We have been out there in the ghostwriting industry for over a decade now and we get a lot of questions on different aspects of ghostwriting. Today we are going to talk about the most common question we get on all our forums.
We often get asked the question on how long it takes us to write a book along with follow-up questions on the book ghostwriting process as well as ghostwriting planning and much more.
So, how long does it take to write a book? We can give you two answers and both are going to be correct, before we do that let us understand why ghostwriting services are required in the first place.
Why Do Individuals and Companies Need Ghostwriters?
Writing is A Professional Skill
Writing is a skill and it is a specialisation. Let us help you understand this with an example. Let’s say for example that you have an E-Commerce brand that sells tea.
That makes you an expert at tea making and tea selling but that does not mean you will have people in your company that are professional writers. You might know everything there is to tea manufacturing but you might not know how to put them into the perfect words.
That is exactly where ghostwriters like us come in. You are the professionals at what you do and we are the professionals at showing the world how good you are by expressing them in words. You know how to do your job and we know how to explain your job.
You Might Have Time Limitations
Let us help you understand this with the same example of you being the owner of a tea company with a website that sells tea.
Let’s say that you might have someone in your team who is also a very good writer, although the chances of having a professional writer employed permanently in a different position in a tea company are very slim.
But for the sake of the argument let’s say that this writer is more than capable enough to write all your website’s content. But there are a lot of steps to ghostwrite a book and you might be launching a product that needs content very soon.
A single person would never be able to meet the deadline because they have no support and no structure and they are not doing content writing professionally.
However, a professional ghostwriting company is equipped to handle any volume and meet tight deadlines by the sheer number of ghostwriters it has.
That is also the case with us because we can meet deadlines without compromising quality because of the level of experience and the number of ghostwriters we have.
We Know Branding and Content Relevance
It is not the 2000’s anymore and having online content is not just about explaining your product but it is about gaining brand authority and also relevance in the search results.
Ghostwriting and content writing is not only about having premium quality written content but it is also about having content that will make sure your website ranks well on Google.
That is exactly what we do because we not only make sure that you have good content but we also make sure that the content performs remarkably well when it comes to website relevance.
Content nowadays is about branding the content needs to perform well so that it gets noticed by search engines as a reputable source of information for that industry.
This can be achieved with the help of keywords, relevant content and so much more.
There are a lot of other reasons such as the expertise in subject matter as well as professional levels of confidentiality and also the ability to write in any style and tone the client wants.
Basically, there are several reasons why ghostwriting services are a necessity. Let us now get back to the two answers on how long it can take for us or any ghostwriting company to write content for you.
There are two answers and there is the short answer and the long and detailed answer, here is the short answer.
Here Is the Short Answer to How Long It Takes for Us to Ghostwrite a Book
The short answer to this is that it can vary depending on the type of book and several other factors. There are books which can be completed within 1 or 2 months.
These are usually short books and these are usually books where the client has everything prepared from the research material to all the sources and so much more.
However, the ghostwriting publishing timeline can even stretch for months when everything does not go according to plan.
This is when our ghostwriters have to figure out everything from the research to the preparation and everything else themselves.
This is usually the trend in the ghostwriting industry and we are not different from this. Since we have entire divisions for different types of genres and a large workforce, we have managed to break ghostwritten book milestones very often and finish in record time.
Let us now go into a little bit more depth on how the entire process works and how ghostwriter deadlines work.
Here Is the Detailed Answer to How Long It Takes for Us to Ghostwrite a Book
There are several factors that dictate how long it can take for a book to be completed because they are different book ghostwriting stages. Before we look at the stages or steps, let us look at what are the factors that dictate the time it takes for a ghostwriter to write a book.
Here Are All the Factors That Determine the Ghostwriting Time for A Ghostwriter
Type And Length of The Book
One of the crucial factors that determine the writing and editing timeline is going to be the type of book a ghostwriter is writing and the kind of book they are writing.
This is because a small book can take a short time and logically a bigger book will take a long time to ride.
There are also factors such as the type of book because a nonfiction book based on research is going to take a totally different level of time than a novel.
You must also take into consideration the amount of research material provided by the client for the book.
If the client has finalised everything and they have all the materials required then the book can take a very short time compared to a book where the ghostwriter has to arrange everything themselves.
Type Of Content
The second factor that determines the writing timeline is going to be the type of content. This is one of the factors and let us help you understand that with an example.
Let’s say you are a ghostwriter and you have gotten a project about Quantum physics. You might be a physicist but you still need to do research on that topic and go through a learning process yourself.
Let’s say you are a ghostwriter and you have a project where you have to write a children’s book on the importance of friendship. You do not have to do a lot of background research for this kind of a topic because it is for a child.
This is why content is important and subject matter dictates the length of the time taken by the ghostwriter.
The Experience and Expertise of The Ghostwriter
This is also an important factor and this is a very universal factor because you can take any industry and ask for a timeline. The timeline is going to depend on the skill of the worker.
If you go to a ghostwriter who already has experience in the kind of content you want then you can expect them to get the job done quite quicker than someone who is amateur.
But you do not have to worry about that because we are probably one of the most versatile and experienced ghostwriting companies in India. We take on every kind of project because of the gold mine of experience and skills we acquire from it.
This means you can be assured that no matter the industry we can give you the fastest timeline.
The Cooperation of The Client
This is probably the most important factor in how long it can take for a ghostwriter to finish that ask because if the ghostwriter has a very cooperating client, then they can do it faster.
As a client, you can help your ghostwriter by simply having an outline of your ideas ready so that they can look at it and prepare themselves.
