Should you become a career ghostwriter? 👻

Finally! Real pros and cons of ghostwriting from someone who's not trying to sell you an online course! 😂

Last week, I had an insightful conversation with a new Substack follower about what it’s like to work as a freelance ghostwriter. He asked some really good questions, and as someone who writes weekly articles about career writing, it occurred to me that it might benefit my readers to have a clear list of the pros and cons of ghostwriting.

While I always appreciate paid Substack subscriptions, I’m offering this info completely free. No gatekeeping; no hooking you in to try and sell you a multi-thousand dollar course or consulting service. Promise!

I’ve experienced each of these pros and cons in my own ghostwriting journey (whether or not I was prepared for them 😂). If you’re a career writer or freelancer, I’m sure you’ve faced other pros/cons that aren’t listed in this post. I’d love it if you’d share them in the comments! The goal of this post is to serve as a quick resource for those considering upgrading their love of writing to a major commitment or full-time job.

Without further ado, here’s my list…

✅ Pros of Freelance Ghostwriting:

• Remote work benefits: As a freelancer, you typically get to work remotely! This comes with many benefits, such as being able to decide when and where you work. You can work around your other commitments, other people’s schedules, and your own needs, all while still getting work done to support yourself. A big perk of remote work is that you can take time off when it’s most convenient for you by simply lightening your workload or adjusting your availability.

• Choosing your own niche: You get to choose (generally) what you write about! While it’s typically a good idea to choose a writing niche, which I’ve written more about here, you have the freedom to decide what that focus area is. Write about something you love and for the types of clients that you enjoy working with!

• Picking and choosing clients: It’s especially possible to choose who you want to work with once you have a strong writing portfolio and adequate freelance work coming in. You can opt to work with the clients that treat and pay you well, and say “no” to those that lowball you or don’t give you the respect that you deserve. Try to understand early on that some clients respect freelancers, while others don’t. Work with those that respect your abilities and pay you fairly!

• Work better, make more: If you have extra time and want to make more money, you can take on more clients. If life gets busy (or you want to take a vacation!) and you need a lighter load, you can work on less projects. How much you make and how efficiently you work determines your salary, keeping you from being confined to the fixed salary of most 8-5s. Remember, though, this principle goes both ways; if you don’t have a self-driven work mindset, you’re going to have trouble making money as a freelancer. You have to put in the time and energy to be successful. Unless you’ve got some wild connections, opportunities don’t just fall in your lap!

  
  

  • Please notice that I didn’t say “work harder, make more.” As a freelancer, it’s not always a linear equation where the more work you do, the more you make. Instead, the goal is to create systems that help you bring in more clients and accomplish higher-value work in less time.

    
    

• Building client relationships: As a ghostwriter, you can (and should!) form real relationships with your clients! You have the freedom to add a personal touch to your projects and become an educational resource for your clients, making your work especially rewarding. When you’re an employee for someone else, you’re one part of the product or service that a client is paying for. But when you’re working as a freelancer, your expertise is what the client is paying for. In the course of working with a client, you are the person that they talk to, get advice from, and form a real relationship with. This results in repeat clients, referrals to your clients’ contacts, and more work opportunities.

  
  

• Simple to get started: You don’t need much to get started as a freelance ghostwriter in today’s world! Although more fancy tech and a bigger marketing budget are helpful, all you really need to begin is a laptop and Internet access.

  
  

• Grow your writing skills: As a ghostwriter, you’re able to practice writing and develop new literary skills while you work. You’re also more likely to connect with other great writers, editors, and publishers who can give you tips/advice, push you to become a better writer, and serve as valuable contacts when you need them.

  
  

❎ Cons of Freelance Ghostwriting:

• Unpredictable income: Ghostwriting can be a scary career to jump into. Until clients are coming in consistently, your income will likely be low and unpredictable. Be prepared for this! While ghostwriting can be a very lucrative job, you can rapidly end up in a dry season if you aren’t consistently bringing clients in to your pipeline. It’s also important to remember that market changes that are out of your control can result in less clients/lower prices.

  
  

• Lots of marketing required: Ghostwriting is an extremely marketing-heavy career choice. Don’t be fooled by false expectations. You have to constantly pay attention to the best ways to market your services to your potential clients or you won’t have paying work coming in! If you’re not prepared to continuously market your services (or pay someone to assist you in doing so), a freelancing career may not be for you.

  
  

• It’s somewhat of a “who-you-know” game: This is especially true when you first start out as a freelancer. Who you know can help you get the essential early clients that refer you to their contacts, give you valuable reviews, and help you bring in a little bit of cash.

  
  

• Dealing with poor/disrespectful clients: As a freelancer, you have to deal with difficult clients yourself. You no longer have a boss or corporation to hide behind when a client treats you poorly or expects you to do more work than you’ve been paid to do. DO NOT FORGET to protect yourself with a solid contract!

  
  

• Other responsibilities: There are a lot of unmentioned responsibilities that come with running your own ghostwriting business (besides social media marketing!). A few of these include bookkeeping, outreach, attending networking/marketing events, phone calls/emailing with potential clients, and, eventually, scaling your business.

  
  

• Easy to forget your love of the art of writing: It becomes easy to forget your passion for the art of writing when you’re constantly creating more content or client projects to pay your rent. You have to try hard not to forget the passion for writing that got you into the ghostwriting scene in the first place. For some more details on the importance of this, check out my article on maintaining your writing passion here.

  
  

• No name credit/inability to share your work: A LOT of what you write as a ghostwriter is, under contract, not work that you are able to claim or share as your own. Typically, ghostwriting means that you draft the work, but someone else gets to be the official “author.” You’re usually (but not always) selling both your services and your rights to the work. It can be difficult to not get name credit on all of your work. This stipulation is also annoying when it comes to building your portfolio; you can’t share much of your ghostwriting work as sample writing for future potential clients!

  
  

Well folks, there you have it. These are some of the pros and cons that I’ve experienced thus far as a career ghostwriter! Whether or not you decide to become a full-time ghostwriter, be sure to weigh things carefully. It’s not an easy path, but it sure can be fun!

Thanks for reading today’s post. If you’re a freelancer, feel free to add any pros and/or cons that you’ve experienced in the comments below. 😊

Check out more articles like this one (and more fun stories and articles) at my Substack publication here.