How to Write a Book With a Ghostwriter

Many would-be authors are surprised when they learn the extent of the work it takes to write a book alongside a ghostwriter – how years of hard toil can be replaced by just a few meetings.

While I can’t speak for all ghostwriters, I can certainly tell you what it’s like to write a book with one ghostwriter – me. What follows is a general overview of my process, told from your side of the table. Could you imagine writing a book in just a few hours? Well, at the end of this post, you will.

Getting Started

When we begin to work together, there are, of course, some administrative tasks that need ticking off first. We can’t just launch right into the book – we have to get to know each other, make a plan, and figure out what the book needs.

First, you’ll meet with you at a time and date of your convenience, usually over Zoom. I work with clients all around the globe, so I’m very used to working in this format and don’t feel it hinders my understanding of your needs in any way.

Our first meeting is about twenty minutes or less. This is a chance for you to explain your idea to me, your goals for the book, and what your understanding level of the book industry is. From this stage, we’ll agree to go into what I call a Strategy Session. This is the first point at which we work together on an official basis, but it still leaves room for you to change your mind before we embark on the full project.

One week after our hour-long strategy session, in which I ask you as many questions about your book as you have time to answer, we’ll meet again. I’ll present you with market research, a full book outline which you can read at your leisure, and a plan for how to go forward.

Once you agree to the plan, sign the agreement, and make the first payment, the real work begins.

Researching and Questioning

For most books, we only need to meet for one or two hour-long sessions per month, over the course of about six months. Some books, such as fiction titles, require even fewer.

For the first two or three months, we’re in the research phase. This will involve me asking you lots of in-depth and granular questions about each stage of the book. You may need to go away and think about certain aspects before you have answers for me; or, you may be able to provide me with resources you already have, such as recordings of workshops, speeches, presentations, and so on. Some clients can even share their notebooks full of thoughts with me.

During this phase, though you may not see any progress, lots is happening behind the scenes. Many clients feel surprised to find that I’ve actually been working away on the book, and when we reach the halfway point of the project, I’ll deliver the first half of the manuscript to you.

Reviewing Part One

The manuscript doesn’t yet look like a real book, although it is getting there. You’ll see a Word document (or a Google Doc if you’re an Apple user) marked up with highlighted sections in different colours. I’ll explain the key to you at the point of delivery: some colours mean a section needs more information from later interview sessions, some colours mean I’m not happy with my work yet and will continue to develop and rewrite the section, and some colours mean I need you to fact-check them before final approval.

There may be sections missing that we haven’t yet explored in enough detail to be able to write them, and there may be sections from further in the book that have already been completed. All of this is part of the process.

Your job at this stage is simply to read the manuscript and flag up anything that is:

• Inaccurate
• Not the way you would say it
• Missing
• Or, inversely, something you like a lot

Once I have this information from you, I can go ahead and edit the manuscript to the way you like it.

On reading their own books, particularly in the case of memoirs, some clients get very emotional. It can stir up great emotions to see your own story on the page, especially if there is some trauma that you have not fully explored before. It’s even common for clients to get angry, regretful, or want to cancel the project at this stage.

Don’t worry – this will pass. After calming down, reading the text again, and remembering your goals, it’s very likely that you will change your mind and realise you do, in fact, like the way the book is going.

Some authors don’t experience this feeling at all, and instead remain excited and happy about seeing their ideas in print!

Filling the Gaps

Our next couple of meetings will be all about filling in the gaps. Even though we’ve talked at length by this stage and tried to cover all of the questions asked by the book, there are bound to be things that slip through the cracks. Those are the small points we’ll mop up during these sessions, ensuring that I can fill in all of the gaps left in the manuscript.

This can mean going back over some topics we’ve already covered, but this time in more detail; clarifying certain aspects to ensure that I understood them correctly; or identifying more information that can be added to flesh out part of the book that ended up not being as bulky as expected.

By now, you’ll be used to the rhythm of our sessions, and everything will flow easily as we move towards the final stages.

Reviewing the Full Manuscript

We repeat the process of reviewing the book again – but this time, with the full manuscript in its first draft stage. You can see all of the changes I made based on your suggestions last time, and again, ask me for any new changes you want.

This is a very straightforward part of the process, and we’re almost at the end.

Reviewing the Changes

After I’ve finished working on the edits you requested, you can look over the final manuscript and make sure everything is to your specifications. This is the last chance to make any final adjustments – think small tweaks, not big, sweeping changes.

Once you have reviewed the changes, perhaps a second time if there are any small tweaks still to make, you will have the finished version of our manuscript in your hands.

Deciding on What to Do Next

From here, we often use our final session to talk about what you want to do next. I can guide you in the right direction to take, based on your goals for the book, and give you lots of advice. If you want to hire me again to take on some of the administrative tasks that come next, we can also discuss that. Your options at this point would be:

• Editing: Do you want to pass the manuscript on to a third party editor? I usually recommend this if you are self-publishing. If you are seeking a traditional publisher, you can hold off at this stage, as they will have their own editors to look it over
• Publishing: Will you go the traditional, self-publishing, or hybrid route? I will guide you on what may work best
• Formatting: Will you put your book out in eBook format? Paperback? Hardback? Audiobook? As a downloadable PDF? There are lots of things to consider, and you may even want to think outside of the box if your manuscript is unique. On top of that, how do you format it? What font? What will the cover look like? I can help in some aspects and refer you to professionals for others
• Marketing: What can you do to ensure your book reaches the right audience? I may be able to help here, especially in regards to referring you on to other professionals

And – that’s it!

Many people find it surprising to learn that a handful of meetings and a couple of reading sessions are all it takes to get your book written by a ghostwriter. But, as you can see, the process is actually quite comprehensive, even with such a small amount of input. Ghostwriters are trained to do a lot with a little, and that’s what allows us to take so much of the work off your hands – and still create the book you’ve been picturing in your head.

If you’re interested in getting started on your book, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me today to find out if we’d be the right fit to work together.