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• Treat your ghostwriter as an expert. Your ghostwriter is much more than just someone who takes down your words and tells you you’re brilliant. Remember that you’re paying good money for his advice and expertise. His suggestions regarding book structure, style, what to include and what to put where are well worth considering. If you just want someone to put your words and thoughts on paper without changing anything, hire a typist. It’s a lot cheaper!

• Be professional. When you set an appointment with your ghost, stick to it! When you promise to jot down a few ideas, or a couple of pages, do it! When you’re sent material to review, review it! Your ghostwriter may be working on more than one book at once, and even if he is only working on yours, he must wrap it up at a certain point and move on to the next project. Behaving unprofessionally can mess up the ghost’s schedule and cause problems for your book.

Know why you are writing the book (e.g. to make money, introduce a new idea, create a legacy and so on). It’s a good idea to address this issue with your ghost. You really need to have a clear focus before you begin writing, for your answer will help determine the book’s style, layout and content.

• Don’t expect the first draft to be perfect. I look upon the first draft as a “best guess.” It’s my way of getting the client to think long and hard about what (s)he wants. (And if it happens to be just right, so much the better.)

• Once you set a direction, stick with it. It’s fine to make adjustments as you go; in fact, expect to do so. But be aware that problems will arise if you make major changes in focus or structure down the line. I had one client who kept changing his mind as to what the book was about. First it was a health book, then a call for reforming the health system, then a look at the health habits of famous people, and so on. As you might expect, the project eventually withered and died. We never even finished a synopsis because the idea wouldn’t stand still long enough to be written down.

• Don’t set up conflicting goals for your ghost. I had one client who wanted his book to be a fun and easy read for laypeople and a highly detailed discussion that demonstrated his expertise to professionals in his field. And he didn’t want to relegate the technical stuff to appendices; he wanted it all blended into the main text. Every time we spoke and every time he reviewed the material I wrote, he would stuff in more dry, technical stuff. Then he’d complain that the manuscript was boring.

• Read the draft chapters and/or drafts of the manuscript as they are produced. I know this sounds odd, but I’ve worked with clients who don’t read the material as it’s being written and returned to them. This can really delay things and even torpedo the project. One of my clients neglected to read the manuscript even though I had sent him drafts of each chapter all along. Making matters worse, his idea of what the book was about changed during the months I was writing it. When he finally read the finished, edited manuscript, he was astonished to discover that it was based on the original outline he had given me, not on the new book he had created in his mind.

• Don’t expect your ghostwriter to incorporate critiques offered by your spouse, six of your friends, your hairdresser and your gardener. Too many editors will spoil the manuscript-in-progress, so don’t show it around to everyone you know, collect their conflicting opinions and expect your ghostwriter to sort them all out. You’re not going to please everyone, so don’t try. Besides, these people are not usually qualified to give opinions on a work-in-progress.

You get the idea. Remember that you’re working with an experienced, professional book ghostwriter. Use his expertise, trust his judgment and respect his time. In return, you’ll get the best he has to offer.

I’m Barry Fox, a New York Times #1 bestselling ghostwriter. I help executives, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and top professionals create top-notch memoirs and business books. I can also guide you through the self-publishing process. Call me at 818-594-0379.

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There is no set format for a contract to ghostwrite a book. Some contracts are long, some are short; some are written in plain English while others are full of legalese; some try to cover every eventuality and others stick to the main issues. My own contract focuses on about a dozen issues and covers three pages. These issues are:

