GHOSTWRITING FOR BEGINNERS
Types of Ghostwriters
What’s a ghostwriter hired to write?
Pick a niche and get ready for success!
If you have read my previous articles then I have revealed some of the niches that I have worked in. One of them was Ghostwriting for YouTubers. I know many of you mustn’t have heard this or wouldn’t have thought this to be a lucrative business.
There are so many niches that you can work in and make a good career in Ghostwriting. I never did it full-time because part-time income was enough for me. And above all, I can do this with my other businesses. Making money from ebooks takes a long time. We need to wait almost 90 days to get our payment (self-publishing platforms like Amazon KDP or aggregators like Draft2Digital)
If you think ghostwriting business is right for you then below are various niches that you can get started with.
Ghostwriting Niches
I am listing here a few niches that you can start with.
- Fantasy writing — I am keeping this on the top because this (along with memoir/biography) lets you make the most money. Fantasy ghostwriting involves a lot of world-building. Others charge a minimum of $100 for a small piece of work but in fantasy, the least ghostwriting cost is $390. You can check Fiverr to find out more. If you want to make money on Fiverr then you can check out my book — Fiverr for Writers — How I Made Over $2K on Fiverr as a Freelancer
- Memoir Ghostwriting — This is also the hardest one to do along with the fantasy. Capturing the experiences of your clients in written words can be a little tricky. And above that, this is again the most expensive type of ghostwriting. It can go up to $10k if done full-time.
- Christian Ghostwriting — This involves writing for a Christian audience.
- Non-fiction Ghostwriting — for me, it’s writing tech books. If you know a particular subject then you can go with this niche. This is one of the popular options out there. If you choose a niche then you can raise your price as well. I would suggest becoming an expert in the subject for more money per work!
- Academic Ghostwriting — Many argue this to be unprofessional because some companies hire ghostwriters to write papers. I met one Freelancer (Reddit stories) who wrote papers for some students in the past. You won’t make much here but this is also an option for you.
- Medical Ghostwriting — Only for those who are in this field. If you are into medicines or have a medical course then this is just the right niche for you. Pharmaceutical companies are well known to hire Medical Ghostwriters to write papers and content for their online media.
- Website content — This is what almost everyone out there do. We all know that the big bloggers earning thousands of dollars rely on Ghostwriters. They may have started writing themselves at the starting stage but later they hire people to do their tasks. If you are good at SEO then this is what I would suggest to you.
- Music Ghostwriter — If you love lyrics and big fan of music then this is just the right niche for you. And I am pretty sure you won’t be having much competition as well.
- Reviews writing — I have seen only one example where someone had made around $6k part-time writing reviews for the company. Sometimes, companies hire Ghostwriters to write reviews for themselves and sometimes…. for their competitors. I won’t go into detail but I hope you understand what this means.
- Speeches — This is the most difficult one so I have kept this at the end and of course a rare one too. If you have skills then crafting a professional speech will be easy for you. The speeches of great personalities that stir the community’s emotions often have a Ghostwriter or perhaps a team of ghostwriters. I hope you know that even people hire Ghostwriters to write wedding speeches!
Conclusion
It took me 3 months to get my first client and almost 2 months to make my first $100. It was pandemic times and hardly anyone had money to give to the freelancers. I charged very little for my services but I would advise you to raise it. Now in the AI world, you should be paid for your hard work. People still want unique and creative contents which AI can hardly provide.