Collaborating with a professional writer adds many benefits to your book beyond words on a page

People don’t like to pay writers for writing. After six years in the industry, this is one constant.

Self-publishing services don’t like to pay their freelance writers (I’ve been through that more than a few times), even traditional publishers don’t like to pay their writers, which is why the royalty and advance systems are so lopsided.

Journalists face an uphill battle getting paid, and the more they make—based on seniority and/or results—the more likely they are to get fired or let go for someone less experienced who takes a lower salary.

The misconception is that when you pay someone for writing, all you get is words structured in a specific format, like an article, blog post, or book.

But professional writers provide a lot more than words, which factors into the cost writers charge or their salary bracket.

So, what do you get beyond writing?

“Ghostwriter” is an Incomplete Job Description

The term ghostwriter brings to mind someone sitting at a computer all day typing away for hours on blog posts, articles, social media content, books, etc. The term itself implies that writing is the core of their skillset.

But what do ghostwriters really provide?

When I’m commissioned for a project, the end goal is to have a nonfiction book manuscript designed for lead generation, business growth, and brand recognition. To accomplish that goal, there’s a lot more I need to do than write.

A basic writing consultant and ghostwriter toolkit include:

• Proposal writing
• Project planning
• Project management
• Interviewing
• Active listening
• Note taking
• Research
• Business, brand, and lead generation knowledge
• Book marketing knowledge
• Knowing market and industry trends
• Proofreading
• Line editing
• Style guides
• References
• Writing

Different writing professionals have other tools in their toolkit including self-publishing, traditional publishing queries, formatting, graphic design, etc.

From an employment perspective, if a potential hire applies to a job with that list of qualifications, they appear to be a solid applicant for a wide range of positions.

And yet, ghostwriters and other writing professionals are overlooked when it comes to the plethora of tools they bring to the table alongside writing.

When a professional writer quotes a project price or desired salary, you get the full package of skills, and the compensation should reflect that.

You Pay Professional Writers for the Experience

Why do people pay others for services? A lot of times it is to make up for a skillset they don’t have. Business leaders pay website designers to design and manage their websites, they pay bookkeepers to handle finances, marketing agencies to market their product and service.

Why not pay professional writers for high quality writing if the skill isn’t covered?

A wise client of mine once told me to “never be the smartest person in the room.” Her meaning behind the phrase was to surround herself with professionals who had skillsets outside her own, so all the bases were covered.

Writing quality content is a skillset that could be the difference between building your brand through an online presence, quality copy, or a business book, and being overlooked, unseen, or in worst case scenarios, discredited.

Collaborating with a writing consultant or ghostwriter primarily comes down to the experience.

You can easily get a book written for a couple of hundred dollars or even for free with LLMs and GenerativeAI.

The experience with inexperienced writers leads to underdeveloped content that could hurt your brand more than help and collaborating with writers who don’t have their professional bearings yet, leading to a frustrating, time consuming project.

LLMs and GenerativeAI pose another issue all together. While you can prompt a chatbot to provide you with a book outline on a certain topic, the prompt response will only be as effective as the prompter. The output might seem amazing, but if you have no experience with book outlines, you won’t see if the chatbot left any key details out that could make or break the impact of a book.

The chatbot won’t know to answer those questions if you don’t ask, and you won’t know to ask them without the professional writing background.

The experience of working with a writing consultant or ghostwriter brings you a collaboration of two unique minds.

One with a wide range of skills and tools to help you accomplish your business book goals. A collaborative partner who can guide you, bounce ideas around, and ask the right questions to ensure the book content is everything it needs to be. Someone to dig deep for the highest quality insights and content, and who will craft your book to the highest standards to marketability and brand integrity.

The other (you) comes with experiences, ideas, and insights that shape the narrative and drive the themes and goals of the book. You bring your voice, style, and the foundation for the book.

Combined, the experience is an enjoyable, smooth collaboration that leaves an amazing, personalized marketing tool for business growth and lead generation in your hands.

Working with a writing professional is about more than paying someone to write, and when you know what you’re getting alongside writing services, you understand the benefits of collaborating with a professional writer.