the work and want your money back, you may well need to sue in whatever country the writer is located.

Second, you risk receiving poor quality work. Those for whom American English is a second language frequently don’t have a firm grasp of common expressions, use of idioms, and proper sentence structure.

Third, access. If your writer is on the opposite side of the planet, just calling to discuss your project can be awkward or difficult.

AI pass-through writing

The advent of widespread artificial intelligence enables one to use it to deliver written work created through the use of prompts to an AI chatbot. It’s a detectable literary shortcut, and if you expected human writing, then it’s a scam. There are online tools available to detect AI writing. Search engines are increasingly capable of identifying low-quality AI-generated content. And that risks the online visibility of your work.

Furthermore, publishers have reportedly had to increase screening efforts due to the surge of AI-generated manuscripts, most of which will never land on an editor’s desk.

Resold manuscripts

Deep discount ghostwriting services are known for questionable business ethics. Among them are selling or reselling finished or half-finished manuscripts. They may have been written for another client or speculatively, then repackaged, lightly edited, then sold to a new client as original.

Some abandoned projects get resold and may be sold again to a different client. Who owns the rights? Some bargain basement ghostwriting mills “write” using a template, repeatedly employ a structure, use the same research base, swap out characters, while using a generic voice.

When a client needs a professional writer, this is where not to shop.

Payment traps

This scam goes beyond the hidden fees problem. The most common trap is front-loaded payments, along with unclear intermediate payment points. With a 50% down payment and a 25% intermediate payment due when the outline is completed, 75% has been paid without any substantial writing yet delivered.

Another common issue is a term like this: “Second payment due at drafting phase.” That is unclear. Does that mean after three chapters? Six? Nine? Or merely after expanding an outline?

Specific milestones should be defined in the contract, such as: An approved outline, or X number of chapters, or the completion of the full first draft.

Final checklist before signing

Contract

Negotiate with the writer, agency or ghostwriting company to generate an acceptable and fair contract. It wouldn’t hurt to run the draft contract by a lawyer.

NDA

Most ghostwriting clients want to keep the involvement of a pro writer secret. If that’s the case with you, a non-disclosure agreement is mandatory. Most professional writers can provide one, and so can agencies and ghostwriting companies. You can also find sample NDAs online.

Payment structure

Make sure payment points and amounts are clearly spelled out. Avoid vague language. I’m one of those people who makes sure the terms and conditions are crystal clear. Why? To avoid disputes.

Timeline

You can believe every client wants to know when the work will be delivered. Make sure that’s specified in the contract. If something happens and the work is interrupted, a ghostwriting company must be able to reassign the work so it’s completed by deadline. If you’ve hired a freelance ghostwriter and the work is interrupted for any reason, well, good luck!        

Deliverables

The contract must specify precisely what is to be delivered and when. Avoid vague language or you leave yourself vulnerable to excuses, for which you can do little or nothing about in court.

Exit clauses

Bad stuff happens on occasion. Clients suddenly find themselves in financial distress. Maybe the subject of the book has threatened legal action if it’s published. Perhaps the client, for whatever reason, has become unavailable. The contract must specify how the client can terminate the contract and the terms related thereto.

And in summary….

A well-run freelance relationship can succeed. So can an agency. And of course, a ghostwriting company can succeed as well as provide fail-safe options and management. What fails projects is not the model. Failure occurs due to unclear expectations, vague contracts, and underestimating the complexity of turning lived experience into a coherent manuscript. Choose the structure that aligns with your project’s demands, not the one that merely sounds simpler or cheaper.

After two-plus decades in this business, I’ve seen projects succeed brilliantly and others collapse for preventable reasons. In nearly every case, the outcome traced back to writer selection, contract clarity, and process discipline. Choose carefully at the beginning, and the entire journey becomes smoother. And less stressful.

Frequently asked questions about hiring a ghostwriter

Can a ghostwriter guarantee publication?

No, unless they’re also in the publishing business.

How long does ghostwriting take?

That depends on the size or complexity of the project. A wedding speech of three minutes proceeds quickly. A 350-page manuscript is likely to take several months. In some cases, where research is involved, possibly over a year.

Do ghostwriters receive royalties?

“Ghostwriter” means they work anonymously on your behalf. If they do receive royalties, then that will be specified in the contract. At my company they do not. If the writer’s name is on the work, then it’s possible they will share in the royalties, but in that case, the writer is a co-author, not a ghostwriter.

Should I pay a ghostwriter upfront?

For a substantial project, such as a book or screenplay, no. Doing so exposes you to unnecessary risk.

A legitimate ghostwriter is a professional. He or she is not only a skilled writer, but also curious, imaginative, sympathetic, disciplined, accountable, and takes your words to heart. That writer can take your ideas or life story and transform your words into a literary work of art that will make you proud.

To get your project written well and delivered on time, that is what you will need.