Ghostwriting

TL;DR

What it is: You write content that gets published under someone else's name. Clients hire you to write books, articles, blog posts, LinkedIn content, or speeches. They get the credit, you get paid. The key skill is capturing and replicating someone else's voice authentically.

What you'll do:

• Interview clients to extract their stories, knowledge, and perspectives
• Research topics and fill knowledge gaps
• Write content that matches the client's voice and tone
• Handle multiple rounds of revisions and feedback
• Maintain strict confidentiality about client relationships

Time to learn: Most people develop the voice-matching skills over 6-12 months of regular practice, assuming you already have solid writing fundamentals. This is an estimate and varies by individual.

What you need: Strong writing skills, interviewing ability, research skills, and professional discretion. No special software required beyond a word processor.

Note: Platforms may charge fees or commissions. We don't track specific rates as they change frequently. Check each platform's current pricing before signing up.

You write books, articles, blog posts, LinkedIn content, or speeches for clients who publish them under their own name. They get the credit. You get paid.

Ghostwriters help busy executives, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders share their expertise without spending time writing. This includes everything from full-length books to social media posts.

The key is capturing and replicating someone else's voice authentically. You become them on paper.

What You'll Actually Do

You interview clients to extract their stories, knowledge, and perspectives. Then you translate their thoughts into polished writing that sounds like them, not you.

For books, this means hours of interviews, research, outlining, drafting, and revisions. For LinkedIn posts or articles, it's shorter interviews and quick turnarounds.

You'll adapt your writing style completely to match each client. One day you're writing conversationally for a fitness coach. The next, you're writing formally for a corporate executive.

Client management is constant. Approvals, revisions, feedback cycles. You're translating their vision into words they're happy publishing.

Skills You Need

Excellent writing across multiple formats and styles. You can't just write well in one voice. You need to mimic different tones, perspectives, and personalities.

Strong interviewing skills to extract valuable insights and stories. Asking the right questions makes the difference between generic content and compelling narratives.

Research ability to fill knowledge gaps and add depth to client expertise.

Discretion and professionalism. You'll sign NDAs and never disclose client relationships. Their audience thinks they wrote everything.

How to Start

Build a diverse portfolio showcasing different writing styles. Even if published under your name initially, it demonstrates versatility.

Start with smaller projects like LinkedIn posts or blog articles before tackling book-length work. These build experience and client relationships.

Network with business coaches, speakers, and executives who often need ghostwriting but don't publicly advertise it.

Create sample chapters or posts in different voices to demonstrate your ability to adapt.

Platforms like Reedsy connect ghostwriters with authors. Upwork and Freelancer have ghostwriting opportunities too.

Income Reality

Market rates vary significantly based on project type, experience level, and client budget. Income depends on your skill, niche, client relationships, and how much work you take on.

Some beginners ghostwriting blog posts and articles charge per word or per post. Rates in the market range from ₹1-2/word or ₹3,000-8,000 per post.

People with more experience handling LinkedIn content and short ebooks sometimes earn ₹50,000-1,00,000/month.

Experienced ghostwriters working on full-length books for executives observe project fees ranging from ₹1,50,000-5,00,000+. Some comprehensive book ghostwriting projects are priced at ₹5-15 lakhs.

Books typically take 3-6 months, so many ghostwriters work on multiple projects simultaneously or mix book projects with smaller recurring work.

Common Challenges

You get no public credit. Your best work lives under someone else's name. This bothers many writers who want recognition.

Adapting to different voices is mentally taxing. You need to shift gears between clients constantly.

Confidentiality is strict. You can't showcase your best work publicly if it's ghostwritten under NDA.

Client revisions can be endless if you don't manage expectations upfront about scope and process.

What Actually Works

Master the art of interviewing. Ask open-ended questions that extract stories and specific examples, not just facts.

Study each client's existing content extensively to understand their voice, tone, and style before writing.

Be completely professional about confidentiality. Never disclose client relationships or hint publicly about your work.

Develop expertise in specific niches. Business books, self-help, memoirs. Specializing makes you the go-to writer in that space.

Set clear expectations upfront about revisions, timelines, and deliverables. Use contracts.

Build long-term relationships. Satisfied clients return for multiple projects and refer others.

Is It Worth It?

If you're comfortable writing without public credit and enjoy helping others share their stories, this can be rewarding. The pay is typically higher than regular content writing.

You'll work with interesting people and learn from their experiences. Business executives, successful entrepreneurs, thought leaders.

But if you need recognition for your writing or hate adapting your voice to others, you'll resent this work.

The recurring nature is valuable. One client might need monthly LinkedIn posts for years or multiple books over time.

Start with small ghostwriting projects alongside credited work. See how it feels before going all-in.