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Mutual NDA template for a ghostwriter and client
Before a family tells a writer about the uncle who lost the mill, they want something signed. Before a writer shows a client their method and their other clients’ work, so do they. This NDA protects both, and it is short enough to sign the same day.
A ghostwriter NDA stops the client and the writer from sharing what they learn before a contract is signed. This mutual version protects both sides: the family’s stories, and the writer’s methods and other clients. Business detail stays private for five years. Personal, health and family information stays private with no end date.
- Who signs
- The prospective client and the writer, both ways.
- When
- Before the first conversation where real names, money or family matters come up. Sign it before the sample page.
- Length
- 8 clauses, each with a plain-English note
- Formats
- Word and PDF. Free, no sign-up.
Not legal adviceThis is a template, not a lawyer-drafted legal document and not legal advice. It replaces the verbal agreement most of this work runs on, so both sides have the terms in writing. Laws differ by country and by state. Have a lawyer where you live read it before anyone signs. I am a writer, not a lawyer. These are the documents I would want in place, written in plain English so you can see what each line does.
The NDA, clause by clause
Each clause reads as it does in the download. Type straight into the blanks and tick the options you want (a line with a box is an option: keep one), then download your filled copy in Word or PDF from the bar at the bottom. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
The parties and the purpose
1.1This agreement is made on [DATE] between [NAME], of [ADDRESS], and [NAME], of [ADDRESS] (each a “Party”).
1.2The Parties are discussing a possible book about [SUBJECT] (the “Purpose”). Each Party may share confidential information with the other for the Purpose.
What it meansMutual means both sides are bound. The purpose line matters: information can be used for this conversation and nothing else.
What is confidential
2.1“Confidential Information” means anything one Party shares with the other for the Purpose, in any form, including family and personal history, health, finances, business affairs, documents, recordings, photographs, drafts, sample pages, methods and the fact that the Parties are talking.
What it meansWide on purpose. In a book conversation the sensitive part is not a document. It is the story told across the table, and the fact that the talks are happening at all.
What is not confidential
3.1Information is not confidential if the receiving Party can show it: (a) was public, or became public through no fault of theirs; (b) was already known to them without a duty of confidence; (c) was given to them by someone else with the right to share it; or (d) was developed by them without using the Confidential Information.
What it meansThe standard four exceptions. Without them an NDA can be used to stop someone repeating what was in the newspaper.
What each Party promises
4.1Each Party will: (a) use the other’s Confidential Information only for the Purpose; (b) not share it with anyone except their own advisers or team members who need it for the Purpose and are bound by confidentiality in writing; and (c) protect it with at least the care they use for their own private information.
4.2Neither Party will upload the other’s Confidential Information to any AI tool that uses it to train a model.
4.3A Party may disclose Confidential Information if a court, regulator or the law requires it, after telling the other Party first where the law allows.
What it meansUse it for the book talk, keep it to people who need it, and look after it. Your stories do not go into a chatbot that learns from them, which matches the AI clause in the ghostwriting contract. The last sentence covers a court order, which no contract can override.
Returning and deleting
5.1If the Parties do not go ahead, or on request, each Party will return or delete the other’s Confidential Information within [14] days, including recordings and copies, and confirm in writing that it has done so. Copies held in automatic backups may be kept until they are overwritten, and stay confidential.
What it meansIf you do not hire the writer, your recordings come back or get deleted, and you get an email saying so.
How long it lasts
6.1This agreement starts on the date above. The duty of confidentiality lasts for [FIVE] years after the last disclosure, and with no end date for personal, health and family information.
What it meansFive years for business detail. Forever for the personal material. Nobody should be free to sell your mother’s story in year six.
No obligation
7.1Nothing in this agreement obliges either Party to enter into a writing agreement, and no licence or ownership of any information passes under it.
What it meansSigning this does not hire anyone. It is a door, not a deal.
Remedies and the law
8.1A breach may cause harm that money cannot repair, so the injured Party may seek an injunction as well as damages.
8.2This agreement is governed by the laws of [COUNTRY, AND STATE OR EMIRATE IF ANY], and the courts of [CITY] have jurisdiction.
What it meansAn injunction stops a leak before it happens. Damages after the fact are cold comfort when the story is already out.
Signatures
Take the NDA with you
Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement: Word (.docx) to edit, PDF to print. Free, no sign-up. Blanks are highlighted. Or fill it in on this page and download it filled.
Know a writer who works on a handshake?
Most freelance work starts with a phone call and a promise. Then the invoice is late, or the scope doubles, and nobody wrote anything down. Send this NDA to one writer, or one client, before their next job starts. It is free, it needs no sign-up, and it saves an argument later.
India and other countries
India
An NDA is a contract under the Indian Contract Act 1872. Section 27 makes a promise not to work in a trade void, so an NDA must protect information, not stop a writer from working for others. Courts in India do grant injunctions to stop a breach of confidence. Pay stamp duty under your state’s Stamp Act; the amount is small. Personal data shared under the NDA is also covered by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 once its rules are in force.
UK
English law protects confidential information even without a contract, under the law of breach of confidence, but a signed NDA makes the scope clear. An NDA cannot stop anyone reporting a crime or making a protected disclosure. If personal data is shared, UK GDPR applies to how it is stored and deleted.
US
NDAs are state law. They are enforced across the US if the information is defined and the time limit is reasonable. Some states limit NDAs in employment, which does not apply to a client and a freelance writer. Name the state.
UAE
An NDA is enforceable under the UAE Civil Transactions Law. Onshore courts work in Arabic, so a bilingual version, or an Arabic translation ready for court, saves time if it is ever needed. DIFC and ADGM have their own courts and common law rules.
Singapore, Canada and Australia
All three enforce NDAs under common law, and all three protect confidence even without a contract. Personal data shared under the NDA falls under each country’s privacy law: the PDPA in Singapore, PIPEDA or provincial law in Canada, and the Privacy Act 1988 in Australia.
Questions people ask
Do I need an NDA before talking to a ghostwriter?
If you will share family, health or business matters in the first conversation, yes. A good writer will sign one before the first real call. A mutual NDA protects both sides and takes ten minutes.
Does a ghostwriter’s NDA last forever?
In this template, business information is protected for five years after the last disclosure and personal, health and family information has no end date. Change the five years if you want longer.
Is an NDA the same as the confidentiality clause in the contract?
No. The NDA covers the talks before you hire anyone. Once you sign the writing agreement, its confidentiality clause takes over and covers the book itself.
Do ghostwriters sign NDAs?
A good one signs before you tell the story, and asks you to sign the same promise back. This template is mutual for that reason.
What are red flags in an NDA?
Three. It binds one side and not the other. It has no end date at all, or a one-year term for family matters. It lets the writer keep your recordings after the talks end. This template avoids all three.
Can you make your own NDA?
Yes. Fill the blanks in this template and both sides sign; it then binds both. Have a lawyer where you live read it once.
Hiring a writer for a family book?
Send me the contract you have been offered, or ask for mine. I respond within 48 hours, in confidence.