If you have a story in your heart or head that’s aching to get out but you aren’t sure how to get it on the page, you may benefit from a ghostwriter. But you jump into a contract with a ghostwriter, you may wonder how ghostwriting works.
Sound like you? If so, look below for a quick primer on what to expect from a ghostwriter.
The Basics of How Ghostwriting Works
When you hire a ghostwriter, you get a professional writer on your payroll. Basically, this is how the ghostwriting process works.
- You contact a potential ghostwriter. (Example: Daniel K. Brantley, The Southern Ghostwriter)
- Your ghostwriter candidate spends some time getting to know you and your story.
- If you and the ghostwriter are a good match, you enter into an agreement.
- The ghostwriter writes your story and goes back and forth with you to ensure it hits the mark.
- You share your story with friends and family or work with a publishing company (such as Argyle Fox Publishing) to make your book available for purchase.
- Once your story is written and in readers’ hands, you do a little dance.
But Who Gets Credit?
When your story is completed, you may have a final question about how ghostwriting works. Who gets credit? After all, you didn’t write the story, so is it really yours?
Yes, it’s 100% yours.
Because without you, there would be no story, no manuscript to submit to publishers. It doesn’t matter who puts the words on the page. It’s all yours, and you own the copyright to it. Unless the agreement with your ghostwriter says otherwise, you also get all profits from sales of your book.
This may leave you wondering how you should credit your ghostwriter. There are plenty of ways to give credit where it’s due, but for now, rest assured that you deserve and receive the bulk of the credit. If you work with a great ghostwriter, your manuscript is yours—your story, your voice, your purpose—and the world will know it.
Ready to find out how ghostwriting works firsthand? Contact me, The Southern Ghostwriter, to schedule a no-obligation consultation.