Components of the Written Agreement with Your Ghostwriter

Your ghost writer is among your more intimate service providers on the one hand. This is a person to whom you are committing your innermost thoughts and feelings and allowing them to take you and your ideas and expose you on paper.

On the other hand, it is a professional partnership that requires legal protection for both you and the service provider. A typical author/ghostwriter agreement for books and ebooks will include six paramount clauses: 

1.    Preamble: as you negotiate on various aspects of the writing project, you will need to discuss the scope of the book including presentation, pagination, the size of the manuscript in pages and/or words, technical pages, the purpose of the material they are to prepare, and such details. These should be in writing on the preamble section of the agreement. 

2.    Manuscript rights: a ghostwriter does not own the ideas in a manuscript. Unlike writing for a newspaper or a magazine where the writer has a byline, a ghost writer gets no credit for the work done. They are your pen writing in your voice and giving your ideas form. That means they cannot publish that work anywhere else ever!
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More information: answers to frequent author questions
•    The most efficient way to author your own book
•    Why people are shy to publicize they worked with a ghostwriter
•    Ten tips to a successfully completed ghostwriter project
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3.    Confidentiality: because it is unethical for a ghostwriter to say they are the writers of your work, you can read the reasons here, and for the legal protection of your intellectual property, it is imperative that the ghostwriter commits to confidentiality. A ghost writer who contravenes this legal provision is liable to a legal suit.

How does a ghost writer publicize their work then? A ghost writer is permitted to make mention that they have successfully published works without specific reference. In this provision, some ghostwriters will display excerpts of work done on their portfolio. Generally the industry likes to assume that the ghost writer is intelligent enough not to have your entire work on show.

In my opinion, especially because I have seen complete works on the internet posing proudly on a ghostwriter's portfolio (to my uttermost horror I must add), at the end of your project, ask to see what the ghost writer will post to their portfolio about your work to ensure it is an excerpt.

The best way to curb that potential though is to make mention of your ghostwriter in your technical pages. That way, if they plaster your technical page on their portfolio it serves them and serves you. Read how to do that in this article.

Typically there is a fraternity of authors that readers do not traverse. Within this fraternity a ghostwriter can give, and a professional one is happy to, the contact of an author (with permission) as a referee of the abilities of the ghostwriter. 

4.    Payment: the payment process works best when stipulated in the agreement. It should include the milestones and the indicators for each specific milestone, and the amounts payable.

The payment clauses work two ways: they must clearly state what you have agreed you will get in exchange for the amount you are paying. They must also clearly state the work expected, the time when it is due and what the ghost writer is to receive in exchange. 

Many ghostwriters ensure their pay by withholding the latest versions of the work until they receive the previous milestone payment. If your relationship has completely degenerated to power-games level, they may put the work of the next stage on hold too until they receive the previous milestone payment.

Warning: grumpy, whiny, and dissatisfied ghost writers are not as few as the industry would like them to be. Woe unto you if you land with one of those because you may need to pull out all your 'I am mature and I can handle this' affirmations to get through the project. In the same breath, grumpy and dissatisfied authors are… let's just say they are there.

Bottom line is this; if you are both mature and work within normal standards of mutual respect, you will go through your project pleasantly. 

5.    Timelines: all writing projects must have an agreed start and end date with stipulated milestones agreed upon by both parties.

6.    Exit clause: in the event of the project terminating before its logical and natural completion, then what? Again, this cuts two ways; you and your work and the ghost writer and their pay.
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More information: answers to frequent author questions
•    The most efficient way to author your own book
•    Six steps to find and hire a ghostwriter for your book or ebook
•    Can I afford ghost writing services to write my book or ebook?
•    Why people are shy to publicize they worked with a ghostwriter
•    Ten tips to a successfully completed ghostwriter project