If you want to hire a ghostwriter to write nonfiction and something based on research then you need to accumulate your research material in an organised fashion.
This will just make it easier and faster for the ghostwriter to get acquainted with your idea. The faster they are acquainted with your idea the better a job they will do in the shortest time.
When it comes to client cooperation, the client should also be ready to facilitate the ghostwriters wherever they are comfortable.
Some ghostwriters might prefer remote work and some ghostwriters might like to stay in the vicinity of the client when they do the writing.
Volume Workload of The Ghostwriter
Every worker has their breaking point and agencies should not push that breaking point when it comes to ghostwriting.
Overburdening the ghostwriter can result in a longer timeline because the ghostwriter is going to be under tremendous pressure to deliver.
When we talk about overburdening the ghostwriter we mean allocating a single ghostwriter to an entire project.
When multiple ghostwriters are not allocated to a single project it can cause fatigue and the ghostwriter might buckle under all the pressure.
They might compromise on the quality and they cannot meet deadlines. That is why workload should be distributed among ghostwriters but that is not really possible with a smaller company.
You do not have to worry about that with us because we have the best volume-handling capability and we can allocate single or multiple ghostwriters to any project.
Collaboration With the Client
The client and the ghostwriter should be in sync at all times because it reduces confusion and it also does not cause unnecessary delays.
The client should always be ready to check in on the work because regular reviews of the work will make sure that the work is going well. It will provide confidence to the ghostwriter to keep on writing.
There should be an open communication line between the client and the ghostwriter. If there is no synchronisation between them then the same project can take a lot more time to complete.
This is because the ghostwriter will always stay paranoid whether the client is going to approve the progress and the client will be doubtful if the ghostwriter is writing according to their wishes.
That is why the client should schedule their appointments with the ghostwriter regularly so that they can check in on the progress and give the green light.
Now that we know all the factors that can reduce or quicken the timeline of the ghostwriter, let us now look at all the steps and the approximate time it takes to complete all the steps or stages to ghostwrite a book.
Here Are the Steps and Stages to Ghostwriting a Book with Approximate Durations
Preparation Stage
This is the first stage of the ghostwriting process and it can take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. This is the time when the ghostwriter understands the concept of the book.
In the preparation stage, the Ghostwriter will also do market research so that they can identify the target audience so that they can write it in a more effective way for the audience.
This stage is used to set goals but this is not the outlining process because that is the second stage of ghostwriting a book.
There are two kinds of research in this preparation stage and one is market research and the second is going to be the actual research of the book.
The ghostwriter should assemble all the research material and organise them together so that they can utilise it later on.
The Outlining
This is the step where the ghostwriter does the outlining. Outlining is of two types, general outlining and detailed outlining.
Sometimes the outlining type is chosen by the client and most of the time it is a detailed outlining but the ghostwriter can also choose a general outlining.
Outlining is the process of creating a roadmap so that the ghostwriter can then follow it. Outlining can take anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks.
The client should never rush the ghostwriter during this step this is because outlining will dramatically reduce the time it takes to write the book.
The Actual Writing
This is when we come to the most crucial part of ghostwriting which is the actual writing process where the ghostwriter is going to sit down and utilise all the prep work and the outlining to write the actual content.
This stage is different for different kinds of books and can usually take 1 or 2 weeks for each chapter to be completed.
This is where the client should have a careful overview of the progress so that they can review the content and ask the ghostwriter to make changes.
This is the most time-consuming process and the client should be hands-on so that the ghostwriter does not need to change the entire content later on.
The Complete Editing
This is the step that follows after the first draft is complete and the ghostwriter goes through the entire manuscript to make sure everything is in order.
A separate editor can also take a look at the manuscript along with the ghostwriter in order to check for everything from consistency, punctuation, loopholes to simple mistakes.
This is an important step because it allows the ghostwriter to improve the writing style and make sure that the content is arranged properly.
Sometimes the ghostwriter can miss out on the flow of the book as well as the arrangement and this is the perfect time to arrange the manuscript in its perfect order.
This process can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 weeks but it can take a lot longer if the manuscript is longer.
Feedback From the Client
After the editing is complete and the final draft is presented to the client, the client can take anywhere from between 1 or 2 weeks to review the entire work.
This is when they recommend the final changes. While it usually takes a few weeks but this is quite variable and it all depends on the client.
The ghostwriter cannot force the client to give quick feedback because the client needs a considerable amount of time to make sure everything is in order.
The clients should be given all the freedom and time in the world to do this because they are the investor and they can take all the time necessary in the world to make sure everything is ok.
The Last Proofreading
This is the final round of editing after the client has provided their valuable feedback and it is the time for the editor and the ghostwriter to sit together to make the necessary changes.
This is a very important step because the step after this is going to be publishing and when the book goes out for publishing it would be impossible to make changes.
The client should never rush the process and it can take anywhere from 2 weeks to even 6 weeks but that is an approximation depending on the type of book as well as the length of the book.
After the last proofreading is complete, the ghostwriter presents the completed manuscript to the client so that the book can go out for publishing.
We hope you know timelining better than ever after reading this blog and if you are someone looking for one of the most reliable and professional ghostwriting agencies in India then we are here for you.
We are Ghostwriting India and we are the pioneers of the modern ghostwriting industry in India with the fastest-growing list of clients and the fastest-growing reputation in the entire ghostwriting industry.
We are the be-all and end-all of content writing and ghostwriting and we do everything from traditional offline content to online content and much more.
We welcome you to check out all we have to offer on our website and we are sure you are going to be satisfied with our level of professionalism and expertise at ghostwriting.
