Ghostwriting is one of the most misunderstood—and quietly consequential—corners of publishing. Who hires ghostwriters? How much does it actually cost? And why has demand exploded over the last decade?
In this Author Insider AMA, I spoke with Dan Gerstein, CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters, to pull back the curtain on how the ghostwriting business actually works today, from who commissions these projects to how they’re structured, priced, and executed behind the scenes.
We covered:
Why ghostwriting demand has surged alongside self-publishing and digital platforms
The true range of ghostwriting services (it’s not just “someone writes the book for you”)
How writers break into ghostwriting and build sustainable (sometimes) six-figure careers
Why ghostwriting is becoming more transparent—and less taboo
What AI is changing about ghostwriting, and what it still can’t replace
This is a longer conversation (just under an hour), so feel free to skim or jump around.
There’s a lot of fuzzy thinking around ghostwriting right now—hyped up on one end, quietly judged on the other. This conversation doesn’t try to sell ghostwriting as a dream job or dismiss it as a compromise. It simply lays out how the work actually functions in today’s publishing ecosystem, so writers can decide for themselves whether (and how) it fits into their careers.
Until next time,
Panio Gianopoulos
Editorial Director, Author Insider & The Next Big Idea Club
