Kelly James-Enger

You’re not only a writer—you’re a writer who writes for money. A freelancer. Someone who sells his or words for pay.

So, let me ask you—how attached are you to your byline? How much does it matter to you?

Nearly every writer wants recognition. But ditching your byline may be the smartest thing you ever do for your writing career. The market for talented ghostwriters is huge, and continuing to grow. Household names like Hillary Rodham Clinton, David Beckham, Donald Trump, Naomi Campbell, and Clay Aiken are all authors who used ghostwriters. An estimated 80 percent of celebrity-authored books are ghostwritten, and publishing experts say that half of The New York Times bestsellers are ghosted, too.

But it’s not just big names who hire ghostwriters and book collaborators; the market for writers who can pen someone else’s book is broad and growing. Book publishers, literary agents, book packagers, corporations, and everyday people all pay ghostwriters to write their books.

And that’s just books. Ghostwriters now craft everything from blog posts to articles to content marketing pieces to white papers and even Tweets. Corporations are spending more than 40 billion dollars every year on content marketing, and need writers to ghost that work.

If you’re a freelancer who wants to branch into a growing, lucrative niche; a book author who wants to make more money in less time; or a writer who wants to be paid (and paid well) for your work, it’s time to say, “goodbye” to your byline—and “hello!” to big bucks. Author Kelly James-Enger has published more than a dozen books under her name, ghostwritten a dozen books for clients, and been ghostwriting and coauthoring for more than a decade. She's also the author of books including Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition, and Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success.