How To Become A Ghostwriter: Courses, Finding Clients and Pay
When people ask me how to become a ghostwriter, they usually expect a straightforward answer. Get a qualification, apply for jobs, gain experience and work your way up. The reality is very different.
There is no single qualification or career path you need to follow to become a ghostwriter. In fact, many of the ghostwriters I know fell into the profession almost by accident. They were journalists, authors, copywriters, editors, actors or professionals with strong writing and communication skills before discovering ghostwriting.
I know that “there's no obvious answer” isn't particularly helpful if you're wondering how to become a ghostwriter, so here's what I do know – including the skills you need, whether you can become a ghostwriter with no experience, how to find your first clients, what ghostwriting actually involves and how much you can earn.
What does a ghostwriter do?
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who writes content on behalf of another person, who is usually credited as the author. Ghostwriters can work on books, memoirs, autobiographies, speeches, articles, blog posts and other forms of content.
In the book industry, they may work with celebrities, business leaders, entrepreneurs, experts or people with an extraordinary personal story to tell.
The job isn't simply about being a good writer. A successful ghostwriter needs to understand a client's story, personality, experiences and opinions and then turn them into compelling writing that sounds authentic to them. In other words, you are not trying to write in your own voice. You are trying to find someone else's.
Can I become a ghostwriter with no experience?
Yes, you can become a ghostwriter with no previous ghostwriting experience. However, that doesn't mean you can become a successful ghostwriter without any relevant skills.
The good news is that experience from other careers can transfer surprisingly well to ghostwriting. Journalists, for example, can make excellent ghostwriters because they are used to interviewing people, asking questions, researching subjects, finding the interesting angle in a story and turning conversations into compelling copy.
Copywriters, authors and editors may also have useful writing and editing skills. Even people coming from completely different careers may have valuable experience if they are good communicators and storytellers.
If you're starting from scratch, focus on developing the skills clients actually need rather than worrying about whether your CV contains the job title “ghostwriter”.
There is no single qualification or career path you need to follow to become a ghostwriter.
What skills do you need to become a ghostwriter?
Obviously, you need to be able to write well to become a ghostwriter. But great ghostwriting requires much more than strong prose:
Interviewing skills: One of the most important skills a ghostwriter can have is the ability to draw a story out of someone else. Clients don't always know which experiences will make a compelling story, and they may struggle to articulate memories or emotions on paper. You need to know how to ask the right questions, listen carefully and follow an interesting thread when it appears. This is one reason journalists can be particularly well suited to ghostwriting.
Empathy: Ghostwriters often work with people who are sharing deeply personal experiences. You may be writing about relationships, bereavement, illness, childhood experiences, trauma, career setbacks or other difficult periods in someone's life. That requires sensitivity and empathy. A ghostwriter is not a therapist, but you do need to create an environment in which a client feels comfortable talking openly about their experiences.
The ability to write in someone else's voice: This is one of the biggest differences between ghostwriting and writing under your own name. Your job isn't necessarily to make the writing sound like you. It needs to sound like your client. You have to understand how they speak, what they believe, how they describe experiences and why they reacted to events in particular ways. The process has sometimes been compared to being a literary method actor.
Storytelling: A client's life isn't automatically a good book simply because interesting things happened to them. Ghostwriters need to turn raw material into a story. That means understanding structure, pacing, character, conflict, tension and narrative. You need to know which details matter and how to keep a reader engaged.
Research skills: Ghostwriting can involve considerable research. Depending on the project, you may need to research people, places, historical events, businesses, industries or periods of history. You may also work with photographs, letters, diaries, documents, newspaper reports and other source material to help reconstruct someone's story accurately.
Patience and professionalism: Ghostwriting is a collaborative process. You may write something you think is brilliant only for your client to ask you to change it. You need to be comfortable receiving feedback, revising your work and putting the client's wishes ahead of your own literary preferences. Remember: it's their book, not yours.
When you become a ghostwriter, how do you find your first client?
This is one of the biggest challenges for aspiring ghostwriters. There are several routes you can explore:
Approach people directly: If you already know someone with an interesting story, you could offer to help them tell it. This could be a business owner, entrepreneur, expert or someone in your wider network who has an experience that could become a book. Established ghostwriters may also approach people they believe have a story worth telling. This approach can be harder if you're completely unknown, particularly when trying to reach a celebrity or high-profile individual who has agents and other gatekeepers.
Work with a ghostwriting agency or company: Another route is to work with a company that matches clients with professional writers like The Ghostwriters Agency. These companies can provide access to potential clients that would be difficult to find independently. However, they may take a percentage of the project fee, so make sure you understand how the arrangement works before accepting a project.
