So You Want to Be a Ghostwriter?

My ten-step guide to everything you need to know

A friend of mine contacted me recently as she was interested in exploring a memoir idea. She wanted to know how you go about pitching a memoir. I first, of course, directed her to this piece that I wrote last month – my ten-step plan for getting a narrative non-fiction deal.

It is worth me mentioning, that if you have a non-fiction project or memoir that you would like to get off the ground, you can upgrade to a gold membership with me which will give you a 45-minute one-to-one where we can talk through your project and I can help you shape it. I always forget to mention how to work one-to-one with me.

Free subscribers can do that here:

Otherwise, drop me an email: annawharton@substack.com

But back to ghostwriting, the memoir that my friend wanted to shape into a pitch was a ghostwriting project, people seem curious about the life and work of a ghostwriter, so I thought I would write a ten-step guide to becoming one.

Firstly, some housekeeping, here is what you need to know about me in case you don’t already. I have ghosted nine (I think at last count) memoirs, some of them have been Sunday Times Bestsellers, one was longlisted for The Orwell Prize, there have also been among them a Radio Four Book of the Week, A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick and a Spectator Book of the Year 2023. I have also managed to bag three six-figure deals based on proposals that I have written, and so you could say I know my onions on this topic. You can find out a little more about me and my books here.

But there is a little more to ghosting than you might imagine, below I will explain all you need to know to become a ghostwriter. I hope you’ll understand why this post is for my paid subscribers only, it takes a while to put useful pieces like these together, and so see it as an act of reciprocity, I share wisdom with you in exchange for you supporting my work for the price of a slightly expensive coffee, enabling me to keep on writing posts like this one.

And so, how to be a ghostwriter: