Long-Term Bilingual Thriller Ghostwriter Wanted

BILINGUAL FRENCH/ENGLISH PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER GHOSTWRITER – LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP

We are looking for an exceptional bilingual French-English fiction ghostwriter and storytelling partner to help us build an ambitious international publishing catalogue.

This is NOT intended to be a one-book assignment.

Our objective is to develop original, highly commercial psychological thrillers, domestic thrillers, mysteries and suspense novels for French and international readers.

We want to find one core creative partner capable of growing with us for many years and potentially dozens of books.

If the partnership is successful, the collaboration could progressively expand to 15, 25, 50, 100+ books over the long term. These numbers are not guaranteed commitments; they represent the scale of our ambition.

BOOK #1 — PAID PILOT

We will begin with one complete novel.

Target length: approximately 70,000–90,000 words.

Genres:
• Psychological thriller
• Domestic thriller
• Mystery
• Suspense

Book #1 will allow both sides to evaluate creative compatibility, storytelling ability, quality, originality, reliability, communication, deadlines, revisions and long-term potential.

If the collaboration works well, our intention is to continue progressively with additional books.

WHAT WE WANT

We are interested in the storytelling mechanics that make successful contemporary psychological thrillers extremely difficult to put down:

• powerful opening hook;
• immediate curiosity;
• fast but controlled pacing;
• compelling chapters;
• strong chapter endings;
• psychological tension;
• secrets and manipulation;
• unreliable or ambiguous characters;
• conflicting motivations;
• escalating stakes;
• carefully planted clues;
• credible red herrings;
• meaningful reveals;
• major twists;
• twists that remain logical in retrospect;
• emotional engagement;
• intense final act;
• memorable ending;
• strong reader retention.

Our objective is to create original page-turners with genuine commercial potential.

ORIGINALITY

We study successful contemporary fiction and market trends, but we are NOT looking to copy or imitate any existing author, book, character, plot, universe or distinctive writing style.

All concepts, characters, relationships, plots, dialogue, mysteries, clues, twists and prose must be original.

FRENCH + ENGLISH

The ideal candidate must be genuinely comfortable writing in French AND English.

Please specify your native language and professional writing level in both languages.

Our strategy may involve developing the original novel in French and subsequently producing an English-language adaptation.

We do not want a basic word-for-word translation. The English version must read naturally to English-speaking readers and may require genuine linguistic and cultural adaptation.

STORY ARCHITECTURE

We are NOT simply looking for someone capable of producing 80,000 words.

We need a storyteller who understands:

• story architecture;
• reader psychology;
• suspense and tension;
• characterization;
• mystery construction;
• foreshadowing;
• misdirection;
• red herrings;
• twist engineering;
• continuity;
• reader retention.

Before writing the complete manuscript, the process should include development of:

• central premise and commercial hook;
• protagonists and antagonists;
• character motivations and relationships;
• psychological conflict;
• central mystery;
• secrets and stakes;
• character profiles and arcs;
• chronology;
• story structure;
• clues and hidden information;
• red herrings;
• reveals and reversals;
• foreshadowing;
• major twists;
• climax and ending;
• chapter-by-chapter outline.

Major twists should be carefully engineered before the manuscript is completed.

Ideally, readers should finish the novel and realize that important clues were present throughout the story.

MANUSCRIPT + REVISION

The complete manuscript should be approximately 70,000–90,000 words.

Particular attention should be given to opening pages, pacing, dialogue, characterization, psychological credibility, suspense, chapter endings, continuity, emotional engagement, escalating tension and foreshadowing.

Following feedback, the writer must be prepared to revise the manuscript, correct inconsistencies, strengthen weak chapters, improve pacing and dialogue, reinforce foreshadowing, verify chronology and continuity, improve character motivations and strengthen the final reveals and ending.

The final deliverable should be a clean, coherent and polished manuscript ready for the next editorial and publishing stages.

PAID SELECTION PROCESS

We will not choose our long-term partner solely from Freelancer ratings or proposal claims.

Promising candidates may receive the SAME PAID WRITING TEST.

This is not intended to obtain free work.

We will evaluate:
• opening hook;
• prose;
• dialogue;
• character voice;
• psychological tension;
• pacing;
• suspense;
• originality;
• natural French;
• narrative control;
• curiosity and reader retention.

The strongest candidates may then progress to a story-development exercise before final selection for Book #1.

APPLICATION — ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS

Please answer clearly:

1. Native language?
2. French writing level?
3. English writing level?
4. Years of fiction-writing experience?
5. Psychological thriller/mystery/suspense experience?
6. Published or ghostwritten complete novels? Provide examples where confidentiality permits.
7. Provide your most relevant writing samples.
8. Have you developed complete novels from concept to final manuscript?
9. Experience designing clues, red herrings, reveals and twists?
10. How do you structure a psychological thriller before writing it?
11. How do you track characters, chronology, clues and continuity?
12. How do you ensure a major twist is surprising but logically supported?
13. Estimated time for a 70,000–90,000-word novel?
14. Approximate monthly writing capacity?
15. Number of revision rounds normally included?
16. Do you personally write the entire manuscript?
17. Do you work alone or with collaborators?
18. Do you use AI tools? If yes, explain exactly how.
19. How do you ensure originality?
20. Can you write publication-quality fiction directly in French AND English?
21. Can you culturally adapt a French novel for English-speaking readers rather than simply translate it?
22. Are you available for a multi-year collaboration?
23. If successful, would you be interested in potentially working across dozens of books?
24. Confirm acceptance of confidentiality/NDA requirements.
25. Confirm willingness to work under an agreed intellectual-property/rights-assignment framework.

Please submit your proposal for Book #1 through Freelancer.

IMPORTANT

Begin your proposal with:

THRILLER LONG TERM FR/EN

Generic applications or applications that do not answer the questions may not be shortlisted.

LONG-TERM VISION

We are not looking for someone simply to complete one writing assignment.

We want a long-term creative partner capable of helping us build a substantial publishing catalogue over many years.

The catalogue may eventually include standalone psychological thrillers, recurring-character series, interconnected novels, domestic thrillers, mysteries, suspense novels and new concepts.

Book #1 is the starting point and compatibility test.

If the quality, reliability and creative relationship are strong, our ambition is to progressively build dozens of original novels together.

We are looking for the person who could still be creating books with us years from now.