Sometimes people ask me why I would want to ghostwrite when I could spend the time writing under my own name or pen names.

For me, the answer is that ghostwriting provides a good income if you establish a good reputation with publishers, book packagers, and clients/authors. I’ve also become a better writer. After all, the more you write, the better you get if you are truly working on your craft and pushing yourself to always get better at it.

If you are a person that doesn’t like anonymity and it’s important that you are the one in the lime light, then ghostwriting isn’t for you. When the book does well, I’m still very excited about it, but my author is the one who is taking the bow. That is what I get paid for – to remain a ghost, in the background.

One of the books on leadership that I ghosted became an amazon best seller in Canada. I have a copy of it on the shelf with other books I’ve written and am very proud to have it there. However, it is important to remember that without the author’s ideas and message, I wouldn’t have written the book. The collaboration is a great experience, especially when you and the author really click together.

Ghostwriting has given me the opportunity to write about many different topics – nonfiction. I’ve written about overcoming fears, becoming more than you are, getting the best and most out of life, leadership in business, real estate, teaching children how to manage money, and finding your purpose.

Most ghostwriters get paid a flat fee for their work and then go on to the next project. Sometimes a ghostwriter is recognized. One of my clients recognized me in the acknowledgements of his book. Occassionally, a ghostwriter gets a small percentage of the profits/royalties on books sold.