Decision: disclose a ghostwriter or not?
Patterns From Bestselling Authors
Bestselling authors approach ghostwriter disclosure differently. James Patterson stands at one extreme: completely transparent about his collaborative process. Patterson openly discusses working with ghostwriters, explaining that it allows him to focus on story development while delegating actual writing tasks. His approach has produced over 150 books without damaging his reputation.
Other successful authors take varied approaches. Tom Clancy, Danielle Steel, and Clive Cussler have used ghostwriters with different levels of acknowledgment. Some credit collaborators in acknowledgment sections. Others maintain complete silence about arrangements.
The key difference lies in authenticity versus secrecy.
You’re not overthinking this because you woke up as a moral philosopher. You’re overthinking this because you want to make money and you definitely don’t want it to blow up in your face.
Somewhere along the way, indie publishing decided that suffering alone was the metric for legitimacy. Write solo or you didn’t earn it. Build your empire by yourself or you’re taking a shortcut. It’s a weird flex, and it’s costing you books you could have written.
The disclosure question isn’t really about ethics because you didn’t wake up as a moral philosophy professor. It’s about whether you’re going to let an imaginary rule stop you from actually scaling your business.
That’s the real question underneath all the debate: Will this blow up my brand or my sales?
Let’s cut through it.
Many Indie Authors Are Already Using Ghostwriters
In the indie serialized fiction world, ghostwriting is standard infrastructure. Many authors publishing multiple books a year across series use collaborators. Your readers don’t know this because nobody talks about it. And your readers don’t care how the book got written. They care if the story works.
The indie author community doesn’t have a transparency culture around this stuff. Nobody’s digging through acknowledgments on a self-published romance or thriller. Most readers never check.
This doesn’t mean you should ignore the question. It means you can stop feeling like you’re the only one doing this.
The Only Actual Risk: Discovery After Secrecy
The Zoella scandal didn’t blow up because she used a ghostwriter. It blew up because readers found out she had been quiet about it.
Here’s the pattern: when someone discovers you’ve been silent about something, they feel deceived. Not because collaboration is wrong, but because you hid it. That’s the sting.
If you’re going to stay quiet, stay quiet completely. Don’t worry about it. The risk shows up only if information leaks and people feel they’ve been lied to.
Everyone Uses Help. Few Say It.
Ghostwriting is more common than most readers realize. Conservative estimates indicate over 80% of celebrity books are ghostwritten, with the true figure likely in the ninety percent range. For non-fiction, up to 50% of books use ghostwriters, while 10% of fiction books involve collaborative writing.
Client outcomes: faster timelines, stable voice and quality, reduced burnout, increased output.
Your Actual Options
Stay completely silent. Most indie authors do. Your ghostwriter is part of your business infrastructure, like your cover designer or your editor. You don’t announce those relationships either. This works fine as long as you’re consistent.
Gentle disclosure to existing readers. A note in your author bio, a mention in your newsletter, or a line in your book’s back matter. Something like “I work with a talented writing partner to bring stories to life” or “co-written with [name].” You’re not broadcasting it, but if someone asks, you’re honest.
Full transparency from the start. Some authors put it on the cover. “Written with [Ghostwriter Name].” James Patterson made an empire doing this. It works when your readers care about the story more than the byline.
All three of these are legitimate business decisions. The wrong decision is letting uncertainty stop you from scaling.
Make It Clear. Keep It Yours.
Acknowledgment approaches that work include thanking collaborators by name in acknowledgment sections while clarifying their contribution nature. Some authors use “with” or “as told to” credits on covers, making collaboration explicit from the start.
Cover credit examples:
- “Written with [Ghostwriter Name]”
- “As told to [Ghostwriter Name]”
- “[Author Name] with [Ghostwriter Name]”
These approaches normalize collaborative writing while maintaining author authenticity.
How to Actually Decide
Ask yourself these questions:
Genre expectations. Do your readers typically care about writing process? (Most don’t. They care about plot.) Is there a genre convention you’re working within?
Your brand goals. Are you trying to be seen as a solo author? A prolific writer? Someone who runs a publishing operation? Your disclosure choice should match what you’re actually building.
Long-term strategy. If you want to stay indie and publish 10 books a year, ghostwriting is your move. Period. The disclosure question is separate from whether you use ghostwriters.
Legal and contractual. Have you got ironclad agreements with your ghostwriter about confidentiality? That matters less for your brand and more for your peace of mind.
What you’d feel ashamed hiding. Publishing professionals say this one clearly: if discovering the secret would make you feel shame, that’s a signal. Not a signal to feel guilty, but a signal about what choice aligns with who you are.
The Messy Part Nobody Talks About
Collaboration is complicated. Your ghostwriter brings a voice, ideas, and decisions. Sometimes those align perfectly with yours. Sometimes they don’t. The best ghostwriting relationships have boundaries, clarity, and check-ins built in from the start.
This is where most authors get stuck, not on the disclosure question. They’re worried collaboration will dilute their work or their vision. That’s a real concern. It’s also solvable with the right partnership and clear expectations.
Where This Is Headed
The publishing industry is moving toward transparency. Readers increasingly understand that writing is often collaborative, especially in indie publishing. The days of treating ghostwriting like it’s shameful are over.
What readers actually respond to is consistency and honesty. If you say you wrote it solo and you didn’t, that’s a problem. If you’re clear about collaboration, or if you’re silent and stay silent, you’re fine.
The Bottom Line
Stop letting the disclosure question keep you from scaling. Most successful indie authors use ghostwriters. Most of them stay quiet about it. Some don’t. All of them are making money.
The only wrong move is letting the disclosure question stop you from writing the books you want to write.
If you’re stuck on this decision and it’s keeping you from moving forward, that’s exactly what we help with. We’ve guided authors through every scenario, every genre, every business model. We know the nuances because we’ve lived them.
You don’t need permission to use ghostwriters. You need clarity on what works for your specific situation.
