I Make More Money With Less Ghostwriting Projects

less actually means more

Photo by Moritz Kindler on Unsplash

For more money — Fiction Ghostwriting

For side hustle — Non-fiction ghostwriting

Period.

I am sure you must have heard about James Patterson. His names come next to JK Rowling and Nora Roberts. They are top billionaire living authors today.

I already had some idea about the female top writers but never read much from any male writers. Chances are because I really loved books with female leads.

being a writer I always loved seeing others’ daily routines. I was actually interested in knowing how many word counts these author try to complete in a single day.

We all know about JK Rowling. Now about Nora Roberts. as much as I know, she along with Janet Dailey tends to complete 1 book in 40 or 45 days. Their books are often full-length novels so that’s like writing around 70k word count in 45 days. That is a lot to take in!

But the third name seemed to be a little intriguing to me. I never heard of him before. But thought to check out how he was able to complete so many books per year. That was even more than Nora and Janet.

After a few reads, I came to know that his secret was Ghostwriting.

Even top Writers hire Ghostwriters

I never knew this before I started reading about James Patterson. I write most of his books with sometimes he collaborates or lets his assistant complete the story for him. He would sometimes write a rough draft and hire someone to complete it.

Smart move. Writers are getting into business now!

If you are into self-publishing then you must know this already. There are many writers out there who wrote the starting books and later due to workload hired unknown writers to complete their story. Sometimes you will see the name (most of the time) and sometimes not. It all depends on the contract.

Similar to James Patterson’s case, he does mention the names of the writers he collaborated with.

Fiction writing vs. Non-Fiction Ghostwriting

If you are looking to get into this business then it’s necessary to pick one side. either you go for the non-fiction category or fiction. The more you write a story in a particular category, the more you’ll make money.

This is one of the reasons why I stick to non-fiction, all the time.

Writing fiction is very different from writing non-fiction. Getting into fiction writing means you need to pay attention to grammar. fiction readers never forgive grammar mistakes ( while romance readers do… always)

I will elaborate a little further as to the differences between writing both categories.

Fiction Ghostwriting —

1. Requires more time to complete
2. More energy. I used to take 1 month for a rough draft.
3. More opportunities. People often search for fiction ghostwriters
4. People buy fiction more than non0fction
5. Some categories make more money — Thriller, fantasy books
6. Not suitable for a side hustle.

Non-Fiction Ghostwriting —

1. Requires less time to complete.
2. Best for those who want to work for YouTubers.
3. Materials can be reused (tweaked in a smart way)
4. Less energy. so best for side hustlers and even for those who are looking for full-time.

How much do Ghostwriters earn

I am not aware of how Ghostwriters charge per hour. I have seen this on Fiverr but have never done this myself. for me, I charge per project. if the project is long, I’ll set a milestone for it.

• Beginner Ghostwriters: No projects. Rates might range from $15 to $40 per hour or $5,000 to $10,000 per book project.
• Intermediate Ghostwriters: Only a few projects here and there. $40 to $100 per hour or $10,000 to $25,000 per book project.
• Expert Ghostwriters: With years of projects under their belt. $100 to $200+ per hour or $25,000 to $100,000+ per book project.

Screenshot from Fiverr

screenshot from Fiverr

What type of content can you write as a ghostwriter?

1. Ebooks — These are top earners when it comes to Ghostwriting
2. YouTube script writing — This is where I got started. I started with $12 but will advise you to go further than this.
3. Article writing — for this, you need knowledge of SEO.
4. Lead magnets — Often in the form of ebooks but just to sell their expensive courses or services
5. Social Media content — This I discovered recently. I never thought that top Twitter writers make most of their income from Ghostwriting services!

Conclusion

Your first work will give you goosebumps. I have experienced the same with my first project.

Change is small when you know nothing about the work you are doing. But I strongly advise you to charge properly. I mean not to charge just a few dollars for a whole ebook! This I have seen personally on Upwork. Ghostwriters charge way too much for a mega project. Don’t do this.

You need a long-term client. because only this way you will make more money.

Less Client = Quality Work = More money.

Period.

If you are interested in making money on Fiverr then do check out my ebook — How I Made Over $2K on Fiverr as a Freelancer (Part-Time).

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