Do you want to self publish books to start making money, or adding another revenue stream to your business, yet you do not think you’re a savvy writer?
Chances are you’re debating on writing a book yourself, or you’ve already made up your mind that you want to outsource this task to a ghostwriter.
However, how do you know which ghostwriter service will work best for you and your needs? Should you hire a ghostwriting service or a ghostwriter freelancer?
Listen, I do not want you to go through the agony of “testing” out these services.
Truth be told, I have already done most of that for you, and it is not a fun experience for you or your bank account…
Today, I have four clear-cut ghostwriter service recommendations for you.
First, though, I have to let you in on something that gets forgotten when first-time or novice outsource Kindle publishers use these types of services.
I do not want you to use any of the services on this page without you knowing this and blaming me a month down the road.
So let’s cover “this” so you can become a savvy outsource self publisher.
Table of Contents
Before You Outsource A Single Book
The first rule of outsourcing books is: The quality of your book content is a direct reflection of how good your content request instructions are.
Read that line again. Let that sink in.
That means you cannot just fill out the order forms of these ghostwriting services and tell them to have your assigned ghostwriter “write me a book on X topic” and expect it to be quality.
If you believe that, I have some swampland in Florida you can buy.
Hopefully, this hasn’t been you and will not be you in the near future. If it has, then this article will help you out today.
So what do you do instead?
Create Your “Ghostwriter Instruction/Outline” Document
You do exactly what any author whose writing their own book would do. You create a detailed outline for your book. This is the secret to getting started with any writing project.
When I used to outsource my book writing (a lot more than I do now), I would create an outline/instructions in a Word (or PDF) document for these ghostwriting services.
I would attach this document upon my order. All ghostwriter services have a spot on their order page to attach a file. Or you can simply upload this file to the cloud of your choice (and get with the times…).
This file would include things like:
- my expectations for the book,
- what I wanted and didn’t want (title page/table of contents/conclusion paragraph etc.),
- my desired word count,
- things to avoid: wordiness, passive voice, and such reminders,
- the font size and styles I wanted for Headings and paragraph content.
This list was based on my preferences. Yours might be different.
For example, I didn’t want them, including a title page or table of contents, because that’s something that I liked to do on my own.
Depending on your level of “I’ll do that part myself,” what’s included in your document will vary.
Spy On Your Competitor’s Amazon Reviews
Additionally, if this book were going to be published on Amazon one day, I would research my competitor’s reviews.
Why?
Because most outsource, self publishers don’t take the time to do the step I’m explaining to you right now! And as a result, they get negative reviews on their books.
And on top of that, they’re probably not using the services I’m going to show you today!
Back to the Word/PDF document…
I’d include a Review section saying, “please look at the following reviews and the notes assigned to each…this is what I want you to avoid happening in this book you are about to write.”
I would screenshot each of these reviews and put them in my document. Here are some examples of what I would say:
“This review said they wanted more detailed information about _________.”
“This book is getting complaints about having no citations or references to provide X content… no dates in the material or anything, so please include them.”
Get the idea?
Good.
Include A Section For Your Book’s Reader Avatar
And lastly, I would provide a section for my Reader Avatar.
This is where I would explain who my target reader is, so the ghostwriter understands exactly who they’re writing this book for.
A good writer will know about reader avatars, so go ahead and include this section in your document.
An Example of What This Looks Like
Here’s an example of what one of my “Ghostwriter Instruction Documents” looked like.
(Click on images below to zoom in).
Use the above example as a guide.
You can add more or less to your ghostwriting “project details file” if you wish… just don’t skip this step! Don’t be a short-cut-er!
I’ve just given you the formula to outsourcing quality books…the rest is on you, my friend.
Let’s move forward with the list.
The Best Ghostwriter Services for Kindle Self Publishing
In no particular order, here’s my recommended ghostwriting services list for self publishers based on my experience.
The following companies will have native English writers and be 100% plagiarism-free. These services ghostwrite non-fiction and fiction books.
The Writing Summit
Pros
- 3 Options for Ghostwriting Services
- Quality Writers
- On-Time Delivery
Cons
- Delivery Time Could Improve for Lower Tier Packages
Call me a rebel, but when a course I was following recommended a certain service (and only that service)…
I let others be fed up with that service and their lack of quality books and set out to find another solution.
That solution came in the form of The Writing Summit (TWS for short). I haven’t got a book delivered from them that wasn’t exactly what I asked for (see section above).
Let’s look into their pricing table.
| Package 1 | Package 2 | Package 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writer Skill | Top Writer | Intermediate Writer | Budget Writer |
| Delivery Time | 13 days or less | 15 days | 24 days or less |
| Edited | |||
| Proofread | |||
| Pricing | $2.69 per 100 words | $2.49 per 100 words | $1.99 per 100 words |
For more details, check out their site at TheWritingSummit.com.
This service and the others on the list are a little more pricey than what you’ll see recommended in Kindle publishing courses.
However, remember this: you get what you pay for.
Hot Ghost Writer
Pros
- 2 Options for Ghostwriting Services
- Quality Writers
- On-Time & Fast Delivery
- Order Upgrades Available
Cons
- A Little Pricey Starting At $2.7/100 Words
Hot Ghost Writer (HGW for short) is a bit new to the ghostwriting services scene.
However, if you’ve shopped around for ghostwriting services (specifically for Amazon books), you’ll notice they’ve done their homework.
You can tell that this ghostwriting company knows its target customer: a self publisher on Amazon.
For example, taking a look at their homepage, you’ll clearly see they pull at the heartstrings of outsourcing self publishers (“fast turnover, unlimited revisions, professional editing & proofreading, ready-to-publish books”).
I’ve gone through actual HGW manuscripts and can attest to their quality of books and the ghostwriters who work there. (In fact, the next book I get ghostwritten will be by them).
