A quick scroll through your LinkedIn feed reveals that many posts are powered by at least AI but increasingly also by a ghostwriter. The truth is that ghostwriting is far more common than you might think — and for good reason.
Why is ghostwriting needed?
A common misconception is that every highly educated expert can also write well. Surely many can, but the reality is more complex.
Experts don’t have time to write. Being an expert in your field doesn’t automatically make you a communications professional or someone who can structure their know-how into content that resonates with a target audience. And even if they can, it often takes an unreasonable amount of time away from their core work.
Building thought leadership around desired topics requires messages and consistent visibility. That’s why you need a partner who masters the craft of writing.
Is ghostwriting inauthentic?
Ghostwritten content is often seen as less authentic than something written by the person themselves. Whose text is it really, if the person didn’t write it?
The answer is simple: the written piece belongs to the person under whose name it is published. The ghostwriter merely helps to verbalize and structure the thoughts — but the content always stems from the interviewee’s own knowledge.
Who wouldn’t want to sound professionally credible, even if they aren’t a writer themselves? In the best case, the ghostwriter even coaches the client so they can start writing on their own once the key messages have been sharpened enough times.
How does ghostwriting work?
The ghostwriting process is very straightforward:
- Brief: Goals, angle, and target audience
- Interview: Phone or video discussion (or written notes as an alternative)
- Writing: Transcription and drafting the text with the help of AI
- Comments: Joint polishing to the final version
Onnistunut yhteistyö edellyttää molemminpuolista briiffausta. Tilaaja kertoo, mitä halutaan sanoa ja miksi. Haamukirjoittaja puolestaan avaa haastateltavalle prosessin, jotta odotuksia voidaan hallita ja luottamusta rakentaa.
A phone or video interview is the best format, as the ghostwriter can prepare questions based on the brief, deepen them during the discussion, and pick up on the interviewee’s style. To make the expert’s time count, one interview often yields several blog posts, social posts — even videos.
Generative AI is the ghostwriter’s right hand. It helps transcribe interviews and train the AI to write text that reflects the interviewee’s vocabulary and expressions. The end result genuinely sounds like the person whose name is on the post.
Open discussion and full commenting rights ensure the final text matches the brief. If something goes wrong, it’s usually due to insufficient briefing — and can be fixed with another conversation, clarifications, and edits. Fortunately, these cases are rare. Most often, the interviewee is simply grateful for how easily and pleasantly the ghostwriter distilled the essentials from the interview.
What makes a good ghostwriter?
A good ghostwriter masters grammar and different writing styles, understands the client’s business and audiences, and knows the goals. They know how to conduct interviews, extract the essentials even from a short conversation, and most importantly — turn them into impactful content.
Ghostwriting ensures that an expert’s valuable knowledge reaches their audience in the right form, at the right time.
Interested in building thought leadership with the help of a ghostwriter? Get in touch and let’s discuss your needs.