In Today’s Journal
* Ghostwriting: Legal Ease (guest post)
* The Numbers
Note: Yesterday I sent out a subscriber-only post. If you didn’t receive it and believe you should have, please email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
And now….
Thinking about becoming a ghostwriter? Here are some practical tips from Dan Baldwin, a long-time ghostwriter as well as an award-winning novelist and short story writer in his own right.
Ghostwriting: Legal Ease
a guest post by Dan Baldwin
Every situation and every relationship is unique, but an author/writer contract should at least cover the list below.
Always listen to your lawyer, but also listen to your common sense. I’ve seen contracts so overly-protective of the writer that the potential client backed off and sought a more accommodating and less confrontational writer. Keep it simple.
Here are a few tips I’ve picked up (often the hard way) on this subject.
If you draft your own contract, don’t use “lawyerese.” [If you aren’t an attorney] you’re out of your depth and your lack of legal knowledge can hurt you. Or at least make you look pretty damn silly. Be specific. In the event of a legal proceeding, ambiguity works against whoever drafted the agreement. My standard contract is a page and a half long and in plain English:
Define the book. State the subject matter and a working title.
Responsibilities. State who does what. Generally, that means the author provides the information and does the fact checking and the writer does the writing.
Compensation. State the full compensation and how it is to be paid. Writers should insist on an initial payment before beginning the work.
As Dr. Laura advised young doe-eyed girls getting promises of wedding bells from a slobbering hunk of over-zealous testosterone, “Honey, if you don’t have a ring (contract) and a date (initial payment), you don’t have an engagement.”
Or as Sam Goldwyn said, “Verbal contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.”
I get paid in installments as clearly defined portions of the book are completed with a final payment due upon delivery of the final draft.
Royalties. If the writer is to receive royalties, state how much, how they are to be computed and how they are to be paid. Also, make sure you, the writer, can audit the books. (Don’t hold your breath on that one.)
I don’t participate in this form of compensation for many reasons. I want my flat fee paid on time and then I-am-out-of-there.
Expenses. Be specific.
For example, as a writer I don’t charge for a 15-minute run to the post office and a postage stamp. I don’t nickel-and-dime a client for normal business calls or basic office duties. I will charge for hotel/food/travel expenses if I have to invest time on location researching the project. Any materials necessary for the project, such as research materials, should be covered by the author.
Exclusivity. Author and writer agree to work exclusively with each other on the project.
It is reasonable to include a non-compete clause in which the writer agrees not to work on an identical project with another author during production of the book under contract. Be careful with this clause.
I worked with a traditional publisher whose exclusivity clause was so restrictive that I’d have been out of the writing business for five years. When I said “no way,” they backed down and I agreed to a one-year none compete clause based on a very tightly worded description that I wrote and inserted into the document.
Deadlines. A reasonable deadline is one year from the initial payment date. A first draft can take six months. Three drafts are usually all that are required.
- The first draft is often called the “rough” draft and for good reason.
- The second draft should incorporate the author’s corrections, additions, deletions, specific suggestions, and comments.
- A third draft should be the final version in which author and writer double-check facts, grammar and spelling, and make any final stylistic changes—were you feeling happy or were you feeling elated—and that sort of fine tuning.
It’s a good idea for writers to include a limit on the drafts. Three is reasonable.
Credit. Writing credit for the writer is strictly up to the author.
Often the writer gets some type of credit in the Acknowledgments and I’m often credited as the writer. “Thanks to Dan who took all my crazy thoughts and….” Sometimes the credit is more obscure, such as a thank you for an unspecified contribution.
Even if you’re not credited as the ghostwriter, some form of recognition in the Acknowledgements is a valuable reference when you’re pitching to another author. The name I and most writers are concerned with is the one appearing on the paycheck.
Note, however, that if you are an author or if you are a writer working with an author on a budget, cover credit can be a negotiable item. “Okay, I’ll cut my rate by $XXXX if I get cover credit.” Getting an “As told to” or a “With….” can be a valuable marketing tool in securing new ghostwriting projects.
Copyright. In virtually all cases, the author engages the writer in a “work made for hire” and therefore retains copyright.
Agents/Attorneys. If they’re involved, state who and define their responsibilities and limits.
Premature Termination of the agreement. State what happens to the project and project payments should either party back out of the agreement before completion. A one-third kill fee paid by the author to the writer if the author cancels the project is reasonable and a common practice.
Arbitration. Arbitration is a far better option than going to court. If you and your author are residents of different states, note the state in which any arbitration will take place.
A co-author I worked with as a co-author a few years ago was responsible for research and fact checking. Later he claimed he had written the book, too.
This false claim came in a letter from a copyright attorney. I suggested we put the matter to arbitration: You put your evidence on one side of the table and I’ll put mine on the other and we’ll let an independent judge decide.
Faced with backing up his words in a legal environment, he backed down. I published and even won an award for the piece.
Keep copies of all your emails and other correspondence with the author. Chances are you won’t need them, but as the Boy Scouts say, be prepared.
You don’t have to hire Perry Mason or Matlock to write your contract, but it’s worth the expense to hire one for an hour to review it.
*
Thanks, Dan!
Talk with you again soon.
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 80
Mentorship Words…………….. 0
Total Nonfiction…………………. 80
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date………… XXXXX
Fiction for January………………………… XXXX
Fiction for 2026…………………………… XXXX
Nonfiction for January.…………………… 2300
Nonfiction for 2026………………..……… 2300
2026 consumable words………………… 2300
2026 Novels to Date……………………… 0
2026 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2026 Short Stories to Date……………… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 123
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29