• What: This is a description of the book to be ghostwritten. It could be as brief as a line or two within the contract, or as lengthy as a page or two in an attachment. Among other things, the description should include the projected length of the book, usually in terms of the number of words (e.g. 60,000 words).
• How: This is a summary of how the client and ghostwriter will work together; that is, who will do what. Will the ghostwriter do it all himself? If so, will (s)he work from scratch? From an existing manuscript? From interview transcripts or previously published articles? Will the client and ghostwriter sit together to create the manuscript? Will the client review chapters as they are written, or wait until a first draft of the entire work has been completed? How much time will be allotted for the client to complete the reviews? How does the client formally acknowledge approval of the drafts and, later, that the work has been completed? If there are any other duties for either party, these should be described. They might include being available for working sessions or interviews, handling research and coordinating with a graphic artist or proofreader.
• Schedule: This spells out the dates for beginning and completing the work, with perhaps other dates included for certain benchmarks, e.g. dates for completion of each chapter if you’re working chapter-by-chapter, or dates for submittal of the first and second drafts of the manuscript.
• Fee: This is a statement of the full amount the ghostwriter will be paid, the way the payments will be divided (installments), and when each installment must be paid. If the ghostwriter is given a “piece” of the book, there must be a description of the division of royalties and how they will be paid.
• Ownership of copyright: This is a clear statement of who owns the rights to the work and when these rights become fully vested.
• Authorship credit: This states who will be given credit for authoring the book. Since the work is ghostwritten, the client is generally the sole author. Sometimes, however, the ghostwriter is given a “with” credit, or a nice mention in the acknowledgements. Whichever way it’s handled, it should be spelled out clearly in the contract.
• Confidentiality: This is a description of what the ghostwriter can say about his/her role in creating the work. For example, can (s)he list the book on his/her resume and website and discuss it with potential clients? If so, what can be said about his/her contribution to the work? This clause also covers whether or not the ghostwriter is required to keep some or all of the information confidential.
• Indemnity: To indemnify means to protect another against possible loss, damage or liability. Since the ghost is using material provided by the client, (s)he should be indemnified against any problems, including claims for libel or slander.
• Warranties: This spells out any promises the parties are making. For the ghostwriter, there may be a warranty that all material (s)he contributes will be original, and for the client, that any case histories provided are accurate and non-libelous.
• Expenses: This details exactly how expenses, if any, will be handled for copying, dictation, travel and so on; i.e. who will pay?
• Termination: This section lays out when and how either party can back out of the contract. If, for example, the ghostwriter backs out, must (s)he finish the chapter currently in progress or reach some other benchmark? If the client backs out, does (s)he owe money for the work in progress? And if the project falls apart, may the ghostwriter use material (s)he’s already written for another work?
• Legalese: This provides information about handling legal notice, disputes (where and how will they be handled), severability, changes to the contract, and the possibility of the demise of one party before the project is complete, among other things.

These are certainly not the only issues that may be addressed in a book ghostwriter’s contract, but you should make sure that all of them are included, at the very least.

I’m Barry Fox, a New York Times #1 bestselling ghostwriter. I help executives, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and top professionals create top-notch memoirs and business books. I can also guide you through the self-publishing process. Call me at 818-594-0379.

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You’ve Googled and used other ways of finding ghostwriters to come up with a list of candidates. They’re all experienced professionals, have good resumes and are in your price range. What next? How do you decide which one to use?

It’s time to talk. Really talk.

Let’s assume the ghostwriter you’re interviewing is female. You certainly want to ask her questions such as, “What books have you written?” and “Are you comfortable with my topic?” and “Can you provide references?”

But don’t just throw out the standard questions and listen passively to her answers. Talk to her. Engage her; even challenge her a bit. I don’t mean to be rude or call her a liar, but you can push back a bit. Pay close attention to the responses – not just what she says, but how she says it, whether she remains calm or gets upset, answers directly or verbally dances around, and so on. You may be spending a fair amount of time with her, whether in person, on the phone or via Skype. Odds are you’ll disagree a few times, maybe more, so it’s important to see if your communication styles mesh – and if you get the feeling you can trust her with your story or idea.

Pay close attention to how much she listens, not just talks, and how well she guides the conversation. I’ve been writing books for more than twenty years, and I can tell you that one of the ghostwriter’s greatest skills is listening at length and asking questions that keep the client talking about the topic, going deeper and deeper. This may not matter in every case. If, for example, you want to hire a ghostwriter for a book on picking stocks that’s based on your published articles and already-dictated case histories, you may not interact much. But if you’re writing a memoir, autobiography, self-help book, inspirational book, or any other book that requires the ghost to get information out of your head and onto paper, her ability to listen and get you to “talk deep into the topic” is vital.

In addition, try to get a sense of how she views her relationship with you. You want a ghostwriter who feels comfortable enough to challenge you, to politely tell you that your idea is not going to work, or that your favorite anecdote doesn’t fit into this part of the book – or maybe any part! Collaborating on a book is a give-and-take process. A “Yes, sir!” ghostwriter who just does everything you want is not doing you a service. (If you just want someone to write down your golden words without comment, you’re better off hiring a typist.)

Take a look at books she’s already ghosted, authored or coauthored – you can often find them on Amazon.com. But do not look at these books to see if she writes in your favorite style. A good ghost is comfortable writing in different styles and, in any case, the best style for your book has not yet been determined. You may have a particular style in mind, but until you and your ghostwriter sort through a lot of questions about your book and its audience and perhaps write the same couple of pages a few times using different styles, you won’t know which style is best for your book.

Instead of focusing on style, use your review of her books as a way of determining whether she communicates well and meets the book’s objectives. And take a look at her website. Don’t worry about the particular writing style, as the website was probably designed from a marketing point of view. Instead, focus on how well she communicates. Is the writing clear? Engaging? Grammatically correct – but not so much so that it sounds stiff and artificial?

There are more ideas to come in Finding Your Professional Ghostwriter, Part II!

I’m Barry Fox, a New York Times #1 bestselling ghostwriter. I help executives, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and top professionals create top-notch memoirs and business books. I can also guide you through the self-publishing process. Call me at 818-594-0379.

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