How to Become a Ghostwriter

All sorts of people—from celebrities to small businesses—use them, but how do you become a ghostwriter? In this post, we’ll look more closely at what ghostwriting is, what ghostwriters do, the skills necessary to become one, and how to gain experience, and find work.

What Is Ghostwriting?

The name may conjure up images of spooky goings-on, but ghostwriting has nothing to do with messages spelled out on a ouija board. The “ghost” here is simply a writer who is paid to write a piece that goes out in someone else’s name.

If you can’t get credited for your work and can’t use it in your portfolio, why, you’re probably wondering, would you become a ghostwriter? The trade-off is likely to be an increased fee. And if you love writing but dread promoting it, ghostwriting could strike the perfect balance for you.

Just as there are many types of writing, so are there many types of ghostwriting: from articles to autobiographies and blog posts to books. In this post, we’ll focus on ghostwriting blogs and articles, but the principles are applicable across the board.

What Does a Ghostwriter Do?

This might sound like a question with an obvious answer: ghostwriters write. But it’s more than that.

The clue is in the definition: the piece will go out in someone else’s name and therefore, the ghostwriter must listen to what that person wants to say and how they would like to say it.

Like any writer, a ghostwriter will need to obtain a clear brief. However, because the piece will go out in someone else’s name, a ghostwriter also needs to mimic the named author’s tone and voice. Those tasks will be common to most forms of ghostwriting.

When it comes to ghostwriting blogs and articles, a ghostwriter may also need to:

• Research the piece
• Include keywords to improve the visibility of the piece
• Include internal and external links in accordance with the named author’s requirements—ensuring, of course, that none of the external links go to a competitor

How to Become a Ghostwriter

Intrigued? Let’s have a look at the steps to becoming a ghostwriter.

1. Find Out What the Career Involves

We’ve given a brief outline, but you could get a real flavor of what is involved by reading the blogs of established ghostwriters like Mariam Mansoor Sheikh and Richard Lowe, Jr., for example.

While ghostwriters’ own blogs, and websites such as Indeed, can give a general indication, what you could earn from a career in ghostwriting will depend on the type of writing and your experience.

2. Build Relevant Skills

Once you have a good understanding of what a career as a ghostwriter involves, you can start to build the relevant skills. For example:

• Read often, widely, and actively. This is great preparation for mimicking different writing styles.
• Improve your writing skills. Have a look at our post about how to become a better writer for some tips.
• Practice mimicking different styles. This could be in your own journal, blog, or local newsletter.
• Learn about search engine optimization (SEO). This will be important to the named author because their aim will be to make their content visible, so learning about how to write SEO-friendly blog posts will be vital.

3. Gain Experience

With a good foundation of relevant skills, you can gain relevant experience. For example:

• Work as a freelance writer. Start by writing under your own name. When it comes to hiring a ghostwriter, the named author will want to see that you have the necessary writing skills.
• Work as a freelance editor. Remember those listening and style-mimicking skills we said were vital to ghostwriting? Those are the same skills required of an editor. Being able to show that you have editing experience will also show your potential clients that you have a firm grasp of spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

4. Find Work

Using your experience and skills, you can then move on to finding work as a ghostwriter. Here are some pointers for how to do that:

• Build a portfolio. Although you may not include any ghostwriting work, any work you have done as a freelance writer and/or editor will be relevant.
• Create a website. Maintaining your own blog is a great showcase for your own writing.
• Implement targeted marketing. Have you seen the sort of work you’d like to do or the company you’d like to write for? Consider emailing to ask if you could write a trial post.
• Network. Make use of professional networks—including those online, like LinkedIn—as well as your own social media.
• Use word of mouth. Tell your friends, family, and existing clients that you are available for work as a ghostwriter. You may be surprised how many ghostwriting jobs are just a couple of friends away.

Becoming A Freelance Writer

Now that you know what ghostwriting is, what a ghostwriter does, and the skills you need to become one, how about making a start? As you’ll see, a great way to gain the necessary skills and experience is to become a freelance writer. And what better way to kickstart your career than with our Becoming A Freelance Writer course. You can even try it out for free.