When hiring a ghostwriter, you might be most concerned with what qualifications they should have. However, you may not need to be quite as concerned about their formal education and credentials as you are about their skill level in certain areas. This is because writing is not necessarily an art form that someone professionally trained for in college. Many good writers never attended college, or they received a totally different degree.
Having a college degree doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is qualified to become your ghostwriter. In other words, don’t let it put you off if the person isn’t a trained journalist or an award-winning writer. The most important criteria and qualifications really have nothing to do with higher education.
One of the first things you want to make sure of is that your ghostwriter understands their position in the task. They need to be okay with the fact that their name will not be on the work and they won’t get a byline from the content. Most ghostwriters know this in advance, but if you’re dealing with someone who’s brand-new to the business of ghostwriting, make sure it is clearly understood. Include a provision in the agreement or contract that says all rights to the work will be transferred to you.
Ghostwriters also need to be adaptable. This means that they need to be able to write in particular tones of voice and styles to match what you need. The way that you would write a highly technical document is completely different than how you would write a mystery novel. You want to make sure that your ghostwriter has the right skill set to match the tone and style that you want for your project.
Another very important part of being a ghostwriter is having great spelling and grammar skills. This is probably one of the hardest parts of hiring someone. Many times, people are good writers, but their spelling and grammar skills are lacking. Make sure that you see sample content that the ghostwriter has written before so you can assess their skills when it comes to spelling and grammar.
Being punctual is another important part of being a ghostwriter. This is because you want to make sure that the person can meet the deadlines they promise. They also need to be able to communicate with you if they have questions or any concerns about meeting deadlines. Hiring a ghostwriter who won’t stay in communication can be a very frustrating part of the process. You might have several milestones in the project where the ghostwriter commits to reaching certain points in the project by specified dates.
Finally, a ghostwriter must have good research skills. You need to be able to hand off the task and not have to worry about the ghostwriter getting lost in the process of trying to research the topic.
Consider starting your ghostwriter with a small project or two before hiring them for something larger, such as an entire book. Hire them to write some articles or short stories related to the book project and if they do well, hire them for your larger project. You may have to try out (and pay) several writers before finding the one who is right for your project.
There are many excellent ghostwriters available to assist with your projects. It may take some trial and error, but you will be able to find the writer you need.
