If you have a knack for writing and want to make some extra money in your spare time, ghostwriting ebooks may be the perfect option for you.
You get to work from home and are not confined to working during any set hours, which means you can do this while working a full time job or looking after a family. Plus you get to make money doing something you (hopefully) enjoy doing.
In this article, I will give you some great tips on becoming a successful ghostwriter and will, most importantly, share with you some of the best platforms for offering your services and getting top dollar for your time and effort.
Ok, first things first. Let’s talk about some of the burning questions I am sure you have about ghostwriting, including what it is, how much you can make, and some of the best online marketplaces for offering ghostwriting services.
Let’s get into it
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What is Ghostwriting?
Ghostwriting is when you write something on behalf of someone else without a byline or other form of public attribution to you. Most ghostwriters are willing to forego the public recognition in exchange for some agreed upon amount of compensation.
Of course, recognition is not the only thing you will be giving up for your fee. As a ghostwriter, you will usually assign any intellectual property rights in your work product to the person who commissioned you and will forego any royalties from the sale of the work.
Why Should I Ghostwrite Ebooks?
If you have the skills, experience and clout to become a ghostwriter for a famous author or other celebrity, then you should by all means try to do that. You can be paid very handsomely for that type of work.
But most ghostwriters aren’t there. Just as most authors aren’t famous. But the publishing world has changed significantly with the emergence of online self-publishing platforms, so almost anyone can become an author and sell their books in digital form online.
In fact, many authors have multiple ebooks on platforms like Amazon KDP and Apple Books for Authors and generate very good passive income through this. At a certain point, authors may want scale their operations and the most efficient way to do that is to hire ghostwriter who will execute on their book ideas.
Of course, there are plenty of people who love the idea of selling books online, but aren’t particularly talented writers. These folks will also want to hire ghostwriters to help them achieve their goals.
The point is that the demand for good ghostwriters has skyrocketed over the past decade (or more). Now is a great time to take advantage of that.
How Much Money Can I Make Ghostwriting?
According Work Chron, ghostwriting pay varies depending on your writing ability, research experience, reputation and speed. A talented ghostwriter may earn $4 to $40 per page or somewhere between $50 to $150 per hour.
Of course, there really is no defined ceiling on how much you can make. Ghostwriters have been known to make $500,000 writing memoirs for the rich and famous.
But for the basic ebook ghostwriter, I have seen rates of between $20 per hour to $100 per hour for ghostwriters on places like Upwork.com. Most ghostwriters on Fiverr or Upwork don’t just write ebooks, they also write blog posts, marketing copy, and a whole host of other things, which is why the per hour charge makes sense.
What Are the Best Sites to Offer Your Ghostwriting Services?
We’ve covered this a bit already, but here are some of the best platforms out there for offering ghostwriting services for ebooks and other digital content.
- Fiverr.com
- Upwork.com
- Indeed.com
- Simplyhired.com
- Ziprecruiter.com
- Freelancer.com
- Guru.com
- Reedsy.com
The first six are general freelancing and job platforms, which have robust ghostwriting sections, but the last two specialize in content services, so check those out if you want a more targeted approach.
How Do I Make Myself Stand Out As a GhostWriter?
Obviously, the quality of your writing is going to be the most important factor in succeeding as a ghostwriter.
But that encompasses a lot of different things. Of course, grammar, clarity, and structure are important (and really table stakes if you want to become a good writer).
But if you want to be able to make as much money doing this as possible, you will need to be versatile in your writing and be able to create content for multiple genres (non-fiction, romance, science fiction, etc.). In addition, you will need to be able to write in different voices to align with your client’s desired style and tone.
If you get this right, the rewards are almost immediate.
That’s because in this day and age feedback is immediate (almost). The more positive reviews you get, the more successful you will be. Now bear in mind that getting a positive review is about more than just good writing. You need to understand the assignment, you need to be timely, and you need to be flexible and work with your client to create something they’ll love.
When ghostwriting ebooks, you will often be interacting closely with the author and incorporating their preferences and feedback (at least in the beginning). After you’ve worked with someone for multiple projects, there may be less need for that.
Either way, you will need to be able to take feedback and work it into the final product in a way that perfectly matches your client’s expectations.
Mastering these soft skills can set you apart from your competition and allow you to score consistent five star ratings (assuming your actual writing is high quality too).
Remember, as a general rule, the more positive engagements you have, the more you will be able to charge over time.
Remember: You Can Write For Yourself Too!
If you are having a hard time scoring consistent ghostwriting jobs for ebooks, you can certainly expand your options by writing blog posts, and taking on other freelance writing assignments, but don’t forget that you can make money writing your own ebooks.
Now, it is not as stable and guaranteed as a writing assignment, but the rewards can be significantly greater. What’s more, you can write about what you want and pour all of your knowledge and passion into your own ebook. If it is a hit, you can also generate passive income for years to come.
So if you have the time, write your own ebook. Not only can you make a lot of money if you strike on the right idea and find the right audience, you can also use your longer form content as part of your portfolio of work, which can certainly help your ghostwriting activities as well.
If you want to learn more about how to make money writing ebooks, check out my full article on the topic here.
Conclusion
So there you have it – an easy to follow guide on how to make money as an ebook ghostwriter, with a pretty nice list of sites you can explore to market your services. If you want to learn about other freelancing options, check out my article on the easiest freelance jobs for beginners.
