How Ghostwriting Works: A five-step guide to writing a book

There is an art to ghostwriting a successful nonfiction book. You (the author) bring your ideas, your knowledge, and your experiences to the table. The writer brings their mastery with words - plus that little extra magic all great ghostwriters need.

Mimicry, to replicate your voice so you feel comfortable claiming the writing as your own. Marketing acumen, to ensure your book is perfectly tailored to your audience, genre, and market. Experience, to know what will thrill your readers.

In short, we make better books, more quickly, by taking the hard work off your hands. But how exactly do we do it?

This is a question I get asked a lot by aspiring authors, so today I’ve decided to share my tried and tested five step process for ghostwriting a nonfiction book. My industry is often shrouded in mystery – but there’s no good reason it should be.

Step 1: Planning how your book will appeal to readers

Any ghostwriter worth their salt should begin by asking two questions. Who will read your book, and what do you want it to achieve?

Often when I first ask my aspiring authors these questions, their answers are quite vague. ‘Everyone will like my story’, they say, or ‘I want my book to be a bestseller’. It is my job to help them delve deeper to reveal the nuances, because before you can create a book that resonates with readers you first need to understand who they are, what they want from you, and how they will interact with the knowledge you are sharing. Getting to grips with your audience demographics is key to crafting a story that succeeds, and should shape the style, tone, and content of your book.

A good ghostwriter should also help you refine your objectives. Do you want to entertain readers, educate them, or convince them of a particular point of view for instance? What purpose will it serve for them? And what key messages are you aiming to get across?

How ghostwriting works: A five step guide to writing a book

Step 2: Capturing your story, in your unique voice

A common misconception is that ghostwriters can only write about topics they are already an expert in, but the mark of a good nonfiction ghostwriter is the ability to quickly learn all the information you plan to share in your book, and then express it in a way your readers can understand and enjoy. Often, a little detachment from the topic is helpful. It makes it easier to get inside the minds of your readers and see the content how they will see it, fresh for the first time, without the blinkers of previous knowledge.

Relaxed ghostwriting interviews are key to this. Your ghostwriter should be skilled at asking the right questions, nudging the conversation in helpful directions to draw out all the knowledge, experiences, and opinions that will form the basis of your book. At the same time, they will be learning more about you. Your likes and viewpoints, and the way you think and express yourself. This can help them mimic your unique voice so they can write in a way that is true to you – and reflects how you want to be perceived by readers.

Step 3: Creating a comprehensive book outline

Your manuscript must be well-structured if readers are to understand and enjoy it. Your ghostwriter will need to construct a narrative that builds progressively throughout your book, taking your reader on a journey from the first page to the last.

Expect your ghostwriter to provide you with a detailed Book Outline. This should contain a chapter-by-chapter breakdown which clearly explains the content, objective, and key messages of each chapter, and how they link to the chapters before and after. If your book outline is vague or merely repeats information you have already provided, this could be a sign your ghostwriter doesn’t have enough experience to advise you on the best structure for your book.

Step 4: Writing the first draft of your manuscript

Now we come to the part of the process everyone is familiar with – the actual writing of your book. Expect your ghostwriter to provide you with a clear timeline for what you will receive and when, including a ‘test chapter’ to check you are happy with the writing style and can request changes to the voice.

Step 5: Getting your book publish-ready

In the editing and revisions stage you should have the chance to offer feedback and request changes to your manuscript. Assuming your book has been well-planned, this stage should be more about tweaking the final product than rewriting entire sections of your book.

It might be tempting to skip steps to cut costs, especially if you are looking for a ghostwriter to rewrite, perfect, or complete a manuscript you have already begun. But be careful - every step serves a purpose, and the quality of your book could suffer if you miss an essential part of the process.

Your key messaging, audience targeting, structure, or ‘voice’ will probably still need some tinkering by a professional writer, however far along your writing journey you are. The savings come by dedicating less ghostwriter time to each stage, not by skipping them altogether.

My advice, let the writing expert judge what your book needs to make it great.

An Invisible Woman blog, by Lucy Prioli, specialist nonfiction ghostwriter @ Cambridge Ghostwriting Company