Do Ghostwriters Get Paid Royalties?

The short answer to this question is, no: ghostwriters generally do not get paid royalties.

The long answer, as always, is a little bit more complex. Let’s get into it.

Royalties and Upfront Payments

Usually, a ghostwriter will prefer to work under an upfront payment agreement. This means that the author (client) pays the ghostwriter before the work is completed. Once the final handover of the finished work has taken place, the work then belongs to the author. The author will take on all responsibilities for the work, all risks and costs involved with marketing and publishing, and will reap all of the royalties.

Why is it done this way? There are a couple of reasons. One is that a ghostwriter is operating as a worker for hire. This means that they should be paid for their work, no matter the eventual success or failure of the project. So long as they have put in the hours to do their work correctly and to a high standard, they deserve to be paid in full.

Another reason is the fact that book sales don’t necessarily depend on the quality of the writing. Yes, it’s possible for a book to become a breakaway hit just because it’s really that good – but this can only happen if readers know it exists in the first place. That can sometimes come from being in the right place at the right time, but more usually, it happens as a result of great marketing.

Since the ghostwriter has no say or control over the marketing, it would be unfair to expect them to accept a lower payment if the author didn’t invest in marketing correctly.

Let’s imagine this scenario in a different context. Let’s say there is someone who works on building cars. This worker – let’s call him Tony – is a fantastic car builder. He does really great work with high-quality materials, and he takes a lot of time and effort to build each and every car. Now, let’s say that Tony’s car is bought by a car dealership. The car dealership will aim to sell on the car for a profit. But they haven’t told anyone their dealership is opening, and so very few customers come by, and in the end, the car that Tony made goes on sale and sells at a very low price.

Would you expect Tony to take a lower fee for his work because of the bad work of the dealership? No, of course not! Tony is paid by the hour for his work and receives his salary before the car ever goes on sale. Ghostwriting works on the same model. Once you’ve received your finished book, it’s up to you to sell it – and your ghostwriter should be paid a fair fee no matter what happens next.

Royalty Share Agreements

However, there is one scenario in which a ghostwriter might receive royalties, and this is if they agree contractually to take a lower upfront fee in exchange for royalty shares later on.

When would this apply? It’s very rare, and usually only takes place where a celebrity is involved who will have a very good shot of selling a lot of books. We’re talking a lot of books – like New York Times Bestseller. This is down to the discretion of the ghostwriter. If the client hasn’t got much money upfront but the book is destined to sell well, it might seem like a good investment. However, this strategy is always a risk, and some ghostwriters won’t want to spend six months or a year of their life writing a book with the risk that they won’t make any money for their time. After all, we all have bills to pay and mouths to feed!

Some ghostwriters will refuse this model in any scenario, while others might be willing to negotiate in a few cases. Beware of a ghostwriter who will accept royalty shares on any old project – if you’re not already super famous with a huge platform and a guaranteed book deal, then you’re probably dealing with an amateur ghostwriter who doesn’t yet know the pitfalls of this strategy.

All in all, it’s usually better to stick with paying your ghostwriter upfront. If they think they will make a lot more in royalties, it might be pertinent for you to wonder whether you want to give that much away when the sales do start rolling in! It might just be cheaper to pay them upfront and get the work done in a more traditional manner.