The Writers' Union maintains a list of its members who are willing to do ghostwriting. People who want to find a ghostwriter are asked to complete this form. The completed form is then circulated to the ghostwriters. It is left to the discretion of the members on the list to reply or not. If you do not get a response, the members are not available or interested at this time.
FEES
Contracts with ghostwriters are negotiated on an individual basis. The Writers' Union has established a minimum fee schedule of which you should be aware. For a book of 200-300 pages, the Union has set a total minimum fee of $40,000, payable as follows: $6,000 on signing of agreement; $4,000 on delivery of detailed outline; $10,000 on delivery of first draft of one chapter; $10,000 on delivery of first draft of entire manuscript; and $10,000 on delivery of revised manuscript. Research fees are in addition to the above minimum writing fee.
PAYMENT
The fee is to be paid at each stage and the contract is subject to termination by either party following each payment. If there is no publishing agreement, the final payment would be made no later than 60 days of delivery of final revisions. These are suggested fees and are open to negotiation.
Ghostwriting by Marian Hebb
Anyone hiring a ghostwriter would be well advised to purchase the Union's How-to guide on ghostwriting, which covers contracts and other considerations. Learn more and purchase here.