This company works a little differently than the others on this list.
Here, you have 2 ghostwriting e-book options:
- Standard E-Book Writing,
- Technical E-Book Writing.
Option 1 is for non-technical topics like:
- self-help books,
- history books,
- fiction and novels,
- biographies,
- sports, fitness & dieting,
- minimalism,
- business topics,
- and cookbooks.
While Option 2 is for books topics such as:
- programming related books,
- bitcoin & cryptocurrency,
- trading,
- investment topics,
- STEM topics,
- medical topics,
- social media marketing,
- and strategy books.
Naturally, Option 2 will cost more than your standard e-book option.
Now, let me show you where Hot Ghost Writer differentiates itself from other services.
Let’s say I’m ordering a Standard E-book.
This is the first ghostwriting service that I’ve seen have some sort of “upgrade offer.” So massive props for their online marketing intuition.
The two upgrade options are the All-Inclusive Package and the Essential Package.
Having these upgrades can be a real help to self publishers who don’t have the time to do everything themselves (the All-Inclusive Package and Essential Package).
They’ve potentially eliminated the need for going to Fiverr (or fill-in-the-blank freelance service) to get these other time-consuming self publishing tasks done.
And the 40 stock-free images is quite a nice bonus too (available in the All-Inclusive Package).
However, there are self publishers like me who like to select only a few things from the list.
For example, if I only wanted to order proofreading and editing as an upgrade, I’d have to add a book to my cart and then go to their and the “Shop” page to order proofreading and editing service for my order.
I’d love an upgrade option just for certain upgrades. (The All-Inclusive and Essential Package upgrades come with editing and proofreading – see this page for more info on all their services).
And lastly, their delivery time is surprisingly good! As an outsource self publisher, you want your product delivered ASAP so you can start getting momentum.
See image below for more details:
Write Articles For Me
Pros
- 1 Flat Price of $2.50/100 words For All Orders
- Quality Writers
Cons
- Delivery Time Can Improve
- Communication Can Improve
WriteArticlesForMe.com was the first writing service I ever used mainly because it was recommended by K Money Mastery (review article link), which was my first self publishing course.
Although they cost a flat $2.5 per 100 words, they get the job done well.
The book they wrote for me, back then, sold for almost a year on the first page of the book’s keyword (bouncing between #2-5). So, the quality was 100% there.
The reason it stopped selling is that I stopped trying to get reviews and only reset it for its Free Promotion (a promo Amazon lets you do – offering your book for free for five days) every 90 days.
After a while, not replenishing reviews the way mainstream courses taught hurt the book’s rankings. PLUS, I didn’t build an authority platform around this book, so it stopped selling. These days it’s living on page 2 (RIP).
That being said, their delivery time could be improved. I recall the book being great and edited. However, it took almost a month to get back to me. The due date went past due, and they made up an excuse to buy time (at least in my opinion, this is what happened).
Perhaps things have changed, though. Write Articles For Me has good writers; however, they’ve not adapted their services to the level of the previous two on our list.
UpWork
Pros
- Lowers Your $ Per Words Cost
- Potential Quality Writer Relationships
- More Direct Communication With Your Writer
Cons
- It Takes Time To Hire And Vet Each Writer Applicant
- Risk of Wasting Time On Bad Hire
UpWork might not be a ghostwriting service, but it does have great ghostwriters.
The challenge here is finding a good freelance ghostwriter.
Yet, once you find a few good ghostwriters, you’ll have a choice of quality writers for a lower price than the aforementioned ghostwriting services.
It boils down to time vs. money.
Do you want to spend the time to get a good ghostwriter off Upwork (one of the biggest freelance communities online), or do you want to pay more upfront?
If you’re willing to take the time to hire writers from Upwork, here’s what I do:
- make sure they’re native English speakers,
- (although Kenyan writers are quite good with their command of English writing and grammar),
- look over their credentials,
- ask for samples of their past client work,
- and look at their client reviews.
You’ll have freelance writers apply to the job you post on Upwork.
If you’ve never done this on Upwork, create an account on Upwork.com and then post a job.
Here’s how to quickly and easily post a job:
Make sure to communicate and vet writers according to the UpWork list when you’re posting your job content (be super detailed on what YOU want from your writer applicants).
Not too bad, right?
This is the fourth and final option for getting your book ghostwritten for this article.
Remember to use your “Ghostwriter Instruction/Outline” document with each of these options (even on Upwork!).
Conclusion
Did you expect outsourcing your book writing to ghostwriting service to be a little easier or more simple?
If so, apologies for the rude awakening :).
Outsourcing a book takes as much planning and strategic thinking as writing one yourself. The steps before writing your book or outsourcing your book are the same.
And this is where your Ghostwriter Instruction/Outline comes in. Your document needs to be as specific as possible so you can get a quality book delivered.
Whether you go for the writing services in this article makes no difference. However, you can rest assured that the 4 services covered in this article will give you the bang for your buck.
Just remember:
READ: Your ghostwritten book quality will be directly proportional to your instructions.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
Are there other services you’re interested in? (I have used others that didn’t make the list in this article).
To your self-publishing success,
— John
P.S.
In the past, I used other services that were a little cheaper than the ones in this article. However, I like to zig when most people zag.
And I was on to something!
For example, after taking Steve’s Authority Pub Academy course, I realized that professional quality ghostwritten books come from legit services that aren’t serving the masses of Kindle publishers.
Instead, they’re serving online marketers & self publishers who’ve got their shi#@ together (pardon the French).
Case and point: Steve uses Archangel (explained in his course), a higher tier ghostwriting service.
You don’t need to go that expensive, but as I said in this article, it all boils down to the instructions YOU provide.
