Is Being a Book Ghostwriter Worth It?

One of the writing jobs available online is to be a ghostwriter of books. The ghostwriting job could be to write either a fiction or a non-fiction book. You could already be writing for a living, but is it worth ghostwriting books for someone else?

THE LOW PAY OF MANY GHOSTWRITERS

I make it a point to regularly monitor content mills and freelancing sites. The jobs I mostly monitor are writing jobs. One of the things I regularly monitor is the compensation rate being offered by job posters.

Based from what I monitor, the usual pay being offered to ghostwriters is approximately 0.02 cents per word or lower. Of course there would be exceptions. There are for example job posters who would offer 0.06 cents per word but they are rare.

Even 0.06 cents per word is very low for a person living in a developed country. Trawling however thru the comments section of many ghostwriting articles I found online I found an interesting conclusion: there are ghostwriters from developed countries who accept rates as low as 0.01 cents per word.

If you are lucky enough to write 500 words an hour, then 0.01 cents per word computes to an earning of only five dollars an hour. Assuming you are super fast and could generate 1,000 words an hour then you only make $10 an hour.

This is assuming you can generate ideas and type them so fast that you really accomplish 1,000 words per hour. In my experience, writing 500 words per hour is not possible especially since I am thinking of what to write as I write.

For a person living in a developing nation, five dollars per hour might seem enough. But for a person living in a developed nation this amount is very little, this does not even meet minimum wage rates.

This may be the reason why there are job posters who specifically ask ghostwriters in developing nations. To them, these ghostwriters from these developing countries would value their payment rates more and theoretically would perform a better job in ghostwriting.

REEDSY

I know of a freelancing site that pays higher rates to ghostwriters. It’s called Reedsy. Though I have not personally tried Reedsy either as a client or as ghostwriter, I have read many comments about it online.

There are many clients of Reedsy who complain about the authors in the website. They complain that for example some of the freelance book editors of Reedsy where unprofessional. They said that it was like they did not read the client’s manuscript at all.

There are also clients who compared the services of the author of Reedsy to the authors in other freelancing sites like Upwork. They say that some of the authors in Reedsy produced inferior work as against the much cheaper authors in other freelancing sites.

These are not my opinions but what I have seen posted online against Reedsy freelancers. So take note that although Reedsy may be a leg up than other freelancing sites, they also have negative comments associated with them.

So although you may be paid higher in Reedsy than other freelancing sites there is a greater expectation of you regarding the work you produce. Bear in mind that you could lose your reputation as a writer if ever the negative comments about you become widely known and accepted.

In the first place, before you are accepted in Reedsy you would need to prove that you are a high quality freelancer in the field of writing and book making. If you are accepted in Reedsy, you more or less already have something to say about yourself so don’t waste it.

A Real Author Experience With Reedsy:

There is an interesting story about Reedsy from writer Carol Tice. She has a good presence online and is a prolific commenter in many writing articles online. Take note that just like many writers online she also has a business teaching writing.

Anyhow, she has an article titled:

Book Ghostwriters: Here’s How I Get Clients on Reedsy

In this article she enumerates that the professional rates for ghostwriters is between $35,000 to $50,000. I must say that I have not seen these kinds of rates being offered to ghostwriters anywhere in the internet.

According to her most Reedsy ghostwriting jobs only pay between $5,000 to $10,000 which is a disappointment for her. I would like to comment to her that these rates of compensation for Reedsy is way, way above what is being offered in many freelancing sites I frequently monitor which are Upwork, Freelancer and Guru.

For a person living in a developing nation this would already be very good money but I must agree with Ms. Tice that these rates are still small considering that one would need to spend a considerable time ghostwriting quality books which may take several months for example.

Ultimately, Ms. Tice was able to get a ghostwriting job which paid her desired $35,000 compensation but it was only after 2.5 years of being present in the platform. So it is true that there are clients who pay very professional rates but they are in the minority only.

I highly recommend that you read her article as Reedsy has a reputation for being a better paying freelancing site as compared to the more popular ones like Upwork. One lesson that we could derive from her article is that there are many people who want to pay ghostwriters dirt cheap rates.

SHOULD YOU GIVE UP?

If you trawl to many articles online about earning an income thru ghostwriting, you would find instances where there would be commenters who would proclaim that they make full-time income being a ghostwriter.

I suggest you contact these people and ask if they might be kind enough to inform you how they were able to obtain a full-time income from ghostwriting. Just take note that there are many people out there who sell courses and books on how to earn an income from writing. I’m Just saying.

HOW ABOUT IF I WRITE MY OWN BOOK?

By now you must be saying: “I’m a good writer, why don’t I just write my own books and earn more!” This may have come to your head several times already as you are pondering to be a ghostwriter.

Maybe you are inspired by authors just like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling who suffered in obscurity and poverty while writing their books. It took them years to become and eventually they became famous and rich.

Sure you can do this, but the chances of becoming just like these successful writers is very remote. There are several million books already and there are millions of self proclaimed authors already. What do you think you chances are of becoming a successful one?

In the first instance, the reason why there is no shortage of supply of ghostwriters is that many of these ghostwriters have tried writing their own books and failed. Many of these ghostwriters are not making living income with their own books that they have to ghostwrite for a living as well.

My advice is if you have a job that pays you a full-time income, do not just abandon it in the hopes of being a successful author with you ghostwriting while you are still not a successful author.

