Hi, jamesmore!
Welcome!
Well, your questions on ghostwriting sort of depend on what you want them to do, but it isn't cheap! When people think of the term 'ghostwriting' they often have very different images of what that entails, so here are some questions to help you focus your goals.
1. Do you plan to have your name as author of the book, so that the ghostwriter gets no credit, or will it be an "as told to", like,
By: John Smith, as told to by James More?
Those are two different prices
2. Do you intend the ghostwriter to do ALL of the research, including fact checking, interviews, etc., or will you do all that, so all the writer is going to do is compile your information into well written sentences and then leave? That will require YOU to do all the editing, proofreading, etc.
3. Do you already have some chapters that you've written that you want the ghostwriter to rework and then complete the remainder of the book?
4. Do you want to pay the ghostwriter with cash, or with a share of the royalties? Keep in mind that some ghostwriters won't just write for one or the other. Some will want both cash PLUS a share of the royalties.
But here are the basics. This is from the 2005 Writer's Market, which is pretty up to date info gathered from a variety of sources.
Ghostwriting, as told to:
High Per Hour Rate $100
Low Per Hour Rate $25
Average Per Hour Rate $55
Average Per Project (250 pages) $40,555 (not including royalties)
Ghostwriting, no credit:
High Per Hour Rate $113
Low Per Hour Rate $25
Average Per Hour Rate $67
Average Per Project (250 pages) $37,091
For the "extras", like research, proofreading their own work, etc.
Research:
High Per Hour Rate $100
Low Per Hour Rate $17
Average Per Hour Rate $44
Rewriting:
High Per Hour Rate $200
Low Per Hour Rate $20
Average Per Hour Rate $62
Average Per Project (250 pages) $8,500
Most writers will expect half the cash up front as a single payment so that they can write the book and pay their mortgage and groceries. It's harder to find a ghostwriter that will do only royalties, unless you've already got a well-known publisher under contract. You MIGHT be able to work out monthly payments for an hourly rate, but professional ghostwriters are very much like loan sharks. Don't pay and they go away and refuse to turn over what they've completed to date. (Hopefully, no broken legs!
)
Does that help?
