Q: I’ve been asked to quote on a possible ghostwriting gig – ‘My story, and how you too can get to the top’ kind of thing. I know it’s a ‘how long is a piece of string kind of thing’, but assuming an average length book and a relatively smooth process in terms of access to the subject for interviews and background material, can you give me an idea of how long you would expect something like this to take, and what one could expect to be paid for their trouble?
A: Every ghostwriting job is different, has different parameters, different forms of source material, etc. But, that said, I’ve not heard of any ghostwriter who was simply given an outline and expected to write a book from it. If they want a good book, it’s customary to work very closely with the writer and give them everything they need – whether it’s a lot of source material, transcribed lectures, scheduled interviews with subject matter experts, etc.
All we writers have is our time, so before you get involved in any GW deal, ask as many questions as it takes to get very specific parameters for your participation so you can provide the most accurate estimate of the time involved. Find out how you’re going to get the source materials, what’ll be involved on your part in securing that content, how many meetings or interviews will be necessary, how long the book is going to be, what their timeframe is, etc.
As for pricing, start with your hourly rate, and using the parameters you receive, figure out how much time you think it’s going to take, and always factor in some extra time. If the client changes the parameters of the project after initially setting them, you need to go back and renegotiate the terms. Good clients who understand how the world works won’t expect you to do more work than originally contracted for the same price.
If you’re not sure of the whole extrapolating thing (i.e., how long each piece of the puzzle is going to take), then perhaps you offer to do a chapter or two, see how it goes, time-, money-, and hassle-wise, and once done, sit down and reassess where you are, and set the final terms of the project.
And so as not to fall out of touch with your network, be careful about taking on a job that involves your participation on a full-time basis. Most writers will commit to X# of hours a week to work on the project, leaving time enough to take on other work, and stay plugged into their existing client base. FYI, it’s been a long time since I’ve done a GW project, but a friend of mine I recommended for one is in the midst of a project right nor for a 250-300 page book and she’s getting roughly $25K to write it. Hope all this helps. Good luck with it! Prices can range from $10K-$50K+, depending on one’s experience.