Hiring a ghostwriter can either be one of the best decisions an author can make or the most disheartening one. A good ghostwriter can turn the most broken ideas into the best of books. But when you rush into hiring the cheapest or easily available ghostwriters, it turns into the worst experience you can imagine. In this blog, we will dive into the most common mistakes authors tend to make when hiring a ghostwriter.
7 Mistakes an Author is Prone to Make
In 2025, ghostwriting has become one of the most thriving creative industries, from book writing services to eBook editing and publishing, yet authors continue to make small errors that affect their careers. These are the 7 most common mistakes authors make when hiring ghostwriters:
1. Not Defining Your Goals Clearly
Not defining what you want to see written based on your ideas is the worst mistake most authors make when hiring a ghostwriter; it leaves room for misinterpretations and basic mistakes, which could easily be avoided by some simple communication. It would drastically improve the quality of drafts and align your book with your imagination.
2. Choosing Based on Price Instead of Fit
Choosing a ghostwriter based on price is like choosing the most expensive medicine in the store, whilst all you have is a simple cough, it is simply unwanted, even if it is the best. That is why we should choose a ghostwriter who understands our idea and knows how they bring it to life.
3. Ignoring the Collaboration Process
A ghostwriter is not an AI robot; you cannot simply give them a prompt and expect them to spit out unlimited drafts until one of them suits your taste. They demand collaboration and most of all connection; you need to share your life stories with them, tell your experiences, and give them some room to use their creative imagination as well. Only then can you get the best book possible.
4. Over-Editing or Under-Reviewing
This is one of the most important ones. Some authors just keep bothering ghostwriters about every single line of the book, and some don’t even bother to check at all; both things are wrong. You must find an equilibrium point, because balance is key. Otherwise, you end with a book that doesn’t sound like you at all or a book that sounds unnatural.
5. Skipping the Contract Details
Sometimes a handshake isn’t enough even if it is your best friend or a family member you need to make a contract, of course you can always be lenient but there should be a clear cut line of expectations between the author and the writer, not only is this helpful for timely fulfillment, it also helps avoid a lot of confusion and saves a lot of future troubles.
6. Expecting the Ghostwriter to Read Your Mind
Ghostwriter are not psychics, they do not know about what you are thinking, they only what you are saying, if you are not clear about your ideas, it wastes a lot of time both for you and the writer, giving you endless drafts and an unsatisfactory piece of literature, so to avoid this u need to be as clear and imaginative as possible to your writer, once you start doing that you will notice how many of you drafts are aligning with your vision giving a much more pleasant experience.
7. Forgetting That Ghostwriting Is a Business
Alas, finally what we forget the most is that a ghostwriter isn’t our sidekick, its a whole business industry, you need to treat them with respect, talk to them like they are your partner instead of someone who works beneath you, because the more stress you give them the worst their imagination will be and will make your drafts worse instead of better. Because a ghost writer isn’t just your personal assistant, he is a human as well, so we should always look out for them, too.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hiring a ghostwriter isn’t about letting someone tell your story; it’s about letting them help you shape it into the book of your imagination. It’s a bridge between your ideas and the world’s brain.
A ghostwriters job is not to speak for you, it is to speak as you, they help you say what you could always think of but couldn’t quite catch it on paper, they read every single one of your ideas between your words and help you shape them into a book you could only imagine, so if there is one lesson you take from this article let it be this, their E-book writing services doesn’t need to perfect, they need to be someone that truly understands your vision and wants to build the book of your dreams with you. It is because the best stories are never written alone.
