What Does a Ghostwriter Do? A Guide for Ebook Authors

What is a ghostwriter?

A ghostwriter writes material that another person publishes as their own. The writer stays out of sight: the cover and the Amazon listing carry the author's name, and the writer is named only if the author chooses.

Ghostwriters also write speeches, articles and posts, but books are where the project runs longest and the agreement matters most. Typical book clients include:

• Coaches and consultants turning a method they teach into a book
• Founders and executives writing an authority book for their business (see how to hire a business book ghostwriter)
• People writing a memoir or a family history (see how memoir ghostwriting works)
• Experts in health, finance or law who can't spare the writing hours

What does a ghostwriter do on a book project?

On a typical nonfiction ebook, a ghostwriter will:

• Run a discovery call to pin down the reader, the promise of the book, the target length and the deadline
• Interview you, usually in recorded sessions, to collect your ideas, examples and the way you talk about them
• Review what you already have, such as slide decks, course notes, posts and voice memos, and research within the agreed brief
• Build a chapter outline for you to approve before the writing starts
• Write a sample chapter so you can judge the voice early
• Write the remaining chapters on a dated schedule and revise them from your feedback
• Flag claims that need your sign-off, such as numbers, names and anything about real people
• Pass the approved manuscript along for editing, cover design and formatting

The interviews and the outline carry most of the weight. A good ghostwriter keeps asking follow-up questions until your method makes sense to a newcomer, then arranges the chapters so each one builds on the last. If you've ever explained your work to a client and watched it click, that's the material a ghostwriter is listening for.

Voice matching runs through the whole project. A skilled ghostwriter studies your recordings and writing samples, picks up the phrases you use, and keeps your opinions intact, including the ones they might argue with.

What stays with you as the author?

Hiring a ghostwriter takes the blank page off your desk. The book still depends on you for:

• The expertise, stories and opinions in it
• Time for the discovery call, interviews and chapter reviews
• Approving the outline before the full manuscript is written
• Feedback on each chapter, sent on time so the schedule holds
• Final say on every fact, name and claim
• The publishing decisions, including where the book is sold and at what price

How much time this takes depends on the book. For a short or standard nonfiction ebook with us, it's often two to four hours of your time across discovery, interviews and chapter reviews. Memoirs and interview-heavy books need much more, and we name that load in the quote. Our guide on how to prepare for a ghostwriter discovery call covers what to bring to the first conversation.

How is a ghostwriter different from an editor, a book coach or an ebook writer?

These roles get mixed up, and hiring the wrong one can cost you months. To tell them apart, ask who writes the chapters:

• Ghostwriter: writes the manuscript from your material, and you approve it
• Book coach: helps you plan and stay on track while you write the chapters yourself
• Developmental editor: works on a manuscript that already exists, fixing structure and gaps
• Copyeditor: corrects grammar, consistency and style in a finished manuscript
• Ebook writer: a broad label for anyone who writes ebooks, either credited to themselves or ghostwritten for a client

If you already have a full rough manuscript, you probably need an editor. Our comparison of developmental editing vs copyediting explains which comes first. If you want to write it yourself with support, read book coach vs ghostwriter. And if you've decided to go it alone, start with our guide on how to write an ebook.

AI tools are a separate question. Our comparison of an AI ebook writer vs a human ghostwriter covers where each one fits.

Is using a ghostwriter legal, and who gets the credit?

Yes. Hiring a ghostwriter for your own book is legal in the US, and publishing the result under your name is standard practice for memoirs and business books. The exception is academic work, where handing in ghostwritten essays for a grade usually breaks a school's integrity policy.

Credit is a choice you make in the contract. The common options are:

• No credit, so only your name appears
• A thank-you in the acknowledgments
• A shared line on the cover, such as "with" or "as told to" the writer

Ownership works separately from credit. Under US copyright law, the person who writes the text usually holds the copyright until a signed agreement transfers it. That's why a professional ghostwriting contract includes a written rights assignment along with the NDA. Our guide to whether a ghostwriter owns your book explains the details, and the ghostwriter contract checklist lists the clauses to look for before you sign.

We work under NDA on every project. The NDA is signed before you share any source material, and the rights transfer is signed before writing begins. Your name goes on the cover, ours appears nowhere unless you ask, and you keep 100% of the rights and royalties. If you publish on Amazon, the book goes up under your own KDP account.

What should you prepare before you hire a ghostwriter?

You'll get a more accurate quote and a faster start if you can answer these first:

• Who is the reader, and what should they be able to do after reading?
• What job does the book need to do for you: sales, leads, speaking invitations or a story for your family?
• Roughly how long should it be, and when do you need it?
• Who approves the chapters, and how fast can they turn feedback around?
• Will you publish on Amazon KDP, sell through another store, or give the book away?

Rough guesses are fine. A ghostwriter will help you refine them at the outline stage.

How do you choose the right ghostwriter?

Look for someone who has written in your category, shows you an outline and a sample chapter first, and puts the schedule, revision rounds and rights in writing. Once the NDA is signed, you should know who is writing your book, by name. Our list of questions to ask a ghostwriter before hiring and the checklist in how to hire an ebook writer cover the rest. If you're deciding between a studio and an independent writer, compare a ghostwriting service vs hiring a freelancer.

If you're looking for an ebook writer in the USA, see how our ebook ghostwriting services work. You approve the chapter outline before the writing starts, and if the sample chapter misses your voice, we rewrite it at no cost.

FAQ

Do ghostwriters get credit for the book?

Only if you agree to it. Your name can appear alone, the writer can be thanked in the acknowledgments, or the cover can add a "with" credit. Settle it in the contract.

Is a ghost writer the same as a ghostwriter?

Yes. The two spellings name the same job. The Cambridge Dictionary lists the one-word form, and that's the spelling we use on this site.

How long does a ghostwriter take to write an ebook?

It depends on length, research and how quickly you return feedback. Our standard package timelines are typically about 3 weeks for about 15,000 words, about 5 weeks for 30,000, about 8 weeks for 50,000 and about 12 weeks for 100,000, with interview-heavy memoirs on a custom schedule. Our guide on how long it takes to ghostwrite a book breaks down where the time goes.

How much does a ghostwriter cost?

Rates vary by length, genre and experience. Our packages run from $699 for about 15,000 words to $3,999 for about 100,000 words, with editing, a cover and retailer-ready files included. For market rates beyond ours, see how much an ebook ghostwriter costs.

Ready to talk to a ghostwriter?

Send your topic, the reader you have in mind, a rough length and your deadline through our contact page. We'll reply within one working day with a yes, a no or a question, then a fixed quote if it's a fit.