Not everyone is a writer, and not everyone wants to be one. This can include subject matter experts who still have plenty to say. How do these people (business leaders, researchers, educators, and others with specialized expertise) reach people if writing isn’t their thing? They rely on ghostwriting.
Have you worked with these kinds of clients? Would you like to?
Before jumping into a freelance ghostwriting career, let’s take a closer look at what ghostwriting is, the types of work freelance ghostwriters do, how much you can earn, and how you can get started.
What is a Ghostwriter?
A ghostwriter (or ghost writer) is someone who writes for a client without receiving a byline or other credit as the author of the published work.
For example, a ghostwriter might write a book for a celebrity where that celebrity is credited as the author. But ghostwriters can also work on projects where no author is listed at all.
What Does a Ghostwriter Do?
Freelance ghostwriters go beyond writing books. A ghostwriter might take on any project that typically features a byline, where that byline is omitted or credited to a client. There are also project types that traditionally don’t include a byline at all. These are nearly always ghostwritten.
If you’re interested in being a freelance ghostwriter, here are some projects you might choose to take on:
- Books (fiction or nonfiction)
- Feature articles (ex. trade features written on behalf of a subject matter expert client)
- Blog posts
- Press releases
- White papers
- Case studies
- Website copy
- Brochures
- Sales pages
- Trend reports
- Annual reports
- Newsletter content
- Social media copy
Pretty much any freelance writing job you can take on with a byline, you can also take on as a ghostwriter.
How Much do Ghostwriters Make?
As with any other area in freelance writing, how much ghostwriters make depends on the individual project type and scope as well as the writer’s experience.
Ghostwriting Books
For example, according to the Editorial Freelancers Association, a freelance ghostwriter might charge $.20-.27 per word to ghostwrite a full-length nonfiction book. At a mid-level rate of $.24 per word, that would come to $24,000 per 100,000 words.
In a recent survey of professional ghostwriters from Gotham Ghostwriters and the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), 25% of those ghostwriting nonfiction books charged at least $100,000.
Ghostwritten Articles & Blog Posts
Ghostwritten articles and blog posts might be billed on a flat-fee basis or per-word. According to the EFA’s 2024 rate chart, they estimate $.20-.30 per word for blog posts, which comes to an average rate of $250 per 1000 words.
Understand these estimates don’t represent all markets.
For example, I’ve charged 2-5x those estimates for many years, and I currently charge $1.00+ per word for this kind of project. This is where the type of blog posts or articles you write matter.
Publication-style blogs often pay much less than business blogs.
I mostly write for business blogs as a ghostwriter for the owner or other high-level employees. For these freelance ghostwriting projects, you need a deep understanding of the business and the “voice” of the person you’re writing for.
Not all ghost blogging gigs of this type will pay that much, but it’s a realistic target as you gain experience with these client relationships. You might write thought leadership posts putting your client’s ideas into words. You might write news-oriented posts, internal posts for staff, marketing posts, and more.
Copywriting for Ghostwriters
Copywriting projects can be very different and are often billed on a project basis. These can include anything from writing press releases to writing sales copy.
Given that many copywriting projects don’t typically include bylines, much of this work falls under the ghostwriting umbrella. And freelance copywriting, ghostwritten or otherwise, can be lucrative.
How lucrative?
While I don’t suggest billing clients by the hour, it’s a good idea to have a target hourly rate you use when setting project fees. Freelance copywriting can easily pay $50 per hour. Many copywriters earn $100 per hour. And others earn far more than that.
Project examples might include press releases. You can find newer press release writers charging around $100 per project. More experienced pros can charge $500+ (even into four figures depending on the company, urgency, and experience level). Unless you also work as the client’s media contact, these should always be ghostwritten.
White papers and other reports sometimes give you a byline, but when they’re branded or meant to be released under a client’s name, they can be high-paying freelance ghostwriting projects.
“That White Paper Guy,” Gordon Graham, cites an average white paper fee of $4200 in an article for the American Writers & Artists Institute (AWAI), but notes his own fees run from $7500-10,000 per white paper, or around $1000 per page.
That’s roughly in line with my own rates for ghostwriting white papers, which start at $5000 (typically running 5-8 pages, but occasionally longer).
The big thing to keep in mind when it comes to ghostwritten copywriting (or other business writing) projects is you’ll find a wide range of rates. That means not every gig will be a good fit. But it also means there are plenty of entry-level gigs for new freelance ghostwriters, and there’s room to grow.
How to Become a Ghostwriter
If these freelance ghostwriting projects, and their relatively high fees, sound appealing, you might be wondering:
“How can I start ghostwriting?”
My suggestion: Start small.
For example, rather than jumping into a book ghostwriting project, you might ghostwrite some articles or blog posts first. Before ghostwriting longer business reports, you might start with shorter promotional pieces or blog posts summarizing previous reports.
Give yourself the opportunity to learn essential ghostwriter skills, which will also provide you with portfolio pieces (if your clients allow for that) to help you land higher-paying ghostwriting gigs faster.
How to Build a Ghostwriting Portfolio
One challenge to kicking off a freelance ghostwriting career is building a portfolio. This is because you won’t have bylines attached to your work which can make it tougher to demonstrate your skills to new clients.
How can you get around this and build a portfolio as a ghostwriter?
- Start by asking clients for permission to mention projects in a portfolio. This isn’t always possible. Sometimes you’ll work under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and sometimes the whole point of hiring a ghostwriter is for the company or a staff member to receive that credit. But it never hurts to ask.
- Take on more “shareable” ghostwriting projects early on. For example, while press releases don’t have bylines, clients generally won’t mind you sharing them in a portfolio. They exist to be shared. Asking is still a good idea, but start by choosing projects like these (and website copy, landing page copy, email marketing copy, etc.) where clients aren’t hiring you to write under their own names. Any project where a byline isn’t typically included is a good candidate for a ghostwriting portfolio piece.
- Seek alternatives to portfolio pieces. Showcasing your published work itself isn’t the only way to demonstrate your abilities to new ghostwriting prospects. For example, you can ask clients to write testimonials for your freelance writer website. Even better, if your ghostwritten work will have measurable results of some sort, ask early clients to be part of a case study you can publish on your site.
Ghostwriting Skills to Master
Whether you’re brand new to freelancing or you’re used to writing bylined pieces, there are some important skills you can focus on that will help you become a freelance ghostwriter.
For example, you’ll want to master the skill of learning a client’s “voice.” This can come with interviews, but also just from conversations and truly listening to what they say and how they communicate.
Improving your interview skills will also help you pull information from your clients, or their companies’ subject matter experts, so you can turn their knowledge into great copy, articles, or books.
You’ll also want to focus on project-specific skills. For example, if you want to be a ghostwriter for marketing copy, learn marketing fundamentals. If you want to write press releases, get a grasp on AP style guidelines (and how things like SEC rules affect news releases if you’re in the US). If you want to ghostwrite books, get familiar with the publishing process, timelines, and how to organize a lot of information for each project.
No matter what kind of freelance ghostwriter you want to be, there are skills you can build now to help you land those first few portfolio pieces. If you stick with it, it doesn’t have to be long before you’re averaging $100 per hour or more on future ghostwriting projects.
