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Ghost writer vs contributing writer

The differences between ghost writers and contributing writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a ghost writer and a contributing writer. Additionally, a ghost writer has an average salary of $62,531, which is higher than the $51,372 average annual salary of a contributing writer.

The top three skills for a ghost writer include blog posts, web content and SEO. The most important skills for a contributing writer are lifestyle, web content, and SEO.

Ghost writer vs contributing writer overview

Ghost WriterContributing Writer
Yearly salary$62,531$51,372
Hourly rate$30.06$24.70
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs10,19210,292
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4646
Years of experience22

Ghost writer vs contributing writer salary

Ghost writers and contributing writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Ghost WriterContributing Writer
Average salary$62,531$51,372
Salary rangeBetween $39,000 And $98,000Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between ghost writer and contributing writer education

There are a few differences between a ghost writer and a contributing writer in terms of educational background:

Ghost WriterContributing Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorEnglishJournalism
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Ghost writer vs contributing writer demographics

Here are the differences between ghost writers' and contributing writers' demographics:

Ghost WriterContributing Writer
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 33.6% Female, 66.4%Male, 44.6% Female, 55.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 8.8% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between ghost writer and contributing writer duties and responsibilities

Ghost writer example responsibilities.

  • Manage a team of RFP writers and work with a cross-functional team to meet RFP requirements and establish deadlines.
  • Rewrite author's manuscript into a twenty-plus chapter, fact-base fiction novel.
  • Research and draft return on investment (ROI) kitchen and basement remodeling articles utilizing SEO best practices.
  • Work closely with developers to integrate UI standards into the application and to build intuitive navigation and functionality.
  • Coordinate efforts between web developers, SharePoint site administrators and product support representatives to build and support an active online community.

Contributing writer example responsibilities.

  • Collaborate with overseas team and manage documents using SharePoint to conceptualize and generate new marketing content.
  • Pitch, write and photograph audience-aligned content, which are centered on the European-American luxury lifestyle in the greater Chicago area
  • Create SharePoint site for marketing and communications that include project tracking, document governance and collaboration space.

Ghost writer vs contributing writer skills

Common ghost writer skills
  • Blog Posts, 18%
  • Web Content, 16%
  • SEO, 14%
  • Fiction, 9%
  • Ghost Writing, 9%
  • Press Releases, 6%
Common contributing writer skills
  • Lifestyle, 13%
  • Web Content, 7%
  • SEO, 6%
  • Feature Stories, 6%
  • Conduct Interviews, 5%
  • Blog Posts, 5%

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