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In this last post in the 3-part series on finding and hiring romance ghostwriters on Upwork, I'm covering an often-overlooked step in the ghostwriter hiring process: the contract.
Most clients have a boilerplate contract they send to writers, the majority of which is taken up by a NDA clause. And while NDAs are essential to ghostwriting, there are so many other topics that must be covered in your contract, to protect both you (the client) and the ghostwriter's interests.
These include:
The ghostwriting project description
Summarize exactly which deliverables you're including in the contract, and decide whether you and your ghostwriter can agree over Upwork message about new additions to the project description, or if you'll need to amend the contract and re-sign. I like to do both, just for peace of mind.
Upwork milestones
Explain how you're breaking up the project into milestones, the word count of each of those milestones, and whether the writer is allowed to go above or below the milestone word count, and by how much. Including a clause that explains how editing will be handled—whether each milestone is edited before the writer can continue on to the next, or the project is only edited once the writing is completed—also helps your ghostwriter understand the project's timeline so they can factor it into their overall schedule.
Payment
Describe your payment structure—the per word rate you're paying the ghostwriter, and what's included in that rate—like rounds of revision, a blurb, or a series bible. In this section, you can also state your timeline for reviewing and submitting milestones. This isn't mandatory, but as with the section on Upwork milestone, the more information you can give your ghostwriter about the project's timeline, the easier you'll make it for them to manage their schedule and your place in it.
Termination
Though no one likes to think about terminating a contract when they're only just signing it, contracts are about covering all your bases. Making sure you have a plan in place for every possibly eventuality. Which means you have to decide how much notice you or your ghostwriter will give the other before terminating the contract. I've found 7 days to be the sweet spot for this—it's enough time to finish up any outstanding milestones and organise final payment for work completed thus far, as well as asking for any refunds for work not completed.
AI Usage
Most ghostwriting clients don't want their ghostwriters using AI to generate the work they're paying for, for two reasons: copyright issues (AI is trained on already existing material, so there's always the chance it will churn out a story almost identical to a currently or previously published one; I've witnessed it happen with clients 3 times now), and the definition of ghostwriting itself, which, at least right now, is a creative act still powered by genuine human endeavor. However, this isn't the case for all ghostwriting clients, so including a clause that outlines what AI usage you accept (like Grammarly) and what you specifically don't (using LLMs to generate plot ideas, summaries, outlines, scenes, chapters, or blurbs) helps writers understand what resources they can and can't use.
The NDA
The NDA is one of the most important parts of your ghostwriting contract, because it's how you obtain copyright for the work you're having ghostwritten. I like to split the NDA into two sections: one for confidentiality and non-disclosure to prevent the ghostwriter from discussing confidential information related to the project without the Client's consent, and another for assignment of rights, which includes a clause prohibiting the ghostwriter from using an excerpt of the project's material without the Client's written consent. That way, all your bases are covered.
Some clients prefer to create locked PDFs or MS Word documents for contracts, to restrict editing. I myself use plain old PDFs, but if you want the security of a locked document, by all means, go for it!
Make sure you and your ghostwriter have both signed the PDF before work commences, and be open to discussing certain sections. Because, as with basically everything, communication is key. Better to chat about the payment structure now and get any issues ironed out, then have to deal with it mid-project when you're also juggling marketing, a cover designer, and an editor.
This concludes my 3-part series on how to find a romance ghostwriter on Upwork. I truly hope it helps ghostwriting clients out there find great romance ghostwriters they can work with long-term.
Until next blog post, happy reading and writing!