Make sure you have a website: It should show who you are, the books you’ve worked on and the genres you prefer. Testimonials from happy clients are really effective.
Create a contacts book: Keep in touch with authors you’ve already worked with. Around 25% of my contracts are repeat business.
Social media: Make sure you create a presence on social media and LinkedIn. Blog, comment on relevant posts and highlight stories you find interesting.
Build a writing portfolio: If you have no ghostwriting credits, your existing writing experience can help demonstrate what you can do. A portfolio could include journalism, articles, copywriting, published books or other examples of your work. You can also create relevant samples specifically to demonstrate your ability to write in different voices and tell compelling stories.
If I become a ghostwriter, can I join The Ghostwriters Agency?
The number one criterion to join us is to have collaborated on a book that has become a bestseller.
We’ve got more than 90 ghostwriters on our books, who between them have written around 200 bestsellers. We’re always keen to hear from other successful ghostwriters though. If this is you, please do contact us.
When you become a ghostwriter, getting the client is only the beginning
What does a ghostwriting project actually involve?
When you become a ghostwriter, getting the client is only the beginning. The exact process varies from project to project, but a book ghostwriting project might look something like this:
Establish what the client wants: Before you start writing, you need to understand why they want the book, who it is for and what they hope it will achieve.
Interview the client: You'll usually need to conduct detailed interviews to gather the material for the book. Don't simply ask what happened. Ask about what the person saw, heard, felt and thought. The details often make a story come alive.
Gather supporting material: Photographs, letters, diaries, emails, documents and other records can help you understand the story and provide useful detail. Researching the historical or cultural context can also help make a memoir more vivid and accurate.
Create the structure: Once you've gathered enough material, you'll need to work out how the story should be told. A life story doesn't necessarily need to begin with childhood and continue chronologically until the present day. Sometimes the strongest approach is to begin with an important or dramatic event and then use it as a way into the wider story.
Write a sample: It can be useful to agree on the voice, tone and structure before writing the entire manuscript. A sample chapter can give the client an opportunity to provide feedback early in the process.
Write and revise: The first draft is rarely the final draft. You'll work with the client to refine the manuscript, make changes and ensure that the finished book sounds like them.
How do I write in someone else’s voice?
This is one of the hardest parts of becoming a ghostwriter – and one of the skills that separates competent ghostwriters from great ones. Spend time listening to your client.
Pay attention to the words they use, how they tell stories, what they emphasise and how they describe people and events. Don't just record what happened. Try to understand how they experienced it.
The goal is for someone who knows the client to read the finished book and think: “That sounds exactly like them.”
Do ghostwriters have to write memoirs?
No – you don’t have to write memoirs if you become a ghostwriter. Although memoir and autobiography are strongly associated with ghostwriting, ghostwriters work across many different types of projects. You could potentially work on:
Memoirs and autobiographies
Celebrity books
Self-help books
Expert-led books
Thought-leadership content
Speeches Articles and opinion pieces
Blog content
Other books and long-form projects
Your background may influence the type of ghostwriting work you are best suited to. For example, a journalist with experience covering business may find opportunities writing business books, while someone with expertise in health, sport, finance or another specialist area may be able to use that knowledge to find clients in the same field.
Ghostwriting can be very profitable – some ghostwriters charge more than £100,000 per project
How much money do ghostwriters earn?
There isn't a single ghostwriting salary. What you earn can vary dramatically depending on your experience, the type of project, the client, the length of the work and whether you work independently or through an agency.
An established ghostwriter working on a commercially successful celebrity memoir can command a very substantial fee. At the other end of the market, newer ghostwriters may charge rates comparable with other freelance writers. It's also important to consider how long a project will take.
A book can involve months of interviews, research, writing, editing and revisions, so don't calculate your fee based purely on the number of words you will deliver. As you become more established, your reputation, portfolio and network can allow you to command higher fees.
How much do ghostwriters make in the beginning?
As you might imagine, inexperienced ghosts make a lot less money than those who have a few books published. Perhaps less than £10,000 per book and the first few books might even be for free.
If they are good though, the rates will raise quite rapidly and, don’t forget, if a ghost is disciplined, they will be able to write two or three books a year.
Is ghostwriting profitable?
If you become a ghostwriter and establish yourself in the industry, you may be able to charge upwards from £30,000 per collaboration.
Some ghostwriters charge more than £100,000.
The costs involved in ghostwriting are very low, just a laptop, a printer, an internet connection and lots of coffee, so it is possible to make a good living.
Training can help if you’re serious about becoming a ghostwriter
Is ghostwriting a good side hustle?
