Hiring a Ghostwriter for an Ebook: Scope, Timeline and Rights

An ebook is often the first book an expert puts out: a guide for clients, a free download that grows a mailing list, or a first title on Amazon. If you know the subject but don’t have the hours to write it, you can hire a ghostwriter to write it in your voice, under your name. This guide covers what to decide first, what to send, how long it takes, what it costs with us, and what your contract should say. The brief builder below turns your answers into a brief you can send to any writer.

What counts as an ebook when you hire a ghostwriter

An ebook is any book sold or shared as a digital file, from a short free guide to a full novel. For hiring, what matters is the job the ebook does, because that decides who should write it.

Our ghostwriting starts at 20,000 words. Many business guides and first titles work well at 20,000 to 30,000 words; shorter ebooks have other routes, covered below.

Decide the scope before you contact a writer

Decide six things before you contact a writer, because a writer can quote and plan only what you can describe:

1. Purpose. Sell it, give it away, or use it to win clients. A free ebook that grows your newsletter is often called a reader magnet.
2. Reader. One kind of reader, described in a sentence: who they are and what they want from the book.
3. Length. A range, such as 20,000 to 25,000 words. The length is a guide; a good writer won’t pad a book to reach it.
4. Chapters. A rough list of the questions or stages the book covers. The writer turns it into a full chapter plan.
5. Where it lives. On Amazon, decide early whether to enroll the ebook in KDP Select, which makes that ebook exclusive to the Kindle Store for each 90-day term (public libraries aside); print editions can still be sold elsewhere. A free download sits on your own website. If an ebook is in KDP Select, you can’t also give it away on your website, but you can give away a different free ebook there. KDP’s Kindle content quality guide doesn’t allow links to web forms that ask for customer information such as an email address, so check it before adding a newsletter link to the back of a Kindle ebook (as of October 2026).
6. Deadline. Work back from a launch date, an event or a course start, and leave time for your reviews.

Ebook brief builder

Fill in this form to get a one-page brief you can email to any ghostwriter.

What to send your ghostwriter

The more of your own material the writer has, the more the ebook sounds like you and the less the writer has to research from scratch. Useful material:

• Talks, slides and course modules you already teach from.
• Podcast, video or webinar recordings, or their transcripts.
• The questions clients ask you often, with your usual answers. These often become chapters.
• Stories and examples from your work, with names changed where needed.
• Data and studies you quote, with their sources, so the writer can cite them correctly.
• Writing samples: emails, posts or articles in your own words, so the writer can match your voice.
• Your chapter list, even a rough one. Our guide to a chapter outline shows what a full one looks like.

Only send quotes, images and charts you have permission to use. Material copied from other books or websites shouldn’t go in your ebook without the owner’s permission, unless it’s in the public domain, and KDP doesn’t accept copyrighted content that’s freely available online unless you hold the rights.

Timeline for a 20,000 to 30,000-word ebook

With us, a ghostwritten book of 20,000 to 30,000 words takes 8 to 12 weeks, including 2 rounds of changes and up to 3 hours of interviews. It follows the same six-step process as a full-length book:

Your review time is built into the 8 to 12 weeks. Extra rounds, or more time on your side, add to it. If you also want a paperback, the Launch-Ready Starter bundle takes 10 to 14 weeks.

What a ghostwritten ebook costs: a worked example

Our ghostwriting is priced per word by genre: 33¢ for fiction, 55¢ for non-fiction and 68¢ for memoir, from 20,000 words. Every word is written by a human writer, and the price includes interviews, rounds of changes and all four editing levels (developmental, line, copy and proofreading). See our ghostwriting rates by genre for longer books.

Example: Daniel is a physical therapist who wants a 20,000-word ebook on back pain for desk workers, to sell on Amazon and give to clients.

At 25,000 words, the ghostwriting is $13,750. The same 20,000 words as a novella would be $6,600, and as a memoir $13,600.

If Daniel also wants a paperback, the Launch-Ready Starter bundle covers writing a 20,000-word non-fiction book, a print-ready cover, formatting for all three editions and Online Stores publishing (Kindle and paperback on Amazon, plus Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and Google Play), for $12,239. Publishing the hardcover on Amazon adds $79. With us, you get flexible, milestone-based payments, set out in your agreement before work starts.

