Marketers: What Writers Charge for Ghostwriting a Book
Several sales and marketing people I know are writing or publishing a book, or thinking about it. For example:
- Ardath Albee’s Digital Relevance is coming out in January
- Jill Konrath just came out with her new book Agile Selling earlier this year
- Lori Richardson has been approached by several publishers and is in the midst of writing her book
- Ann Handley just came out with her book, Everybody Writes
Some are writing books for marketing reasons while others felt a strong desire to share their knowledge. (These aren’t eBooks; they are books from 100 to 300 pages or more.) All of the authors above wrote or are writing their own books.
But many times, people are too busy or lack the confidence and expertise to dump the millions of ideas swirling in their heads onto paper, organize them in a logical way, and tell a compelling story. So they look for ghostwriters. I was approached last year by two prospects wishing to write a book, one went with another writer while the other is still pondering whether he wants to tackle such a project or not.
What does it cost to Ghostwrite a Book?
A great unknown for many wishing to write a book but knowing they need help is how much writers charge for ghostwriting a book. Many are unrealistic and often don’t know it will cost thousands of dollars.
How much it costs really depends upon the length of the book, how much collaboration there will be, how much research needs to be done, whether you have a publisher on the hook or whether you’ll be self-publishing it yourself, and so much more.
This morning, Ed Gandia of High Income Business Writing, posted an interview with veteran ghostwriter Derek Lewis, who is coming out with his own book: The Business Book Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Write a Good Business Book. In the podcast, Derek revealed going rates for ghost writing books:
- Newer ghostwriters charge about $25,000 for a full-length manuscript.
- Professionals start somewhere between $35,000 to $55,000.
- Publishers tend to pay ghostwriters between $50,000 to $80,000
- Veteran ghostwriters charge $75,000 to more than $100,000
- Those writing for celebrities charge $120,000 and up.
Derek shared many tips for writing business books. You can listen to the podcast on Ed’s site. You can also learn more about professional ghostwriting fees in Derek’s book, publishing soon, or in a post Derek wrote on his website.