As I have mentioned, ghostwriting pays extremely cheap especially for beginners and those who do not have a steady source of good paying customers. Do not sacrifice a steady job for a dream life which might turn into a nightmare once you get to actually live it.

THE INTOXICATING ALLURE OF BEING AN AUTHOR

Let us not make the mistake of saying that writing is not a very enjoyable job. Writing, just like all creative jobs is very intoxicating. Many people enjoy the freedom of expression creative jobs give them.

While satisfying, it could be a trap for many. Many creative jobs do not pay a lot of money. The reason? There are simply too many people who want to do this job and are willing to do it for a small amount of compensation.

This is the same thing with ghostwriting and many writing jobs. If you are not careful you may be trapped in a low paying job that hardly supports your daily expenses. As one authors correctly states it: “You are not the exception.”

The author is trying to state that many take on writing jobs such as ghostwriting in order to fulfill their dreams of becoming a successful author one day. Writers get so intoxicated with the writing process and the success of becoming a published author that they live impractical careers.

You may write other people’s book as a ghostwriter pouring your heart out creating its contents but in the end you may be lowly paid and all the credits from the book you poured your heart into just goes to another person. Don’t let this be you and treat ghostwriting as a business.

THE BOOK BUSINESS ACCORDING TO BUSINESSPEOPLE

The book business has changed a lot since the introduction of the e-book concept. It used to be that authors would write a book and then hope that some publishing company would publish it.

Then came e-books and self publishing. Suddenly, everyone can publish their own books electronically and have them available online. The biggest publishing companies are now catering to e-commerce giants who have turned into the biggest book distributors around.

So if there is already a glut of books before, now there is an avalanche of books. It’s getting harder and harder to be noticed with publishing only one book. So what do people who are interested in earning as compared to writing do?

They mass produce cheap short story books in the hopes that a few of them would generate them some money. This is not a secret strategy and this is being employed by many people in the self publishing business.

Does it work? Yes, it does. If you research self-publishing articles and videos online you would come across many people who self-publish books en masse and earn good money.

HERE IS WHERE YOU AS A GHOSTWRITER COMES ALONG

Could these businesspeople be so prolific enough that they are able to produce hundreds of short story books in a short matter of time only? Of course not. These people utilize ghostwriters to write their books for them.

Since these people treat self publishing as a business, they try to keep their costs down. The most labor intensive part of writing a book is in the writing of the book itself. This is the reason they pay ghostwriters as cheap as they can.

Apparently, with the success of these businesspeople it is evident that quality ghostwriters can be had cheaply. It might seem unfair for you as a ghostwriter but this is how some parts of the self publishing business works.

This is the reason why I suggest that if you are trapped in a low paying ghostwriting job, switch to another job that pays you better and write your own short stories when you have time. It might be along the lines of another writing job besides ghostwriting a book.

This strategy has the advantage of getting more money in your pockets while you are writing your own book. By writing your own book you ultimately control the financial success of it and you also get full credits for writing the book.

IS IT ETHICAL TO BE A BOOK GHOSTWRITER?

Let us assume that you do create a successful career as a ghostwriter. Would you enjoy it especially when people question its ethicality?

This question has existed ever since the concept of ghostwriting has been invented. Right out let me tell you that there are high profile individuals who have admitted that their books of which their name is written as the author has been written by someone else.

You could simply type the Google search keywords for example: “famous people who use ghostwriters” and you would be taken to articles and lists of famous people who have used ghostwriters.

I would leave you to your decision as to whether ghostwriting is ethical. But what is really wrong is when you lie and make up stories that are not true.

CREATING A BETTER BOOK

It takes a lot of effort and time to ghostwrite a book. When you finally finish ghostwriting a book you surely would know it front to back. It is easy to say that you already have in your mind new ideas on how to improve or change the book.

For example, if you were writing a fictional book you would already have thought of an alternative ending or additional and more interesting characters. You might have developed an entirely new story based on the book you have just ghostwritten.

This also applies to non-fiction. Let us say that you were writing a book about self improvement. By the time you have finished ghostwriting the book, you would have come into new information to add to the book.

Is it ethical to write your own book or to ghostwrite another book based on the books you have ghostwritten? There is nothing wrong with doing this as long as you do not repeat the book you have just ghostwritten.

This is one of the advantages of ghostwriting a book. Unlike other forms of writing, you get so immersed in what you are writing that the knowledge of what you have ghostwritten stays with you.

BOOK PROPOSAL

Take note that a book proposal can be a product in itself. There are many wannabe authors who do not have a clue how to write their books. They might have an idea of what they want to write but they don’t have an idea of how to go about it.

Before becoming a ghostwriter, try to make money writing book proposals first. Book proposals are just like the masterplan of the book themselves. They come complete with book introduction, chapter synopsis and more.

This is why book proposals are products that your clients must pay at the onset. Book proposals are like the architectural plans of building a house. You would not create architectural plans for free do you?

CONCLUSION

There is a reason why there are many ghostwriters available and even for a cheap price. It’s because many ghostwriters are book writers themselves or who want to write their own books. This is your competition.

You can still succeed as a ghostwriter but it is clear that becoming a high earning ghostwriter is very remote. It is advisable that whatever you do, concentrate on earning good money on any job you have and write your own book yourself where you can possibly earn more and get credit for your own book.

Writing for a Living.