Do you know ghost-writing is a well-paid job and you can earn a handsome amount working from home? Also, it saves you the time of promoting your work, and you can start a ghost-writing business. But do you have any idea who a ghost writer is? What a ghost writer does How much can a ghost earn? How to Become a Ghost writer and importantly, what skills are required for it? Well, you are in the right place. Let us quickly get into finding the answers.
Who is a ghost writer?
a writer who writes or composes a literary or artistic piece of work but does not get credit for that work. But he receives monetary remuneration in return. Ghost-writing includes writing a letter, email, personal statement, book, e-book, blog posts, website articles, or dissertations. Ghost-writing is also known as ghosting.
Is ghost-writing a contract?
When a person hires your services to ghost-write content, you are obliged to follow the terms and conditions of ghosting. And as a ghost, you cannot subsequently publish the work with your name. Indeed, there can be supplementary conditions for the contract. Just like other agreements, a ghosting contract has two parties. An “author” or a client who receives the services of a freelance writer and a “ghost writer” who delivers the services and takes consideration in addition to obtaining the monetary benefit, the freelance writer and the client can cut other deals with each other. such as.
- Gross payment according to the flat rate of the writer
- You are credited in the book as a co-author or editor.
- Half payment of the flat rate at the start and other at finishing the project
- Some payment at the start and a valuable percentage of profit earned from the book after publication
What A Ghost writer does do?
As a ghost writer, you do not necessarily write a new literary work. The author or client may hire you for re-writing, editing, proofreading, co-authoring, and composing an artistic creation. For instance, someone might offer you to write a fiction story for their website, and they would publish it with their name instead, and you would get paid for this job.
Ghosting is widespread practice with students these days, who hire the services of others to write their assignments, research papers, and dissertations. The ghost writer is primarily a freelance content writer or another student who needs to make money.
Not just students but also politicians, lawyers, businesspersons, influencers, bloggers, and writers need ghost writers. They write books, memoirs, legal documents, blog posts, and web articles for their products and merchandise, as well as official briefs and memorials. A ghost writer performs a multidimensional task according to the needs of the client.
A famous 2010 Hollywood movie, The Ghost Writer of Roman Polanski, can help you understand who is a ghost writer and what they must not do.
How Much Does a Ghost writer Earn?
The trickier and more frequently asked question is how much a ghost freelance writer earns. Well, it depends on the project's magnitude and your flat rate. Before that, it is pertinent to mention that if you are new to freelancing, you may be earning a basic salary. Gradually, if you put legit efforts into it, you can start your freelancing business later. But for that, you must read often and widely.
Like other professions, if you are an experienced freelance writer, you will charge more. And once you start getting contracts for ghost-written content, you can make $3,000 to $5,000 per month easily. For instance, Kelly James-Engler is running a successful ghost-writing business, and she revealed her average income from ghost-writing. It was;
- $20,000 for a 60,000-word health book
- $15,000 for a 40,000-word business book
- $12,000 for a 55,000-word memoir
- $25,000 for an 80,000-word nutrition book
Mind it, these are for book writing only. If you write blog posts, website articles, or emails, your average income will be less, comparatively, but still a handsome amount.
Now, let us get into the primary question below.
How to Become a Ghost writer
It is important to keep in mind that ghosting does not mean only writing books or memoirs of politicians. If you are writing for a website and not receiving credit, you are also a ghost writer. Here are some of the basic tips for becoming a ghost.
1. Start a freelancing job as a writer or editor.
We all have a friend who does freelancing or knows someone who is into freelancing. To start your ghost-writing business, you must know the drill of content writing and have prior experience. Contact your friends and ask them about freelance writing opportunities or find them on job boards like Contena and All Freelance Writing. If you have the potential for writing and want to write, you will get the opportunity. It is up to you to make it worthwhile.
On the contrary, you may get into literary editing work. It is another recognized field in freelancing. Remember, Hillary Clinton gave credit to her ghost editor in her book.
2. Build your clientele.
When you get into the market for freelance ghost-writing, your only recognition is your work. Once you write useful content for one person, they recommend you to their circle. and a chain starts building. You start getting contracts. It builds your clientele and profile. And for this,
- Listen to them actively,
- Help them to achieve their purpose of writing
- Follow the deadline.
- Stay cooperative
3. Stay in Touch with Your Clients
Making clients may be easy but maintaining them is a heroic task. Significantly, building and maintaining a healthy relationship with your client is important in the field. Because if you helped them with a good literary piece of work, they are likely to contact you again.
4. Start your business of writing
Once you have a good clientele, you can start your freelancing business.
5. Author your book!
This thing is going to give you an edge over the others. especially when the client or author needs to write a book. Politicians mostly require ghost writers to write their memoirs because they lack the time or are not good at such writing.
such as Donald Trump hiring Tony Schwartz to ghostwrite his book. And such people prefer renowned freelance ghost writers who are book authors too.
skills you need to be a ghost writer
Lastly, here are some of the skills you need to be a ghost writer.
- Ask your client’s requirements
- Know how to write for others.
- How to work in the limited time given
- have command of the language in which your client needs you to write
- Publicize your ghost-writing skills on social media.
The work of a ghostwriterGhostwriters are not only responsible for allowing celebrities to bring their so-called memoirs to the people.
Here they can prove their talent and help their clients achieve a better reputation.The wide field of speechesIn the Bundestag, in the state parliament and sometimes also in city parliaments, speeches are being held more and more frequently.
Ghostwriters are increasingly engaged in helping politicians gain better visibility.
Many well-known authors can be assisted in their work, so that they can pursue their manifold obligations.
So a ghostwriter can work within a year on the memoirs of a film star and also write guides for Feng Shui and contribute one or the other chapters to the bestseller of a well-known crime novelist.Boredom never comes up, and when an author has earned a good reputation, he can rarely complain about a lack of jobs.The scientific fields plowScientific ghostwriters usually have a higher qualification than their colleagues.
In order to be able to work professionally in these fields, a corresponding study must be completed, excellent knowledge and equally good final grades are a prerequisite.
