How Much Does a Ghostwriter Get Paid? (2024)

By Chron Contributor Updated April 23, 2021

Ghostwriting books is a growing field, as self-publishing and social media platforms have opened the market to many would-be writers who need help getting their words in prose or lyrics. If you enjoy writing, working with interesting people – perhaps celebrities – and can write under a tight schedule, ghostwriting may be for you. You could work as a generalist or find your niche in a unique area like rap ghostwriting services, for example.

The amount that you earn depends on your ability to recognize your worth and draft a good contract. Ghostwriting pay varies depending on your writing ability, research experience, reputation and speed. A talented ghostwriter can earn ​$4​ to ​$40​ per page or somewhere between ​$50​ to ​$150​ per hour, reports Author Bridge Media. Earning income potential is unlimited, however. Ghostwriters have been known to make ​$500,000​ writing memoirs for the rich and famous.

Positioning Yourself

Your fee for ghostwriting a book depends substantially on your experience, ability to negotiate and how you position yourself in the market. The global market for writers has bid the pay scale for the craft to rock bottom. You can verify that by visiting websites such as Upwork.com. People who call themselves writers come with widely divergent talents, just as cooks range from the fast-food cook to the gourmet chef. If you're a native English speaker who understands the culture of the person for whom you write, you can position yourself at a journeyman level.

Writing a Contract

You're better off negotiating a flat fee rather than an hourly rate. The client may see an hourly rate as a blank check for you and your services. Your contract should specify how many revisions you'll be responsible for and how much research you need to do. Payment terms are entirely negotiable, but typically are one-third up front, one-third at the halfway point and the final third on completion. You also need to address how you'll handle extra work, not in the contract. Your time is valuable; don't give it away.

Negotiating Terms

Regardless of the fee, you negotiate with the client or publisher, you need to pay particular attention to the structure of the contract. Charge a separate fee for your proposal and sample chapters. Don't do that work for free or bundle it into your main proposal -- you'll lose that time if you don't win the bid. Many clients hire and fire several ghostwriters in the course of getting their books written. To protect yourself from being turned out in the cold and penniless, arrange kill fees at different stages of your work. A kill fee allows the client to end your participation but protects you by paying you for what you've done.

Ghostwriting Pay Scale

Pay scales for ghostwriters hired to write an article, blog, training manual, political speech or songs can range from under one hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Freelance Writing indicates that ghostwriters often charge ​10 cents​ to ​$4​ per word. The Simply Hired job website reported in 2021 that ghostwriters earned an average yearly income of ​$56,377​, slightly above the ​$55,104​ average salary of all writers.

By comparison, PayScale reported an average ghostwriter salary of ​$50,000​ per year or ​$39.31​ per hour. Salaries are higher for established writers who sign book deals. Author Bridge Media indicates that professional ghostwriters in the U.S. can expect to earn ​$20,000​ to ​$80,000​ depending on the length of a traditionally published book -- generally 200 to 300 pages -- and the time needed to research and write it over the course of several months.