Is Hiring a Ghostwriter Worth It?

I’ve talked about it before on this blog—hiring a quality ghostwriter isn’t cheap. And that prompts an obvious question: Is it worth it?

The simple answer is, honestly, it depends. If the only thing that will make you feel like your investment was “worth it” is selling a million copies of your book and seeing your name on bestseller lists, there’s a good chance you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Book sales are tricky and hard to predict, especially if you’re going the self-publishing route. (And if a ghostwriter promises to make your book a bestseller, consider it a major red flag.)

If you’re thinking about working with a ghostwriter, then you’ve probably already determined that working with one might be a good fit for you. The question, then, really boils down to this: is having a book written by a high-quality ghostwriter worth the money they’re charging you for it?

The good news (both for you and for ghostwriters like me) is that there are lots of other ways a book can bring value to your life and help you reach your goals, even if it doesn’t become a bestseller.

Let’s talk about a few of them.

Opportunities

Once you have a book, you get to call yourself an author. And that’s not just something cool to put on your business card or your LinkedIn profile. It’s a key that can unlock lots of doors you may not have had access to before.

Are you interested in being a public speaker (or growing your speaking business, if you already are)? Listing “author” under your credentials suddenly makes you stand out among other speakers.

You have a defined message that people will be ready to hear from you and ready-made supplemental material to offer them. Plus, speaking engagements can give you opportunities to sell more copies of the book itself.

The same can be true if you want to lead workshops, host group training sessions, or gain new clients for your coaching or consulting business.

Even if your book doesn’t sell a lot of copies—even if it never sells a single copy—the doors it can open for you can add value for you, both financially and in other ways. If you leverage your book to book speaking opportunities, the investment you made in quality ghostwriting could pay off pretty quickly.

Authority

Writing a book can quickly establish you as an authority on a subject. Putting your thoughts out into the world can prove to anyone just how much of an expert you are in your field. Plus, you get to do it without ever having to call yourself an “expert”—you can let people see for themselves.

No matter what your field is, if it’s big enough to write a book about, it’s also big enough that there are a lot of other experts in it besides you.

But not all of those people have written books. 

By writing your book, you’re separating yourself from others in your field who may have as much experience and knowledge as you. You’re putting your expertise out into the world for everyone to see. You’re becoming a thought leader.

This isn’t totally separate from opportunities. Authority and opportunities can go hand-in-hand—you may find yourself with opportunities that come your way because you’ve written your book, and then in the middle of those opportunities, the fact that you’ve written a book gives you instant credibility.

Your investment in ghostwriting supercharges your progress on the road toward this authority. A quality ghostwriter will not only get your book written faster than you’d be able to on your own—they’ll make sure you end up with a product that’s better than what you’d be able to produce on your own. 

You’ll get to do more than just say “I’m an author”—you’ll have a high-quality, well written book to back it up.

Impact

We all want to do good in the world. For some people, impacting the world with their book is just as important as the money they make from it. 

There is a lot of wisdom that stays undiscovered because people don’t share it. Again—lots of wise, experienced people haven’t written books. The people in their lives get to benefit from their wisdom, but nobody else does. 

Writing a book changes all of that. Suddenly, your story and the wisdom you’ve gained in your life are available for anyone and everyone. You’re able to impact and inspire people you’ve never even met.

One of a ghostwriter’s main jobs is helping you connect to your audience. (One of my core values is empathy—the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see the world from their perspective.) A good ghostwriter will be able to help you write in a way that resonates with the people you want to reach, keeping their needs front-and-center, all while staying authentic to you and your voice.

If you’re thinking about writing a book, there’s a good chance that you’re already impacting the world. But becoming an author can increase that impact exponentially, and working with a quality ghostwriter is a great way to get there.

So—is hiring a ghostwriter worth it? It depends. If the only way you’ll consider your investment “worth it” is selling enough copies to make you rich, it’s probably not for you.

But if you have a vision for how being an author can improve your life and work—how it can bring new opportunities, establish your authority, and increase your impact—then working with a ghostwriter is absolutely worth it. 

If you need a high-quality book to help move you toward your goals, I’d love to help. Reach out to set up a free, no-pressure consultation where we’ll talk about your story and how I can help you tell it.