Description
No AI-generated text. This is non-negotiable.
We've work with excellent writers from ProBlogger. Successful completion of this project will open up possibilities for ongoing work.
About the project
We're recruiting an experienced ghostwriter for the next book in an established action-adventure mystery series.
The series in one line: Fast, funny, cinematic cozy-adventure in the Evanovich / Cosimano / Goldberg tradition — a young, tactically-trained protagonist who's always the smartest and most dangerous person in the room, told in a dry first-person voice.
If you've read Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan, Lee Goldberg's Fox & O'Hare, Donna Andrews's Meg Langslow, Jennifer Crusie, or Carl Hiaasen, you'll recognize the territory. Light-but-smart. Mystery with teeth. Humor that lands inside the action rather than between it.
What we need you to do
- Draft one full novel (~60,000 words) to series specs, working from an outline the author provides.
- Match the established voice and follow the series bible (both supplied on contract).
- Land the humor. Land the action. This series lives or dies on both — a candidate who can only do one won't work.
- Meet a delivery schedule agreed at contract signing.
Craft requirements
The voice is specific and non-negotiable. You need to be able to:
- Write a young female first-person protagonist — smart, dry, self-aware — without reaching for sitcom patter or constant quips
- Write on-page action — fights, chases, tactical scenes — that reads clean and cinematic, not clumsy or over-choreographed
- Land humor inside high-stakes scenes, not bolted on between them as comic relief
- Differentiate characters through rhythm and word choice, not dialect, accents, or verbal tics
- Handle plot logic across a book-length mystery-adventure arc
- Give international-setting texture that doesn't read like a Wikipedia infodump
Deal-breakers: quipping that undercuts tension, characters that blur together in dialogue, action scenes that read as choreographed stage directions, humor segregated from the action, dialect or accent used as personality shorthand, protagonists who announce their intelligence instead of showing it.
No AI-generated text. This is non-negotiable.
Pay and pace
Pay: 3c per word, paid on a 1099 basis.
Pace: 10,000 polished words per week. Revisions and editorial feedback are included.
If that pace doesn't work for you, please don't apply. Successful delivery on Book 9 opens the door to ongoing series work.
Eligibility
This role is open to US tax residents only. We pay on a 1099 basis, so you must be able to file US taxes to work with us.
Application Instructions
To apply
Please introduce yourself and answer the following:
Are you fluent in native-level written US English? (The series voice is specifically American — this is a hard requirement.)
Are you a US tax resident?
Have you written or ghostwritten a novel before, ideally a series?
Which cozy-adventure, mystery, or comic authors do you read, and who has most influenced your writing? (We're especially interested if you've read any of the comp authors above.)
How do you approach picking up a series mid-way through, matching an established voice, tone, and world?
Can you deliver 10,000 polished words per week consistently?
Are you comfortable writing a young female first-person protagonist whose voice stays dry and restrained even in high-stakes scenes?
Please attach a short writing sample (PDF only) that shows a young woman in first person navigating action with humor. If you don't have one piece that shows both, send one of each and label them clearly.