How Much Does it Cost to Ghostwrite a Memoir?

Before you invest in a ghostwriter for your memoir, it’s natural that you will want some idea of the expenses involved. While every ghostwriter will have a different fee structure, I can provide some guidance here on what to expect and how much budget you may need to reserve before starting the project.

First, it’s important to note that there are lots of different factors that could affect your price. Let’s look at those first.

Length is a huge factor

You might want to write your memoir with a view to having it published. If this is the case, you may find that your memoir can end up being really quite long – even as much as 100,000 words is considered to be quite standard in the world of memoirs. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions of bestselling memoirs on the shorter side, but be aware that the expectations can be quite serious.

However, if you’re writing your memoir just for yourself or for your family, you might not care so much about what the commercial expectations are. In this case, I would recommend working with your ghostwriter to figure out the natural length for your memoir. This will depend on how much ground you want to cover, and whether your style is naturally verbose or more succinct. Your ghostwriter should produce a memoir that sounds like you, not something that sounds like their own voice, so bear this in mind.

Different writer, different rates

Of course, every ghostwriter is different. We don’t have a governing body that suggests rates, and our rates can vary based on a lot of factors. These may include:

• The ghostwriter’s experience level with memoirs
• How long the ghostwriter has been writing for
• Whether they, or their clients, have achieved accolades such as awards or becoming bestsellers
• How skilled and qualified they are at their work
• How much they value their own work – as some ghostwriters may well be undercharging themselves!
• Whether they are willing to entertain discounts with you, perhaps in exchange for adding something attractive to the contract on their end
• Whether they charge extra for a payment plan, give a discount for full payment up front, or are willing to accommodate all payment plans at no extra charge

These factors, and most likely more, can all come into play.

Your needs, wants, and expectations

Finally, the cost of writing a memoir can differ based on what you want from your book. Maybe you want it in six months or less, which some ghostwriters may consider to be a rush job. Maybe you want to have it printed in full colour with illustrations, and have your ghostwriter handle all of the layout and printing considerations. Maybe you want to have the ghostwriter interview all of the surviving members of your family, which will add time and effort to their workload.

You’re perfectly allowed to ask for and even advocate for what you want from this project. It is, after all, YOUR memoir – the ghostwriter is simply a service professional who is there to facilitate your vision. Bear in mind, however, that some of these extra services may cost extra. If you have a budget in mind, it’s a good idea to express this in advance to your potential ghostwriter and see what they can offer you within that ballpark.

Rates to expect

As for the price you can expect to pay… how can we quantify something that has so many variables?

I can only give you a guide based on what I have learned both from my own work, and from liaising with other ghostwriters in professional organisations. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we also have these debates all the time – what should one charge in XYZ situation?

Accordingly, here are the estimates I can offer you for your ghostwriting project. Note that although I have used USD here as the currency, I do offer my services in GBP as well – we can simply convert the fees at the current exchange rate to find out the proper cost.

• No memoir project of any substantial size and quality, even at novella-length, should come in at less than $20,000. If you are quoted a lower price, your ghostwriter may be inexperienced or undercharging themselves, they may be using AI to write the text, or you may get a much shorter piece of work – think pages rather than chapters.
• A more standard-sized memoir can range anywhere from $30,000 to even upwards of $120,000, depending on the experience and skill of the ghostwriter you hire. This could mean up to 120,000 words or more in the text, though around 100,000 words is more expected.
• You can expect to pay additional fees if you want more people to be interviewed. Within my own services, I have scope to add up to $20,000 in extra interview fees for very large projects – though bear in mind, these should all be negotiated and agreed in advance to avoid any unpleasant surprises on your end!
• Finally, if you want this memoir written in a rush, you also have to consider an extra fee for that. At the top range of my fees, with a memoir of around 100,000 words, it could cost as much as $25,000 extra to have that memoir written in less than a year. I calculate my rush fee based on the deadline you desire – eleven months, for example, will cost less than six months and substantially less than three months.

While the question of memoir pricing may be a thorny one, I hope this gives you some concrete ideas of the kind of budget you need to set aside. You can also use this guide to start thinking about the calibre of ghostwriter you want to hire: do you go for a lower-level writer to fit within your budget, or save up for a bit longer to get someone on the higher end? The choice, as with any part of your memoir project, is yours.

If you’re interested in booking in a free consultation to talk about writing your memoir together with me as your ghostwriter, you can do so here.