Writing & MediaFree
Ghostwriting Contract From Your Agreed Terms
Paste the proposal or deal notes. Get a ghostwriting agreement covering scope, payments, kill fee, credit, confidentiality and ownership, ready for a lawyer's review.
River's ghostwriting contract generator turns the terms you agreed with a client into a full agreement. Paste the accepted proposal or your notes from the call. River drafts the contract: parties, scope and deliverables, what the client must provide, the schedule, milestone payments, revisions, the kill fee, credit, confidentiality in both directions, ownership, and the client's responsibility for their own facts. It is laid out like a legal document, and every term your notes did not settle is marked in brackets for you to decide.
Most ghostwriting contract templates online are generic services agreements with the word ghostwriter added. They rarely deal with what makes this work different. The client's name goes on the book and the writer often cannot mention the project. The material comes from the client's memory, and the book can stall for months while the client is busy. This agreement handles each of those directly, from what happens to payments when the client goes quiet to who answers for a damaging story the client told in an interview.
It is for freelance ghostwriters, collaborators and small agencies writing books, memoirs, speeches and executive content. Use it after the client accepts your ghostwriting proposal and before the first interview. It is a draft, not legal advice: for a large fee, royalties or a publisher deal, have a lawyer where you work review it. For simpler client projects such as articles or web copy, the freelance contract template is the better starting point.
The clauses that matter most in a ghostwriting agreement
Ownership comes first, and it is often misunderstood. Many templates simply call the book a work made for hire. Under US law a commissioned work only qualifies in nine listed categories, with a signed written agreement, and a standalone book is usually not one of them. A sound ghostwriting agreement therefore assigns copyright to the client in writing, often once the final payment clears. That gives the writer real leverage if the last invoice is ignored, without a dispute over who owns the draft.
The kill fee clause decides what happens when a book dies halfway, which is more common than either side expects. A clear version says the client may end the project at any time with written notice, pays for every milestone reached plus a share of the stage in progress, and receives the work completed to date. The writer may end it if the client misses interviews or payments for a set period. Without that language, a stalled project leaves the writer unpaid and unable to take on new work.
Confidentiality and credit need writing down in both directions. The client wants silence: no naming them and no showing the manuscript. The writer usually wants something too, such as the right to say they wrote a business book for a technology founder, or to share pages privately with prospects. Agree that now. Add a clause that the client stands behind the facts in their own stories, because a memoir built from interviews names real people, and the writer cannot check every claim.
How it works
Paste the agreed terms
Your accepted proposal, the client's email confirming terms, or your own notes from the call.
Choose where you work
Pick where you and the client are based, so the governing law is set sensibly.
Get the agreement
A full ghostwriting agreement in a document, with numbered sections and signature blocks for both parties.
Adjust in chat
Ask to change the kill fee, add royalties, or soften a clause before you send it.
What you get
- A complete agreement drafted from your proposal or notes, laid out like a legal document
- Copyright assigned to the client in writing, with timing tied to final payment if you choose
- A kill fee and termination clause covering stalled projects, missed interviews and unpaid invoices
- Credit and confidentiality terms in both directions, including what you may say about the work
- The client's responsibility for the accuracy of their own stories and the material they supply
- Every unsettled term in brackets, plus a plain summary of what to raise with a lawyer
Common questions
Is this a legally binding contract?
Once both sides sign it, an agreement like this can bind you, which is why its wording matters. River drafts it from your terms but does not give legal advice or promise it is enforceable where you live. Treat it as a strong first draft, and for a large fee, royalties or a publishing deal, ask a lawyer to review it before signing.
Should the book be a work made for hire?
In the United States, usually not on its own. A commissioned work only counts as made for hire in nine categories, and a standalone book is rarely one of them, so the label alone may not transfer ownership. This agreement assigns copyright to the client in writing instead. Some contracts use both as a fallback; ask a lawyer whether that suits you.
What kill fee is normal for a ghostwriting project?
There is no standard figure. Many writers keep every payment already made and bill the stage in progress, which works well when payments follow milestones like the ones the ghostwriting pricing calculator sets. Others set a minimum share of the total fee. River uses whatever your notes say and, if they are silent, drafts a milestone-based version and marks the percentage for you to choose.
Can I still put the book in my portfolio?
Only if the agreement allows it, so ask now. Common middle grounds are describing the project without naming the client, sharing sample pages privately under confidentiality, or a thank-you in the acknowledgments. River writes whatever your notes describe into the confidentiality clause. If they are silent, it drafts a strict version and points out what you could ask for.
What happens if the client stops replying for months?
The agreement covers it. A typical clause pauses the schedule while the client is unavailable, keeps payments tied to delivered work, and lets the writer end the project after a set period of silence, keeping payments made and billing work completed. That protects your calendar without punishing a client who simply had a hard quarter.
Does it handle royalties or a co-author credit?
Yes, if you include them. Paste the split, the credit wording and who receives statements, and River adds clauses on payment timing, royalty statements and what happens if a publisher buys the book later. Royalty terms carry more risk than a flat fee, so they are the first section to show a lawyer.
Built by
Chandler Supple
Co-founder & CEO, River
Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.
Ghostwriting Contract From Your Agreed Terms
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