How Long Does it Take to Write a Book with a Ghostwriter (2024)

FAQs

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book with a Ghostwriter? ›

So that's how ghostwriting works. It can take up to 6 months, sometimes longer, to write a book. The best part is seeing your expression when you hold your book in your hand.

I've ghostwritten 16 books and, in my experience, you can expect the ghostwriting process to take about nine months from idea to ready-to-publish manuscript.

We get that; and we're happy to help. The average author who writes a book for the first time usually will spend around 4 months to a year writing their book. Drafting it and outlining it can be done in a weekend, but in terms of raw content output, you can expect it to take somewhere between 4 to 12 months.

In some cases, the book author will want to share some of the credit with the “ghost”. In these situations, the ghostwriter is listed as a “co-author” or “editor”, even though in reality the ghostwriter actually wrote the whole thing as opposed to the “book author” (or person listed) who takes credit for it.

Typically, writing a book can take anywhere between 6-12 months (sometimes even longer). This involves thousands of hours spent researching, drafting manuscripts, and finally penning down your thoughts. With Content at Scale, you can significantly reduce this timeline.

Ghostwriting fees for a book could be charged hourly ($30 to $200), per word ($1 to $3) or per project ($5,000 to $100,000 and even more, depending on the writer's accomplishments and genre). More experienced ghostwriters tend to charge per project, with additional hourly fees if the project scope expands.

While the general answer to your question would be 'Yes!' ghostwriting is legal. Though, the manner in which you carry out your business can be subject to litigation and legal liability if you're not careful.

F. Scott Fitzgerald took nearly 3 years to write The Great Gatsby. J.K. Rowling also famously took nearly 6 years to finish Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. J.R.R Tolkien took 16 years the finish the epic Lord Of The Rings.

100,000 words is 200 pages single-spaced or 400 pages double-spaced. Typical documents that are 100,000 words or more include full-length novels. It will take approximately 333 minutes to read 100,000 words.

40,000 words is 80 pages single-spaced or 160 pages double-spaced. Typical documents that are 40,000 words include include novels, novellas, and other published books.

Can a ghostwriter steal your story? ›

A reputable ghostwriter will not steal your story. They would not even think of doing so.

Today, almost 100% of books by celebrities are written by ghostwriters or freelance writers. That might be hard to believe. But when you think about it, the number makes sense. Celebrities are incredibly busy — they're busy being a professional athlete, a politician, a musician, or whatever it is they do.

King is a well-known and well-respected author, and based on what he has said in interviews, he takes great pride in his creative process. He also seems to have quite an imagination, which helps him to develop new characters and plots. Thus, all evidence indicates that his books were written by him, and only him.

And while writing for four or five hours might work for some people, we prefer one golden hour a day. Just get your hour in, and don't fret too much about exactly how many words you've written. Instead, focus on creating a daily writing routine that you can (and want to!) stick to.

On 11 January 2007 the author stepped out of Edinburgh's Balmoral hotel having completed the last novel in the Harry Potter series — the culmination of 17 years of writing. But that wasn't all J.K. Rowling wrote while she was there…

The average paperback book ranges from 200 to 300 pages, averaging about 275 words per page. A 300-page book will have approximately 82,500 words. With consistency, it's possible to reach that word count by writing 500 words per day, seven days a week, for about five and a half months.

How much does a Ghost Writer make? As of Apr 25, 2024, the average annual pay for a Ghost Writer in the United States is $55,000 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $26.44 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,057/week or $4,583/month.

What percentage of books are ghostwritten? Most ghostwriters are bound by confidentiality agreements or NDAs. So it's hard to know exactly how many books on the bestseller list aren't actually the work of their 'authors'. In non-fiction, estimates range from 60% to a whopping 90%.

Ghostwriters are great for many reasons. They can help you save time if you are a busy CEO or entrepreneur, and they greatly reduce the amount of time you personally need to dedicate to the book-writing process. They also have a skill set that many people don't have, which saves you a lot of stress.

Yes, ghostwriters are still relevant in many industries, including book publishing, music, and content creation. Many individuals and companies hire ghostwriters to help them create high-quality content without having to spend the time and effort to do so themselves.