How to Hire a Ghostwriter: Essential Contracts and NDA Rules
Hiring a writer to draft your book? Learn how to draft contracts, structure work-for-hire terms, and protect assets with NDAs.
Julian Thorne
Senior Managing Editor
"Hiring a ghostwriter is a great way to publish your story or business guide without writing it yourself. However, you must draft contracts and NDAs to protect your intellectual property and secure book rights."
Core Key Takeaways
- Structuring Work-For-Hire Terms
- Protecting Assets with Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
- Defining Outline and Drafting Milestones
1. Structuring Work-For-Hire Terms
Contracts must state that the writing is a "work-for-hire." This ensures that you own 100% of the rights and royalties, and the writer has no claim to the book.
- Use work-for-hire clauses to secure intellectual property rights.
- Establish clear payment structures based on writing milestones.
- Define outline, drafting, and editorial review phases.
2. Protecting Assets with Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
An NDA prevents the ghostwriter from revealing they wrote the book, protecting your personal brand and author credibility.
3. Defining Outline and Drafting Milestones
Break the project into outline, draft review, and edit phases, setting payments per milestone to ensure quality checks throughout.
The Takeaway
Contracts secure your publishing business. At Golden Ivory Publishing, we handle ghostwriting management under strict NDA guidelines.
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