01 · FICTION AND STORY-LED GHOSTWRITING
Jon Smith
Our best pick for fiction and complete book ghostwriting
Jon Smith is our best pick in this comparison for clients looking for a professional ghost writer with substantial first-hand experience as a published author. His site states that he has published more than 50 books across fantasy, science fiction, satire, young adult and children's fiction, with translations into seven languages and more than half a million copies sold.
That background is particularly relevant for fiction. A novel needs more than competent prose: it requires structure, pacing, character development, dialogue, narrative tension and an understanding of what readers expect from the genre. Smith describes twenty years of professional writing experience and presents versatility as a core part of his ghostwriting service rather than restricting himself to one type of story.
His approach is also unusually clear about what the client is buying. Smith says he writes new prose from the ground up rather than simply patching or polishing an existing draft. A project can start with anything from a basic concept or logline to a developed outline. He then gathers detailed information about the story, characters and world before producing a chapter outline for approval.
Voice is treated as part of that process. Before moving into the full manuscript, Smith produces an opening sample so that the client can confirm the tone and style. That is a useful safeguard on a long-form project because a structurally strong manuscript can still fail if the voice does not feel right for the intended author, audience or genre.
Smith's wider creative background also distinguishes him from a conventional book-only ghostwriter. Alongside his published fiction, he describes himself as an award-winning screenwriter and a musical-theatre lyricist and librettist. For story-heavy projects, experience across different narrative formats can be valuable because the underlying skills of scene construction, dialogue, pacing and character motivation transfer well between forms.
Confidentiality is explicit: his ghostwriting work is carried out under NDA. That means, as with many established ghostwriters, the most relevant portfolio may not necessarily be visible publicly. For a prospective client, the sensible next step is therefore a conversation about the particular project, followed by discussion of scope, style, timetable, ownership and how the approval stages will work.