Yes and no. When starting out, this may be a viable way to get into the business, especially if a newbie has to do a couple of books for no payment. After that though, I would advise committing to the job full time. Thoughtful considered writing takes time and discipline. I am not sure it would fit in well around another job.
Do ghostwriters get royalties?
The question of whether a ghost gets royalties is very much a decision to be made between an author and their ghost. Most ghostwriters don’t push too hard for this, because royalties can be very low, to non-existent on all but the most successful books. They can also take a long time to come through.
It is for this same reason that I would advise any ghost to refuse any contract which offered payment through royalties alone.
What qualifications do you need to become a ghostwriter?
No specific degree or qualification is required to become a ghostwriter. There is no single recognised route into the profession. That said, training can help if you're serious about turning ghostwriting into a career, particularly if you have never worked on a ghostwritten book before.
The most useful training should teach you practical skills rather than simply explain what ghostwriting is. You need to understand how to find clients, conduct interviews, develop a book, write in someone else's voice, manage feedback and run the commercial side of your career.
Do you recommend any courses to become a ghostwriter?
Absolutely, if you're serious about becoming a ghostwriter, I'd recommend the Ghostwriting Masterclass – which I created alongside New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling ghostwriter Shannon Kyle. We designed the course to be the kind of training we wish we'd had when starting out: practical, honest and created by ghostwriters who are actively working in the industry today.
Split across ten in-depth modules, this course will teach you how to break into ghostwriting, find and retain clients, master the ghostwriting process and build a sustainable career. One of the biggest challenges aspiring ghostwriters face is knowing where to start. The Masterclass takes you behind the scenes of the profession, sharing the skills, strategies and industry insights that have helped us build successful careers writing bestselling books for clients.
At just £39, it offers exceptional value compared with many professional training courses, making it an accessible investment for anyone looking to turn their writing talent into a paid career. If you're ready to take the next step, there's no better way to learn than from experienced, bestselling ghostwriters who are working with clients right now.
Sign up to the Ghostwriting Masterclass today and start building the foundations of your ghostwriting career.
How hard it is to become a ghostwriter?
Often, like me, would-be ghosts just get lucky. Someone they know will know they have the relevant skills and ask them to write their book.
In my case, I was working as a business journalist on a national paper, and a contact I had always got on with well approached me. It was Allan Leighton, the then boss of Asda. He had been offered a contract by Penguin Random House to write a book about leadership and been advised to find a co-writer he felt comfortable with. I was very lucky that I was the person he asked. Thus, I became another in a long line of accidental ghosts. If would-be ghosts are not lucky enough to be asked, they will need to go out and do the asking.
Trawl local newspapers for interesting stories and, if you think it will make a great book, then get in touch with the people involved.
If your skills are more on the professional side, scroll through LinkedIn. There are often some really interesting personal stories there too.
Can anyone become a ghostwriter?
The skills we discussed earlier on how to become a ghostwriter are essential – but there are also some other must-have attributes. While making a living as a professional writer might conjure up visions of days spent in glorious solitude agonising over a paragraph, that’s a somewhat romantic vision.
A ghostwriter is paid to produce an author’s book. If it takes months, even years, that is not a very viable business model. While predominantly freelance, ghostwriters are essentially running a small business. They need to manage their time, their budgets and be professional at all times.
What is the hardest part about being a ghostwriter?
People will imagine the hardest part about being a ghostwriter is not getting any credit, or the name on the cover.
Most ghostwriters I know are not bothered by this at all. To me, the hardest part of being a ghostwriter is the same anxiety that plagues any freelancer. You are always wondering where the next job will come from.
Even as an established ghostwriter, with more than 80 books under my belt, I still get the odd moment where I wonder if I will ever work again.
Ghostwriting might start out as a side-hustle, but will transition into a full-time career
How to become a ghostwriter: your next steps
If you're serious about becoming a ghostwriter, don't wait until you feel completely ready. Start by assessing the skills you already have.
Can you write well?
Can you interview people?
Are you a good listener?
Can you tell a compelling story?
Can you put your own ego aside and write in somebody else's voice?
Then start building your experience to become a ghostwriter:
Read memoirs and biographies.
Practise interviewing people.
Study how successful books are structured.
Build a portfolio.
Network with potential clients and other writers.
Look for opportunities to work on smaller projects before taking on a full-length book.
Most importantly, remember that there isn't one correct way to become a ghostwriter. Many successful ghostwriters came into the profession from journalism, publishing, copywriting, acting and completely unrelated careers.
What matters is developing the skills, experience and relationships that allow you to turn someone else's story into something they are proud to put their name on.
If you're ready to take that next step, the Ghostwriting Masterclass can help you understand exactly what it takes to build a career as a professional ghostwriter.