The three-and-a-half reasons why expensive editors and ghostwriters are worth it

People working with me sometimes experience sticker shock. It’s the same story with many accomplished ghostwriters and editors.

Here are some of my typical price points for nonfiction books:

• To edit a manuscript of 60,000 words: $18,000.
• To write a book proposal to pitch a book to major publishers: $25,000.
• To ghostwrite a book: $125,000.

The price can vary based on a lot of factors, but that’s a pretty good idea of the ballpark.

I’ve written in the past why I’m worth it. But let’s take it from your point of view as the author of a book. Why shouldn’t you go with a cheaper writing or editing partner?

Three-and-a-half things to consider as you go forward with a book project

Let’s talk about three (and a half) things that are important to you:

1 . Your time.
2 . The quality of your result.
3 . Speed.
3 ½. All the other people you’re going to need help from.

1 Your time

If you want to publish a book to make a powerful case in your field or boost your reputation, you’re probably an important person whose time is committed to lots of other things. My clients are often CEOs or other corporate executives, and those are busy people. Sometimes they are “thought leader” types who could spend their time lining up speeches, writing blog posts, creating podcasts, or otherwise generating expertise and spreading it. Time spent on the book is time not spent on other things.

A writer or editor with the right experience saves you time. They:

• Profoundly comprehend research, writing, and revision. That way the drafts they create will be worth your time to review.
• Are familiar with the context of your subject matter. If you’re writing about financial services you want somebody who is familiar with that space and the players and terms in it. You don’t want to spend a lot of time explaining that to the person you hire.
• Live and breathe book publishing models. If you hire somebody to write a book proposal, they need to understand how agents and publishers review proposals. If you work with a hybrid publisher or self-publish, they should be able to guide you through that process.
• Understand the psychology of authors. A writer or editor who’s worked with lots of authors knows how important your book is to you, how you’re likely to react to criticism, and what emotional stages you’re likely to go through as the book progresses toward completion. This makes them a better partner. It saves time since you can go deal with the content without the emotions getting in the way.

If your time is valuable, get a writing or editing partner with experience in both writing books and in the field your book is about.

2 The quality of your result

Do you care about whether the book is any good? It isn’t going to accomplish your objective if it’s crappy. An experienced writer or editor knows:

• How to combine case study stories, frameworks, advice, and research to make a powerful and plausible case for your ideas.
• How to highlight unique ideas and push back on weak or hackneyed ones.
• How to write in a way that keeps readers engaged but isn’t breathless or juvenile.
• How to maintain quality through multiple drafts.
• How to ensure the integrity of the book through fact-checking, copy editing, page layout, and publishing.

If you care about quality and don’t want to clean up your writing partner’s messes — or worse yet, see your reputation sullied — you need a writer or editor who really knows what they’re doing.

3 Speed

What enables a writing project to go quickly?

• The writer or editor can work quickly.
• They comprehend source material quickly and accurately.
• Their drafts are excellent — not perfect, but good enough that little rework is necessary.
• They learn. If you point out a problem in Chapter 2, they don’t make the same mistake in Chapter 5.
• They are available on your schedule.
• They understand the critical path of a book project and can advise you on what decisions to make and when to avoid delays.

If you care about speed and efficiency, these qualities are important. Experienced writers are more likely to have them than novices.

3 ½ All the other people you are going to need help from

You may find yourself in need of an agent, publisher, publicist, site developer, marketing professional, social media expert, audiobook recordist, copy editor, fact-checker, publisher, or illustrator.

You’re probably not going to hire a writer or editor based on their network.

But you’re probably going to need their help with it anyway. So that network adds value to the process.

There are cheaper resources out there

You’ll find people who will edit a book for $5,000, write a proposal for $7,500, or ghostwrite a book for $25,000. They certainly exist. Lots of them are trying to get a foothold in this business and are willing to work cheaply.

What will they lack? Most likely some combination of:

• Experience.
• Expertise in your field.
• Connections in the publishing business.

If you work with them, you’re going to have to make up for their shortcomings. This will cost you in time, quality of result, and speed. And, of course, the need to find your own resources since their network is limited.

They’ll also be scrambling to manage multiple projects because no one can live on a few $5K or $10K projects a year. That means they won’t be available on your schedule.

If your time, reputation, speed-to-market, and need for resources aren’t that valuable to you, go ahead and hire somebody cheaper. You might get a great result for less money. But you’re going to have invest a lot of your own effort to get it.

If, on the other hand, your time, reputation, speed-to-market, and need for resources are valuable to you, you’re going to have to pay for quality help. That’s going to cost you tens of thousands of dollars — more than you might be expecting.

Is it worth it? You’ll have to decide that for yourself.