The questions to ask and the documents to prepare before hiring a ghostwriter. Saves weeks of back-and-forth and gets you a first draft that actually sounds like you.
Before you hire a ghostwriter, you need five pieces of information ready. Not ten. Not a 20-page brand guide. Five. Everything else is a bonus.
What should this piece achieve? A shift in thinking? A demo request? A speaking invitation? Be specific.
Who is reading this? Not your general audience — the specific person for this specific piece. What do they need to hear right now?
The 3-5 must-communicate points, in priority order. If the reader remembers nothing else, they must remember these.
How should this piece feel? Reference examples are more useful than adjectives. "Like this McKinsey report" beats "professional but approachable."
What do you want the reader to do immediately after reading? One clear answer. Not three competing options.
The interview is not about vetting credentials. It is about calibrating expectations. These questions separate ghostwriters who have a process from ghostwriters who wing it.
What is your process for capturing my voice in the first draft?
How many interview sessions do you typically need before drafting?
What happens if the first draft misses my voice entirely?
How do you handle revisions? Is there a limit?
What is your policy on confidentiality and NDAs?
Have you written for my industry before? Can I see samples?
How do you research topics outside your expertise?
What is your typical turnaround time for a 1,500-word piece?
Do you handle publication and distribution, or just writing?
How do you charge — per project, per word, or retainer?
What happens if I need to pause or cancel the engagement?
Will you sign over all rights to the finished work?
How do you handle feedback from multiple stakeholders?
What is your revision process if a piece needs to be updated months later?
Can you provide references from past executive or thought leadership clients?
Some warning signs are obvious. Others are subtle. Here are the signals that a ghostwriter is not the right fit — no matter how impressive their portfolio.
If they say "I just get a feel for it," they do not have a process. Voice capture requires documented techniques, not intuition.
Voice matching requires exposure. No ghostwriter can replicate a voice they have never heard. Anyone who claims otherwise is selling, not writing.
Revision limits signal a transactional mindset. A good ghostwriter wants the piece right as much as you do.
Writing for a CEO is different from writing for a SaaS founder. Industry experience matters for voice, vocabulary, and credibility.
Ghostwriting is invisible work. If a writer wants credit, they are not a ghostwriter. They are a co-author with different expectations.
In regulated industries, factual errors destroy credibility and create liability. Every ghostwriter should have a fact-checking process.
Spend 30 minutes gathering these documents before your first conversation with a ghostwriter. It will save hours of back-and-forth and signal that you are a serious client.
Executive Voice Profile (if you have one)
The 7-section template that captures how you think, argue, and communicate. Download it free below.
3-5 examples of content you love
Not content you wrote — content you wish you had written. This communicates your taste faster than any description.
Your existing content, if any
Blog posts, speeches, investor updates, or LinkedIn posts. The ghostwriter needs to hear your actual voice, not your idealized version.
A list of topics you want to own
The 5-10 subjects where you have genuine expertise and a differentiated point of view.
Any brand or style guidelines
Even informal ones. "We never use the word 'synergy'" is more useful than you think.
Your publication goals
Specific outlets, platforms, or audiences. "I want to be published in Harvard Business Review" is a very different brief than "I want more LinkedIn followers."
The fastest way to communicate everything a ghostwriter needs is to fill out a structured brief. This 2-page template covers goals, audience, messages, tone, hook, and CTA — plus a revision log on page 2.
2 pages · 6 sections · Revision log included. The template that gets your ghostwriter writing the right thing on the first draft.
Download Free TemplateFAQ
At minimum: your goal for the piece, your target audience, the 3-5 key messages you want communicated, your preferred tone, and a clear call-to-action. Without these five elements, even the best ghostwriter is guessing.
One to two pages. The brief is not the piece itself — it is a directional document. If it takes longer than 15 minutes to fill out, you are overthinking it. The goal is clarity, not comprehensiveness.
Yes, if you have one. The Voice Profile and the Project Brief are designed to work together. The brief tells the writer what to write. The Voice Profile tells them how it should sound. Together they eliminate almost all first-draft misses.
That is fine. Write "I will know it when I see it" in the tone section, but give the writer 2-3 examples of content you like (even if it is not yours). The examples communicate more than a vague description ever will.
Two to three rounds is standard. The first round addresses structure and messaging. The second round refines voice and flow. The third round catches details. Any project requiring more than three rounds usually has a brief problem, not a writer problem.
Saying "just make it sound like me" without defining what that means. "Sound like me" is not a brief. It is a wish. Ghostwriters are talented mimics, but they are not mind readers. Specificity is the only thing that saves time.
Only if it is necessary for the piece. Use placeholder language for anything you are not comfortable sharing yet. You can always add detail in revision rounds. The brief is a working document, not a contract.
Ask yourself: could a stranger who has never met me write a solid first draft from this brief alone? If the answer is yes, your brief is good enough. If not, add the missing context.
Related Resources
I have been ghostwriting for executives, healthcare leaders, and law firm partners for 20+ years. The brief is where we start — and where we save you weeks.
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