How to hire a ghostwriter · 5 min read
20 questions to ask a ghostwriter before signing
The first call should be a vetting interview, not a sales pitch. Ask these 20 questions and a serious writer will be glad you did.
A ghostwriter who has been doing this seriously for five years will welcome these questions. A ghostwriter who has not will get defensive. Both reactions are useful information.
Bibliography and category
- Can you send me three published books you have written or co-written?
- Which of them is closest to my project in category and word count?
- What did you ship in the last 12 months?
- Have you written in my specific sub-genre before?
Process
- Will you produce a voice sample before I commit to the full engagement?
- How many interview sessions does your typical project run, and how long are they?
- Who is my single point of contact, and what is their role?
- What does your fortnightly delivery cadence actually look like?
Confidentiality and rights
- Will you sign a mutual NDA before our discovery call?
- Does the writer on my project have a permanent non-attribution clause in their contract with you?
- What rights do I own in the manuscript, and when do they transfer to me?
- Do you retain any royalty share or back-end interest?
Money
- What is the deposit and the payment schedule, milestone by milestone?
- If we part ways before chapter four, what does the refund look like?
- Do you mark up any third-party costs (printing, ad spend, transcription)?
Quality
- What is your revision scope, in writing?
- What happens if my voice sample is not right?
- What is your AI policy for first-draft prose?
Selectivity
- What kind of project would you turn down?
- What did you turn down most recently?
How to read the answers
A senior ghostwriter answers all 20 without hesitation, often before you finish the question. A mid-tier ghostwriter answers most of them with one or two structural improvisations. A walk-away pattern: defensive, vague, or “we’ll discuss that in the contract.”
Most working ghostwriters appreciate being interviewed this way because it shows you are serious. The ones who don’t, you would not enjoy working with.