The first rule in getting a ghost writer is reality. Ghost writing is a business.
The most natural response is “Of course”,
followed by I have a story that will make millions. Well, maybe.
Let us assume the optimal situation. Your story is true and you have kept extensive notes and documentation or that your story is fiction but the idea is incredible. You may even have written it out in manuscript form -- and discovered you are not a writer but, at least, your project is in a detailed, definitive form. In any case, you need a ghost writer.
Reality suddenly howls.
First, you need to find a ghost writer. You need to convince the writer to adopt your project. You need to contract a reasonable financial relationship. You need to sell the result
FINDING A GHOST WRITER
With an eye toward selling the result, the obvious and first choice is to find a writer with a track record (in other words, their books at least earned out their advance). Your second choice is to find a writer with an agent who has a track record. Either way, two things are accomplished: first, the publisher is assured that the project will be completed, if it is not already, and, second, that the project will be quality work.
Keep this in mind. There are many very fine projects, well written, that are rejected. As an agent I have to believe I know excellence when I read it. As an agent I also know many excellent projects are rejected. How many times do you read about a best seller, a prize winner, being rejected five, ten, thirty times before some publisher, for reasons both obscure and, undoubtedly, mystical, adopted the manuscript?.
The point is simply that editors in publishing houses will assume that a good track record = money = profit. Quality is nice but profit is better. Publishing CEO’s believe that one in the hand is worth two, three, even, ten in the bush -- because they rarely know where the bush is, in the first place.
Therefore, let us assume you find a willing ghost writer that is no better known than yourself to the publishing gods. AND assume that this writer is capable of and, in fact, does produce quality work. Quality is the first ten meters of a hundred meter dash regardless of who wrote it. A necessary beginning. A bird in the bush, at least.
A ghost writer with a known agent, gets another fifty meters -- which means, in practical terms, your project will race past the assistant editor who is screening everything and be passed on to the senior editor. The agent may not want to take on a ghost written novel for a variety of reasons. If so, you are back to ten meters.
You can find someone who can write through personal contacts or by contacting writers groups (start with the telephone book, the net, your local library or community college).
Finding someone with a track record is more difficult. They generally have agents and it is the agent you would need to contact. If you know books they have published, you could start by contacting the publsher and asking for the agent’s name. Contact national writers organizations.
My advise would be to begin calling reputable agents and asking if they know of any writers willing to ghost your project. When you do, be informed on how these things work, the costs, the expectations and so on (described below).
You can also survey writers magazines where you will find advertisements for ghost writing and book doctoring. Just be careful. Check out their track record. Use some common sense. Not EVERY project can be turned into a publishable story, even by the best writer, and anyone who claims they can is someone to avoid. Get a list of books they have ghosted AND have been sold to ROYALTY publishers (then call those publishers to make sure).
CONVINCING THE WRITER TO ADOPT YOUR PROJECT
The more successful the writer, the better the chance for a sale. But a successful writer is also an experienced writer who knows that many quality manuscripts go unpublished despite the best efforts of writer and agent. They also know ghosting is hard and time-consuming work.
And let us be honest. Successful writers would rather be busy writing their own material than writing and polishing yours. If their own material was making millions, every year, “Good luck”, a smile and a handshake is all you will likely get.
But there are many very good writers with track records and without, with agents and without, that are somewhere below Stephen King and well above Stephen Unknown. So how do you get one of these writers (or their agents) interested?
There are two ways: money and/or strong prospects of a successful sale.
Let me define “strong prospects of a successful sale”. Instant name or event recognition. So, if your tryst with the President has been headline news for months, if you defended or prosecuted a very famous alleged murderer, if you were President of the United States, if you have intimate, personal knowledge of misdeeds (preferably involving sex, drugs and violence) of a famous personality or film star, if you ... well you get the picture.
What is not defined as “strong...” is a good story, an exciting adventure, a magnificent romance, a tragic story of abuse and lost love, or even quality writing.
It is hard, tough reality that without instant name or event recognition you must be willing to make a reasonable financial offer, up front, cash, to entice a successful writer. Even if you were to offer all, every last cent, of future advances and royalties, taking nothing for yourself, it would not be enough.
It is not that successful writers are unfeeling. They are just experienced. They know, through bitter and long experience, that ghosting is hard, time-consuming work and that “strong...” does not begin with a “q” and is not spelled “quality”.
Of course, as implied above, you might very well entice a good, unknown writer to ghost your project for future profits. You could get lucky or know someone who knows someone and so on.
CONTRACTING A REASONABLE FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIP
What constitutes a reasonable relationship depends on two things: how finished your project is and how much you want the writer to do.
Generally, you will contract the writer to do one of two things.
The minimum, least likely to be sold but also the least expensive, would be for the writer to produce a proposal, a synopsis and the first two or three chapters. This is the minimum you, the writer or an agent would need to go to a publisher with. Such a package would give the publisher a firm view of what your project was and a sample of the writing style..
The maximum, most likely to be sold but also the most expensive, would be for the writer to produce the complete, finished project, including proposal and synopsis.
To the extent you already have a tentative manuscript (first two or three chapters or the complete, finished work) and want the manuscript to be polished, the expense can be decreased, depending on the quality of what you have already done and how much more you want the writer to do.
To the extent your project has instant name or event recognition the cost can be decreased.
To the extent the writer has a successful track record the cost can be increased.
What is reasonable?
For a proposal, synopsis and one to three
sample chapters:
$2,000 to $4,000, 50% - 75% of any initial advance.
For a complete, finished manuscript
including proposal and synopsis:
$10,000 to $40,000, 25% - 75% of any initial advance
and all other future revenues depending on initial payment.
The money can be spaced out over the life of the project. One third on contract, one third at the half-way point and one third upon completion. Other terms can be included as needed.
There are a few other issues. Will the ghost writer’s name appear on the published book? If it does appear, sometimes the writer’s name on the book cover will have some name recognition and help sales. If it does not, sometimes the writer’s fee may increase.
Finally, all issues, especially the financial ones, should be spelled out in a written contract before any work is begun or money exchanged. This is a business arrangement, do not forget.
SELLING THE RESULT
Reality howls again. One of the reasons experienced writers insist on some compensation before beginning a project is that quality work is not always sold.
So, do not think that having a project ghost written automatically guarantees you a sale. Or that lacking a sale means the ghost has failed.
What the ghost writer has provided is not a sale but a quality work and, hopefully, some name recognition by the publishers.
Beyond that, the rules are the same as for any project. If you do the selling yourself be professional and persistent, tap any personal connections, study how the publishing game works.
My advise would be to get an agent.
At this point, the rules are no different
than they are for any author -- and just as ruthless.