It’s a good time to be a ghost(writer)

While it's harder than ever to land a publishing deal and the whole industry teeters on the brink, it might be a good time to consider becoming a ghostwriter.

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Sep 11, 2024

Hi friends,

This week I have an article by Dan Gerstein from Gotham Ghostwriters. Dan reached out to me about his upcoming Gotham Ghostmasters course, and asked if there was any way we could work together.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t given ghostwriting much thought until this year, but it is a great way for writers to make a living in the publishing industry. I feel like it’s a natural fit for Deserts, who can easily disappear into their work without taking credit for it at all. This isn’t natural for me, but since I’ve been embracing my inner Desert this year, it’s something I’ve thought about more and more in the last few months.

I’ve been trying to appreciate the process of writing and finding joy in everything I write instead of just writing what brings me joy, which I think is a cornerstone skill of ghostwriters and Deserts alike.

Some of the greatest authors of all time made their living as a ghostwriter between their own books, and the opportunity grows more and more interesting every day, as more people want to write a book to become thought leaders in their industry.

So, I asked Dan to write an article for us about ghostwriting, the opportunity available for writers in ghostwriting, and how writing can get involved in adding this potential lucrative income stream into their business. I think it’s a really great opportunity for the right kind of writer, and I hope you’ll keep your mind open reading this one.

Dan Gerstein is the CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters. A nationally recognized political writer, communications strategist, and idea man, Dan has been writing professionally for himself and others for more than 30 years.

A graduate of Harvard College, Dan got his start in collaborative writing and thought leadership development as a speechwriter and policy advisor on Capitol Hill for U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman from his home state of Connecticut. He went on to serve as a senior advisor and communications strategist for Lieberman in his vice-presidential and presidential campaigns.

Much like the media and publishing industries we are symbiotically connected to, the writing profession has undergone its own existential upheaval over the last several years — in our case what might be called a Dickensian disruption.

To many established journalists and authors, it seems like the worst of times. Due to the seismic shocks to the news media business model, thousands upon thousands of experienced reporters and editors have either been laid off or driven out by the fallout from all the cost-cutting and related stresses. And due to the rapidly changing economics of book publishing, which have dramatically deflated the size of advances, a large share of writers who once made a living producing books can no longer do so with anything but meager advances.

Yet for our community of writers for hire — ghostwriters, speechwriters, content marketing pros — it seems like the best of times. democratization of publishing across all platforms, combined with the massive premium being placed on thought leadership across most industries, has resulted in an explosion of demand for ghostwriting services, and correspondingly, a major spike in compensation for our services.

Many of you reading this may have considered giving ghostwriting a chance, and even more of you would have thought about it except that you don’t even know it’s an option for you.

So, what is ghostwriting? Ghostwriting is the practice of writing content on behalf of another person who is credited as the author. Ghostwriters are typically hired to create various types of written works, such as books, articles, speeches, blog posts, or even social media content, without receiving public acknowledgment for their work. The credited individual or organization takes ownership of the content, while the ghostwriter typically remains anonymous.

Not getting credit might not be the ideal scenario for you, but ghostwriting – particularly in the book publishing marketplace -- is big business and members of our community are making a lot of money doing it while still being able to work in the industry they love doing the thing they love—namely writing.

In the first-ever compensation survey of professional book ghostwriters, undertaken by our agency and our partners at the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), the full results of which will be released in the coming weeks. A full third of the 269 respondents reported annual income of more than $100,000 – and 25 percent said they had charged at least $100,000 for the last full manuscript they collaborated on with a client.

Meanwhile, the median annual income for traditionally published authors is often reported to be around $6,000 to $10,000. Advances can range from a few thousand dollars to six or seven figures, but many authors receive advances on the lower end of this spectrum. Similarly, self-published authors reported earning $15,000 from writing in 2023.

This disparity helps explain the growing number of A-list authors and journalists who are openly eschewing the stigma long associated with ghostwriting and unapologetically embracing the identity of collaborator. They see ghosting as a natural way to make a good living while still stretching their storytelling muscles.

