What Ghostwriting Really Means and how writers gets paid

Many people think ghostwriting is just writing and collecting money. It's more than that.

WHAT IS GHOSTWRITING?

Ghostwriting means you write a book or story for someone else but your name will not be there. The person that paid you will put his own name as the author. You are the ghost, you did the work but you are invisible.

For example, a businessman can pay you to write his life story. You will write everything but when the book comes out, it is his name on the cover.

But for fiction platforms like GoodNovel, NovelUP, Webnovel, the meaning is a little different. There you write your own story with your own name, but they still call you a contracted writer because you write for the platform.

TYPES OF WRITERS ON FICTION PLATFORMS

1. Non-Exclusive Writer:

This one is free. Your story belongs to you. You can post the same story on different platforms. Payment is 50% of what readers pay to unlock your chapters.

2. Exclusive Writer:

This means you sign your book to only one platform. If you sign exclusive with a platform, you cannot post that same book in other platforms. If they catch you, they can terminate you. Why do people sign exclusive? Because it pays more.

HOW DO YOU GET PAID?

a) One-time payment: Someone pays you $30, $50, $100 to write full book. Once they pay, the book is theirs.

b) Per word: Some clients pay $1 per 100 words or $5 per 1000 words.

c) Royalty: This is what most platforms use. You get percentage every time someone reads your paid chapter. Usually 50% for non-exclusive.

d) Monthly Salary + Bonus: Only for exclusive writers who update daily.

HOW PAYMENT WORKS

GoodNovel:

Non-exclusive - 50% revenue from locked chapters, no base pay.

Exclusive - If you update 30k to 60k words per month, you can get $200 to $400 base pay per book plus 50% bonus and completion bonus when you finish.

NovelUP / Moboreader:

NovelUP is friendly to beginners. They accept non-exclusive easily. For exclusive they pay $150 to $300 base for 50k words monthly plus revenue share.

Dreame:

Dreame pays per book completion plus monthly bonus. Exclusive only.

Webnovel:

Pays $200 base plus 50% revenue for exclusive. You must have good English.

HOW TO EARN WITH ONE STORY ON 3-5 PLATFORMS

You don't need to write 5 different stories. Write ONE good story of like 100 chapters. Maybe romance or billionaire story.

Post it on one platform as exclusive if you want base salary. Then edit small, change title and character names, and post on other platforms as non-exclusive.

Note: Never post the same book as exclusive on two platforms at once. You will be banned. Do one exclusive, others non-exclusive, or all non-exclusive.

If all are non-exclusive, you can post on 5 platforms same day. One story paying you 5 times.

HOW MUCH CAN YOU MAKE?

If you write at least 2 times a week: $0 to $50 per month

If you are average, writing 1000 words daily on 1 platform: $100 to $250

If you are serious, 1500 to 2000 words daily, 1 exclusive + 2 non-exclusive: $400 to $800

If you are very serious, 3 books updating daily: $1000 plus. Some people do it but it is not easy.

Ghostwriting is not quick money. First 2 months you may make nothing because you need to build chapters. After 60k words, money starts if the story is interesting.

So if you want to start, pick one niche - romance, werewolf, billionaire, mafia - and write daily.