One of the first questions people ask when talking to a ghostwriter is “how much?”

You’ll see rates for book ranging from $2,000 to $200,000. So let’s just say, it varies. As a result, just as everyone on an airline has paid a different price for their seat (and will end up at the same location) ghostwriting has a similar inconsistency in pricing.

Why such a disparity?

There are many factors involved. For example, a 20-page children’s book should cost considerably less than a 250-page, well-researched, corporate history.

The real reason, however, that the rates vary so greatly is because buyers and sellers are both operating in a vacuum. Some folks are convinced that for $3,000 they can get someone to write their autobiography (and they can) while others are more than happy to fork over $100,000 to have their memoir written because they believe that is the going rate, which it is not.

Writers are no different. I once argued with a (U.S. based) “journalist” on LinkedIn who was convinced that $10 was the going rate for an article and that I was only making a lot more because I was a “big city writer” – seriously!

Here’s the truth

Narrowing down the range just a little bit, books will typically run you somewhere between $12,000 and $52,000. Leah Nicholson, production manager at the Jenkins Group, a book publishing service company, says the sweet spot is $20,000 to $30,000 for ghostwriters on most of their projects. The Editorial Freelance Association quotes $50 to $60 per hour while the Writer’s Market website (from a few years back) showed the average hourly rate at $70 and the average per project book rate at just over $36,000. One ghostwriter breaks it down very clearly by word count starting at, 20,000 words at $13,000, and going up to 80,000 words at $52,000. Others have hourly rates or page rates. A ghostwriter should have some justification behind a project rate. It should be specific and not “I wrote a best seller 10 years ago” or “I did a book with an A-list celebrity.” Consider that a car salesman may have once sold a Lamborghini, but is now selling you a Honda CR-V, so get priced accordingly.

Also, be wary of very low rates from places like Elance or oDesk. You are most often not getting a professional writer and, in some cases, you may have a book written by someone who does not have a firm grasp of the English language. Often “bargain” rates that are “too good to be true,” are just that.

Rates should be determined by:

• The length of the book
• How much research is required
• How much material you provide
• How quickly you need the book completed
• The ghostwriter’s track record
• His or her availability
• How much you personally like the work of this ghostwriter – don’t judge by other people’s opinions
• Your rapport – are you on the same page?

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What you should and should not do:

• You should check references – what were other people’s experiences with this writer?
• You should not give much credence to Amazon’s reviews – most non-celebrities have their friends and family write the reviews
  (Personally, I find this very disconcerting. On my non-ghostwritten books I never asked for reviews, always wanting a fair and honest assessment. I received 63 real, unbiased reviews and 51 of them are 4 or 5 stars, which makes me personally feel much better than seeing 100 terrific bogus reviews)
• You should get a free consultation
• You should talk directly with the writer. Don’t let a writer’s service “assign” someone.

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In the end, hire the person with whom you connect. A satisfying relationship, money notwithstanding, creates the chemistry necessary for an excellent partnership and a terrific book.