Writers like Ariel Levy, the New Yorker writer who collaborated on Demi Moore’s celebrated memoir; Sam Lansky, the best-selling memoirist who worked on Britney Spears’ blockbuster recent release; and most notably J.R. Moehringer, the author of the acclaimed Tender Bar, who set off a media frenzy two years ago with his rumored million-dollar deal to collaborate on Prince Harry’s Spare.

Just a few months ago, the New York Post reported that Buzz Bissinger – the writer behind the Friday Night Lights phenomenon – had signed on to work with his fellow Pennsylvanian John Fetterman on the iconoclastic Senator’s upcoming memoir.

We at Gotham Ghostwriters have had a front row seat to watch this tale of two trendlines. Not a week goes by where we don’t get contacted by at least 2-3 displaced journalists and dissatisfied authors who are eager (and/or desperate) to learn how to get into the ghosting game. They typically have heard through the writer grapevine that ghostwriting presents a great opportunity to leverage their skills and diversify their income, but they have no idea where to start.

Perhaps after reading this, you’re curious, too. For those of you who are also ghost-curious, here is the core of what I tell them, based on a decade plus experience brokering hundreds of collaborations:

Successfully making the professional leap into ghostwriting requires making a threshold mental shift. You have to stop thinking of yourself as a writer/author/artist and start embracing the idea of being a service provider. Your sole job is to help your clients realize the best version of their vision for their book. Which is to say, the darlings are no longer yours to kill.
Create a business plan for yourself. If you are serious about launching a ghostwriting practice, it is essential to develop a business plan. Not a 10-page, data-filled document with all kinds of charts and graphs. Just a concise set of answers to a few key questions that will provide focus to your work, such as: What are the services I plan to offer? How do I stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace? Who are the clients I am best positioned to serve as a solution for? How do I reach them?
Do market research. As with the formation of most any new business, it pays to do market research. How do most ghosts price their services? What are the critical elements of a standard contract? How do you navigate the issue of credit? Gathering this kind of intel is a complicated task in a field as opaque and unstandardized as ghostwriting. So don’t hesitate to ask for help, be it from individual veteran ghosts (who generally are very sympathetic to people just starting out) or from groups like our agency, the Association of Ghostwriters, or ASJA.
Build your brand identity. Start with a professional-looking website – or at least dedicated page on your existing site – that compellingly articulates your value proposition and showcases your skills, experience, and work product. Then make sure to include a dedicated entry on your LinkedIn page that highlights your service offerings as a ghost.
Plan your launch. Once you have your fundamental ducks in a row, you should prepare to announce the launch of your practice to your extended networks. Indeed, the fastest way for newbies to get over the first client hump is to let the people who can vouch for your talents and reliability know that you are available to help others tell their stories. More importantly, make a list of good targets in your network that might benefit from your services that you can contact when you are live.
Go live. When you’re ready, blast out an announcement email that lays out why you’re a great solution to certain authors’ problems, post it on your site, then link to it on your social channels. You don’t need a ton of customers to make this work. You’ll likely only be working with 1-2 at a time, and you can probably find them among your existing network.

Ghostwriting is not for everyone, but if you’re struggling to get your work seen by people and you want to explore a potentially more lucrative path, we would encourage you to check out GHOSTMASTERS, the new professional development program we launched this summer. Instead of reactively trying to help writers navigate this evolving marketplace one by one, we thought we could better serve our community by proactively sharing our expertise in a series of online courses about how to launch and grow a ghostwriting practice that would be accessible to anyone in the world.

One of the things that makes GHOSTMASTERS unique is its singular focus on the business side of ghostwriting. We did a survey of the marketplace, and the few educational programs offered to aspiring ghosts are mostly craft-oriented – how to do the work. There was nothing primarily designed to help writers get into the field and step up their game. Our program was created to fill this void.

The series will kick off at the end of September with Ghostmasters 101: How to Break Into the Business of Ghostwriting, an introductory course for professional writers who are looking to make the leap into collaborations.

It’s a good time to be a ghost(writer)

While it's harder than ever to land a publishing deal and the whole industry teeters on the brink, it might be a good time to consider becoming a ghostwriter.

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