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A ghostwriter for hire is a writer you hire to author content for you while letting you take credit as the named author. Ghostwriters can help entrepreneurs, executives, and thought leaders create books, articles, website content, social media posts, and more that capture their voice and establish their personal brand. It’s a proven strategy to help grow businesses so let’s discuss how to hire a ghostwriter – the right one for you!
Here is an overview of what a ghostwriter is, why you might want to hire one, how to select the right ghostwriter for your needs, and what to expect when working with a ghostwriter.
What Is A Ghostwriter?
A ghostwriter is a writer who authors books, articles, blog posts, speeches, website content, social media posts, and other written material for their clients. However, ghostwriters allow their client to be named as the official author instead of taking credit as the writer.
Ghostwriters are skilled at learning about the client they are writing for and capturing that person’s voice, perspective, ideas, stories, and more in written form.
While the client provides overall direction on the content they want created, the ghostwriter handles the research, writing, and editing. This allows entrepreneurs, executives, consultants, speakers, and other busy professionals to get high-quality written materials produced without having to carve out the time themselves.
Ghostwriters have written best-selling books for celebrities. But you don’t have to be famous to benefit from a ghostwriter. They routinely help consultants establish thought leadership and personal brands through books, articles, websites, and more. Essentially, they create content that positions their clients as experts.
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Why Might You Need A Ghostwriter?
There are many great reasons to hire a ghostwriter if you are looking to increase your visibility and establish expertise around a particular topic. Common reasons to use a ghostwriter include:
- You lack the time. Being an in-demand consultant or running a growing company leaves little time for writing books or blog posts. Ghostwriters handle the heavy lift while you provide direction.
- You lack writing skills. Even skilled public speakers and verbal communicators can find writing for the web difficult. Ghostwriters have the organizational skills and writing expertise to turn your ideas into polished prose.
- You want an objective outsider perspective. Being “too close” to your business and ideas can make objectively writing about them challenging. An experienced ghostwriter provides an impartial perspective.
- You want to establish thought leadership quickly. Publishing ongoing thought leadership content on your website and other websites and publications can achieve that. Partnering with a ghostwriter helps make that happen.
In essence, ghostwriters create the written materials entrepreneurs, consultants, executives, and other professionals need to enhance visibility and cement expert status – without having to carve out the substantial time required to produce a book, blog, or other written materials at a high level.
How To Choose The Right Ghostwriter
Not all ghostwriters are equal in skills and experience. Like any professional service, take the time to research and vet potential candidates. Here are ten tips on choosing a ghostwriter who best fits your needs:
- Clarify what services you need – Writing an entire book manuscript? Regular blog posts? Website copy? Defining project scope upfront ensures you hire someone suited for the job.
- Research their industry experience – Have they written extensively for your profession or an adjacent field? Subject matter expertise is key. Or do they have journalist training and can work themselves into your specific topic quickly?
- Verify past clients and samples – Any ghostwriter you consider should provide client references and writing samples. Do their samples resonate with your target readership?
- Assess communication skills – Can they capture your voice based on a virtual interview? Strong verbal skills indicate ability to interview a client and translate ideas into prose.
- Evaluate interview approach – A great ghostwriter will have a defined process for learning about you and your ideas before writing begins.
- Confirm ability to outline – Before writing, a ghostwriter should produce a content outline with questions to be answered for your approval. This roadmap ensures alignment.
- Check for transparency – They should explain exactly what their processes for writing, editing and revising will be. No surprises.
- Define your level of involvement – Clarify upfront what your participation will be and how approvals, revisions, etc will be handled.
- Review policy for copyright – Ghostwriting agreement should provide clear rights to content for authors. Understand terms before signing.
- Compare overall value – Price, expertise, experience, process and other factors should align with value expected.
What To Expect When Working With A Ghostwriter
Partnering with the right ghostwriter can ease the writing process while still resulting in works that expertly capture your voice and that drive results. Here is an overview of what to expect:
- Initial interviews to learn about your background, ideas, speaking style, areas of expertise and more.
- An outline or early draft provided for your feedback.
- Rewrites and revisions throughout the process based on your feedback and suggestions.
- Writing support such as research and interviewing additional sources as required by the project.
- Editing and proofreading services to polish drafts into professional quality final versions.
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Conclusion
As an entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, or other busy professional, finding time to produce the books, articles, websites, and other content needed to display your expertise takes a lot of work. Hiring a talented ghostwriter eases this burden while still resulting in works that expertly reflect your ideas and thought leadership.
However, ghostwriters vary widely in skills and experience. Taking time to carefully assess candidates based on industry expertise, past clients, work samples, communication abilities and more is key to finding the best fit.
With the right ghostwriting partner in place, establishing a visible personal brand and cementing your reputation as a thought leader becomes much more achievable – even with an overflowing calendar! The written word remains powerful for influence and credibility.