Ghostwriting is known as a partnership between the ghostwriter and the client. A ghostwriter is paid for the time and effort they are giving to a particular client in the research, development, and writing that is needed for the project. As the name tells, they also get paid to be “anonymous.”
Most of the ghostwriter is paid for the skills they provide, their experience, acclaim, and the kind of writing work that has provided with the task. They are generally paid a flat flee, per page, or a portion of the royalty money the work generates. If the writer is paid per word, the pay can be around 10 cents or lower and up to $4 a word or more.
Keep reading the following article by the ghostwriting founder, to learn more about how much are the ghostwriters paid or hired for the things that determine their pay.
Who is a Ghostwriter?
A writer who gets paid to write reports, articles, books, website material, stories, academic papers, etc. but doesn’t get credited for the work is a ghostwriter. There are also ghostwriters who write songs for their clients.
The speech a political leader gives could have been written by a ghostwriter. Top-tier executives who lack the time or writing skills to draft a business report invariably hire a ghostwriter to do it for them.
In certain other cases, the ghostwriter might do the majority of the writing, incorporating stories and concepts furnished to them by the attributed author into the piece. A ghostwriter is seldom tasked with completing a project without any inputs or direction from the acknowledged author. The publishing author would at least provide a blueprint or a general framework to start with and/or heavily review the final draft.
How Much Do Ghostwriters Get Paid?
A ghostwriter gets paid in different ways and which varies with the project or kind of writing required. All the research, writing, and editing that goes into best ghostwriting services are considered when ascertaining a ghostwriter’s pay.
Project-Based Pay
A project fee is usually set for full-length memoirs, novels, business books, scripts, etc. The pay is ascertained taking into account the ghostwriter’s areas of expertise, credentials, the research work needed for the project, project deadline, and whether the ghostwriter would be all by himself/herself or the client would chip in every now and again with inputs or perhaps contribute to the writing as well in some capacity.
Per Page Payment
College students, consumer magazines, and trade journals employ ghostwriters to write their articles, term papers, thesis projects, business columns, etc. Ghostwriters are given a specific set of parameters – which includes formatting requirements – and are typically paid per page. The payment also includes remuneration for the research work needed.
The pay is usually $10 to $65 per page. The average, however, is $12. Some inexperienced ghostwriters may even get paid a lot lesser than the average pay per page. The money usually goes up based on the writer’s experience, the complexity of the work, the turnaround time, and also the willingness of the client to pay well for quality work.
Pay Per Word
Ghostwriting assignments around newsletters, brochures, press kits, press releases, short booklets, advertorials, etc. are paid for by the word. The payment could be $.03 to up to $5 per word. There are some who get paid lesser than $.03 per word, however. And $5 per word or anywhere close to that is reserved for a selected few. The payment is typically made after project completion.
By the Hour
Hourly payment arrangements usually work out well if the client and the writer are considering a long-term working relationship. Clients usually pay ghostwriters by the hour for creating syndicated columns, speeches, blogs and articles, and promotional texts for advertising campaigns.
