<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ghostwriting was the last side hustle Kristy Lee Kelly thought she'd fall into after being made redundant in 2020.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 32-year-old from </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/sydney" rel="" target="" title="Sydney"><span>Sydney</span></a><span> didn't even know ghostwriting existed until an old colleague suggested it could help her make ends meet.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kelly figured there was no harm trying it, at least until she found a new job.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/immigration-visa-police-check-false-identity-crimes-exclusive/8f724407-ca0d-484e-87aa-b5dbb0957699"><strong><span>Andy wanted to call Australia home. Instead he was accused of crimes he 'didn't commit'</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Instead she ended up ghostwriting for more than four years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For those not in the know, a ghostwriter is a professional author paid to write books (among other things) for other authors, celebrities, even royals.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prince Harry's </span><em><span>Spare</span></em><span> was ghostwritten by acclaimed journalist and author J. R. Moehringer, who reportedly charges seven figures per book.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/ghostwriter-side-hustle-sydney-mum-cost-of-living-exclusive/d3c1d722-66b9-46f1-8a3e-e4ed20a7c1f7" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Other, less established ghostwriters make tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars per book.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The trade-off is that most receive no credit for what they write because it's published under someone else's name (celebrity ghostwriters such as Moehringer are outliers).</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Kelly, a self-proclaimed "lover of words", didn't mind writing for other people at first.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/oporto-ceo-therese-frangie-secrets-to-success/5562562c-8a5d-43de-9b15-48199c8633bb"><strong><span>Three words this CEO swears will help you land a better job</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She was just happy getting paid to do something she enjoyed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You can't realistically live on one income anymore," she told 9news.com.au.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was a combination of extra cash while having a creative outlet that appealed to me."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It only took a few beginner projects to build her confidence and start landing bigger, well-paid contracts writing romance.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's a booming genre, with Australians forking out $50 million on romance novels in 2024 alone, according to Nielsen BookScan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And Kelly was "floored" to realise how many authors in it and other popular genres don't write their own books.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"People don't know how much of the publishing industry is built on ghostwriters," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/skin-cancer-australia-keratinocyte-melbourne-woman-sara-found-basal-cell-carcinoma-on-hairline/668ced40-1778-4542-b43c-489d1768fee5"><strong><span>Tiny spot found on Sara's forehead kills 700 Aussies each year</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Like most jobs, ghostwriting gigs are advertised online with details such as the genre of the book, the level of experience required, and the rate of pay.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And almost all of them require the hired ghostwriter to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) prohibiting them from ever revealing they wrote it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kelly had to sign one for every single book she worked on, but the cash was worth it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Before long, she was ghostwriting for major publishers in the US and UK, as well as a few authors directly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As her profile increased, so did her pay.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I would negotiate the overall amount, then get paid in milestones," she explained.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It started with the outline, then it was usually in 10,000- to 20,000-word increments, and then for any further edits."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-teenager-haven-xgreen-vending-side-hustle-idea-exclusive/66ad02fc-737a-45c4-8f92-0f61a8327a80"><strong><span>Haven is only 15 but his unusual 'side hustle' has earned him thousands of dollars</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It became a lucrative side hustle and when Kelly landed a full-time job in the disability sector in 2021, she decided to keep ghostwriting.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Having an extra income as the cost-of-living crisis was kicking off was a huge relief.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Especially when Kelly and her husband learned they were expecting their first child the following year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was a challenging juggle and Kelly had to write before and after work and on her lunch breaks to meet tight project deadlines.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Whenever I had a spare moment, I was writing," she said, describing it as "exhausting but fulfilling".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Then on weekends I smashed out as much as I could."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The only drawback was that Kelly had no ownership of her writing, even on the projects where she was given almost total creative freedom.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/exclusive-carol-and-robert-gould-legal-fight-after-injury-results-in-thumb-amputation/bf5ff8a4-3487-4ec8-8e56-e2f2e612edb3"><strong><span>Robert's thumb was amputated 14 years ago. It triggered a legal nightmare</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For one project, she was given a vague theme and allowed to run wild with it for three books.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But as soon as the ink dried, her words were taken away to be published under a stranger's name.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That's the one series I wish I could've put my name on, because it had so much of me in it and I still to this day have no idea where it ended up," Kelly said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Of the 20 books she ghostwrote, Kelly has only ever found two on shelves – both by accident.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>What happened to the rest remains a mystery.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was only after becoming a mother that Kelly decided to finally step away from ghostwriting after more than four years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was incredibly draining to give pieces of myself - my humour, my creativity, even my trauma - to other people's books," she explained.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I started to question why I was bringing other people's stories to life but not the ones that I've been carrying around inside of me."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/artificial-intelligence-impacting-author-pen-names-and-pseudonym-interview-with-author-exclusive/c1a633c4-e731-45e8-b3d6-aa6aaaceedbe"><strong><span>'We're real': The type of book we may never see again thanks to AI</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hoping to show her daughter that it's never too late to chase your passions, Kelly is now writing original fiction between part-time work and raising a toddler.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But she doesn't regret her time as a ghostwriter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This has all led me to a path where I'm working on my own writing, and I'm excited to see where it leads me," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It could lead to a pile of books that never see the light of day, but at least I put pen to paper."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>Have you got a story? 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