Whose book is it? Yours — if the contract says so.
The single most important document in any ghostwriting project isn't the manuscript — it's the agreement that decides who owns it. Here's how ownership actually works, in plain English, and the clauses that should end a conversation with any provider.
Work-for-hire, in one minute
Copyright normally belongs to whoever creates a work. A work-for-hire agreement (US doctrine; achieved by assignment in the UK under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) reverses that for commissioned work: the commissioning party — you — owns the copyright as if you had written it yourself. Signed before work begins, it makes the question of ownership boring, which is exactly what legal questions should be.
The four things the agreement must give you
| Copyright | 100% assignment or work-for-hire, worldwide, permanent — not a licence, not 'after final payment plus fees'. |
|---|---|
| Royalties | Every sale, every platform, forever. The writer's compensation is the fee, full stop (unless you explicitly negotiate otherwise). |
| Credit | Your name on the cover; the ghostwriter credited only if you choose. |
| Confidentiality | The writer can't disclose the engagement. NDA on request. Their silence protects your byline. |
Clauses that should end the conversation
Refuse any agreement where the provider: retains any share of copyright or royalties by default; publishes through their platform accounts (your book becomes hostage to their login); charges a 'rights release fee' to give you your own manuscript; or leaves ownership 'to be agreed on completion'. Public complaint records around vanity-publishing and ghostwriting mills are full of exactly these mechanisms — they're not hypothetical.
How we do it: 100% rights and royalties via signed agreement before any payment, publishing through your own store accounts, and the whole structure summarised on our Rights & Copyright page.
Asked and answered
Do I own the copyright to a ghostwritten book?
Yes — if your contract says so. Under a properly drafted work-for-hire (or assignment) agreement, 100% of the copyright belongs to you. Without one, default copyright law can leave ownership with the writer — the contract matters more than the handshake.
Does a ghostwriter get royalties?
Not under standard work-for-hire terms: the ghostwriter is paid a fee and all royalties are yours. Some high-end deals trade lower fees for royalty share — legitimate, but it must be explicit.
Does the ghostwriter get credit or their name on the book?
No — unless you choose to credit them. Under our agreements the byline, the credit and the choice are entirely yours.
Is using a ghostwriter legal and ethical?
Legal: entirely — it's a private contract for writing services. Ethical: it's a long-standing publishing norm. The author supplies the ideas, story and approval; the writer supplies craft.
Read our agreement before you commit — we encourage it.
Get your free quoteplain-english contract · shared at consultation · signed before any payment