Ankur Warikoo sold over million books yet earned Rs 4.5 crore in royalty. But he claims to have not 'written' any of them. How did he do it?

Ankur Warikoo has sold over a million books and earned Rs 4.5 crore in royalties, yet the entrepreneur and content creator says he didn’t technically “write” any of them. His journey shows how modern authorship is evolving: from blogs and social media posts to ghostwritten books that capture an individual’s voice. Warikoo’s story isn’t about shortcuts—it’s about strategy, content creation, and collaboration. Here’s how he turned years of online content into five published bestsellers without sitting down to write a single manuscript himself.

Ankur Warikoo’s writing journey began long before his first book deal. He started a public blog in 2005 and later shared insights on LinkedIn and Quora from 2012 onwards. Despite his love for writing, he never considered himself a professional author.

In 2017, Warikoo met a renowned editor at a panel discussion. She encouraged him, saying he had many books in him. He kept this in mind, and in 2020, when his content began gaining traction online, publishing houses started approaching him. Warikoo decided to collaborate with the editor for his first book.


For his first two books, he worked with the then-head of his content team. She collected posts, transcribed calls, structured chapters, and drafted the book. For subsequent books, he collaborated with two others, who went over 600 videos totalling 250+ hours of content to create the first draft.



Warikoo emphasises that ghostwriting isn’t about avoiding effort—it’s about leveraging existing content efficiently. He defines his role as the originator of ideas, while professional writers transform them into a cohesive book that reflects his tone. This method reduced his writing effort to roughly 10% of what it would have taken otherwise.



Transparency matters to him. Warikoo always credits his ghostwriters, acknowledging the work done behind the scenes. He urges more authors to give due recognition to collaborators who help turn ideas into published works, proving that modern authorship can be collaborative, strategic, and still deeply personal.