Writers price in a few ways: per word, per project or per hour. Whichever you’re quoted, check what’s included (interviews, rounds of changes, editing) so you compare like with like.

Rights, credit and AI: what the contract should say

Your contract should assign you all the rights in writing, say when they transfer, and cover credit, confidentiality, AI and what happens if the fit is wrong. Read it before you pay a deposit. For an ebook, check that it says:

• You own all the rights, including audio and translated editions, through a written assignment from the writer.
• When the rights transfer. With us, 100% of the rights transfer to you on final payment.
• No royalty share and no writer credit, unless you agree otherwise.
• Confidentiality, with an NDA signed before work starts.
• Who writes it. Ask whether every word is written by a person.
• What happens if the fit is wrong, such as a replacement writer or a way to end the contract.

Don’t rely on the phrase “work made for hire” alone. Under US copyright law, a commissioned work counts as a work made for hire only if it falls in one of nine categories and both sides sign a written agreement that expressly calls it a work made for hire (US Copyright Office Circular 30, revised August 2024). So make sure the contract also includes a written assignment of all rights from the writer to you, and have a lawyer review the rights clause if you’re unsure.

On AI: KDP asks you to disclose AI-generated text, images or translations when you publish. Content you or your writer wrote, with AI used only to edit or check it, is AI-assisted and doesn’t need disclosing (as of October 2026). Our guide on what KDP asks you to disclose about AI has the detail.

Ebooks under 20,000 words: other routes

If your ebook is shorter, you have these routes:

• A freelance writer for short pieces. Many freelance writers take short guides and lead magnets. Ask for samples at your length and check the contract points above. Our guide on how to find a ghostwriter covers where to look.
• Widen the scope to 20,000 words. Some short guides grow into a fuller book once the chapter list is written down.
• Write it yourself. Our guide on how to write a non-fiction book walks through planning and drafting.
• Get your draft edited. If you’ve written it already, edit the draft you have instead of starting again. A $49 sample edit of up to 1,000 words shows which edit it needs.

Whatever you write, book coaching is another route: a coach reads your pages and keeps you on schedule while you write.

When to get help

If you have the knowledge and a reason to publish but not the time to write, a ghostwriter gets you a finished ebook in your name without writing it yourself. Our writers are matched to your genre, and a project manager is your single contact throughout the project.

Ebook ghostwriting questions

Can a ghostwriter write an ebook shorter than 20,000 words?

Yes, many freelance writers take short ebooks such as lead magnets and short guides. AuthorWings starts at 20,000 words, because every book includes interviews, a chapter plan, rounds of changes and all four editing levels. For a shorter piece, ask any writer for samples at your length and a contract that assigns you all the rights.

Can I publish a ghostwritten ebook on Amazon under my own name?

Yes. Once the rights are yours, you publish the ebook on KDP under your name or a pen name. KDP’s metadata guidelines don’t mention ghostwriters; the author field is for the book’s main contributor, and contributor fields such as editor are optional. KDP asks you to disclose AI-generated content only; a human writer’s help needs no disclosure.

Can I give a ghostwritten ebook away as a free download?

Yes. Once you own the rights, you decide how the ebook is shared, including as a free download in exchange for a newsletter signup. Many authors use a free ebook this way as a reader magnet. If you enroll it in KDP Select, that ebook must be exclusive to the Kindle Store for each 90-day term, so you can’t give it away elsewhere while it’s enrolled.

How many interview hours does a ghostwritten ebook need?

With us, a book of 20,000 to 30,000 words includes up to 3 hours of interviews. Your writer plans the hours on your first call. If you send talks, recordings or course material, the interviews can focus on your stories, opinions and the way you explain things.

Will my ghostwriter format and publish the ebook?

Not as part of the writing fee. Your manuscript arrives as a Word file and a PDF, and KDP accepts Word files for ebooks. We can format it ($89 for an ebook up to 20,000 words), design the ebook cover ($199) and set it up on Amazon ($249), or you can choose the Launch-Ready Starter bundle, which puts the writing, cover, formatting and publishing of the ebook and paperback on one contract.

Related reading

• How to Build an Author Newsletter
• Can AI Write a Book?
• How to Write a Book Outline