How a Ghostwriter Crafts Your Future Bestseller

“Everyone has been telling me to write a book. I’m finally convinced I should do it, but I’m uncertain how this whole ghostwriting business works.”

A Ghostwriter’s Responsibilities (in Hats)

A quality ghostwriter wears a lot of hats: all of them. She is simultaneously a writer, editor, marketer, agent, and people whisperer.

If you have a partial draft available, expect the editor hat to advise you on what works and what doesn’t. A lot of good words may be cut in favor of great ones. You'll need a writer skilled at all levels: from copy and line editing (the notes in a song), to substantive and developmental editing (the arrangement of a musical composition).

A good writer directly enhances the value of your work by ghosting-in additional content—in your voice, with your vision and values in mind. The writer hat also serves as a source of support; he knows that finally sharing your words or ideas can be both exciting and excruciating.

Ghostwriting: The Marketer, the Agent, and the People Whisperer

You may have an idea you really love for a book, but if you also want it to sell widely, expect the marketer hat to help you define your target audience and the statistical likelihood that your idea will win them over. The agent steps in to inform you of your chances of publication; the routes available to you in the process; and the work that will be required of you along the way.

To write a bestseller, your ghostwriter should be a gold-star communicator with a high degree of empathy. She will make it her job to truly get to know you: to understand how you think; what you care about; and perhaps even how you'd react in different situations. These qualities may sound more FBI profiler than ghostwriter, but they're vital to the professional who wants to help you create a book that feels authentically yours.

If you’re working with a writer who is unresponsive, it will show up in the work.

If you are unresponsive to your writer, it will show up in the work. He’ll have a difficult time creating a publishable book, much less a bestseller.

Initially, your writer may ask about your life, your thoughts on key issues, or what matters to you most in the world—all questions that can feel to professionals and academics as 'outside scope.' But when you're working with a great writer, everything is about the book, even what will never be in the book. These and similar questions are a part of how an ethical ghostwriter begins to establish your voice and vision.

(Tip: Ask about this process and let a writer know what part of client discovery would make you uncomfortable BEFORE you sign the contract.)

The 4 Be's of Good Ghostingwriting Collaboration

Hiring a ghostwriter for your future bestseller isn't a job of delegation, but one of collaboration. If your book is to shine brightly and to truly be your book, a writer will need your ideas, your insights, and sometimes, a little of your sweat.

1. Be responsive.

2. Be completely honest. Express your expectations clearly from the outset, and offer genuine feedback from the very beginning so there are no surprises at the end.

3. Be willing. To change course from an original concept; to be interviewed; and to share your insights and ideas.

... and

4. Be supportive. And seek a supportive ghostwriter from the jump, so that a healthy writing environment can be fostered, rather than a blocked one, in which not much writing gets done.

Consider your writer a one-person brain trust and the keeper of your intellectual property. The job is an honor and responsibility—for you both.

Do each other justice and very best to you on making it to the top of the New York Time's list!