Should You Hire a Copywriter or Ghostwriter?

What’s The Difference Between A Copywriter And A Ghostwriter?

This is a question that often comes up when people start looking into various writing services that they can outsource their work to.

In truth there is really no major difference at all. Copywriting and ghostwriting both involve enlisting the services of a writer to create your content for you – whether that content involves writing articles, e-books, press releases, sales pages, or any other type of writing.

Ghostwriting

Ghost writing may seem like something of a mysterious term but in actual fact all it means is that the writer’s name will not appear on the finished work when it is published. So for example you would hire a ghostwriter to write an e-book for you, and when you receive the finished e-book you would then publish it under your own name as the author. The writer is the ‘ghost’.

Copywriting

But copy writing means pretty much the same thing. The writer will write the ‘copy’, as it is known, for you and you will publish it under your own name when it is complete.

I am a UK ghostwriter and also a UK copywriter.  I tend to say I am  UK ghostwriter if I will be contractually unable to say to another client that I’ve written something.  I tend to say I am a UK copywriter if the client allows us to reference the work to other clients.  But it’s a gray area and client confidentialty is to be respected at all times, and I always ask permission for work we have done to be references on this site.

It is sometimes the case that longer works such as e-books (whether factual or fictional) are referred to as having been ghost written and then published under another name – books by celebrities are a good example where they are said to have been ghostwritten – written by a ghostwriter. In the UK, Jordan is open about using a UK ghostwriter.  Hilary Clinton used a ghostwriter.  That makes it very odd because these celebrities have abandoned the notion of client confidentiality!

Copywriting is the term that is more often used when referring to sales pages, promotional letters designed to bring in new customers, and so on, but both terms are interchangeable and are often used as such.

The most important thing to remember is not whether you are hiring someone who does copywriting or ghostwriting, but whether they are capable of doing the job that you need doing. Someone who does ghost writing may specialise in writing sales pages for example, while another writer who does copy writing may do e-books more than anything else.

So don’t worry too much about which terms are used. It is far more important to make sure you choose the right writer for the job. If you concentrate on this aspect of the process, you will always get the result you want when the work is complete. Need a confidential ghostwriter or a copywriter to help you with your project? Learn more about our writing services and our writing team.
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