Lead Ghostwriter, Cybersecurity Textbook (Contract)

Location: United States (Remote) Type: Contract, project based Commitment: 20 - 30 hours per week, early October through early December 2026 Apply directly at: https://www.readwritex.com/careers/cybersecurity-technical-writer Please note: we do not collect applications or conduct interviews through LinkedIn messaging. To apply, use the link above. Any approach claiming to represent Read Write X outside our own domain is not from us. A rare brief: an original framework, and the writer who gets to shape itA cybersecurity researcher has spent years developing an original vulnerability research framework and methodology, now published as doctoral work. It is genuinely new thinking, and right now it exists in the form academia demands rather than the form practitioners can actually use. We are turning it into a 130,000-word textbook for the cybersecurity community, and we are looking for the author who will shape it. Not transcribe it. Shape it. You will own the outline, the chapter architecture, the learning objectives, and the decisions about how a reader is carried from unfamiliar to fluent. If you have ever looked at a dense, brilliant piece of research and thought "there is a great book in here, and I know how to build it," this is that project. About Read Write XRead Write X is a human-centered, AI-collaborative writing firm. We partner with technical founders, engineers, and subject matter experts to produce white papers, industry books, and educational resources. One thing worth saying plainly in 2026: we pay humans to write. Our commitment is that this manuscript is credibly human-authored, and we document it rigorously enough to prove it. Generative AI has a narrow, disclosed role here, and it is not writing the book. You are. This is also the first title under our own publishing imprint, so the person who takes this on helps set the standard for everything that follows. What you will do Own the book's outline, chapter hierarchy, and learning objectives, working from the client's published research Draft roughly two thirds of the manuscript, approximately 87,000 words, across three writing phases Develop supporting tables and practical exercises, including exercises that connect to our online cybersecurity training platform Apply APA citation standards throughout Work in Overleaf and LaTeX, keeping the manuscript current so progress stays visible Set the voice and structure that a second writer and a technical editor will follow Maintain prompt logs and process documentation supporting our Human Authorship Report Card for copyright compliance On credit, openlyThis is a ghostwriting engagement. The client is the credited author, and your name will not appear on the cover. We would rather say that now than halfway through. What you do get: full authorial latitude over how the book is built, a professional reference and LinkedIn recommendation from our CEO on completion, agreed language you can use to describe the work, milestone payments issued within seven days, and a finished book in roughly ten weeks rather than two years. Some of the best technical books on the shelf were shaped by writers whose names are not on the spine. If that trade works for you, we would like to talk. Who we are looking forBook publishing experience is the primary requirement. We are specifically interested in people who have worked with or for established technical publishers, for example MIT Press, O'Reilly, Packt, No Starch Press, Manning, Apress, Wiley or Sybex, Pearson, or Addison-Wesley, as an author, developmental editor, acquisitions editor, or contracted book writer. Published book experience. You have authored, ghostwritten, or developmentally edited at least one full-length technical or academic book Cybersecurity depth. Working fluency in vulnerability research and ethical hacking. You understand a vulnerability's lifecycle from discovery through disclosure and can explain exploit chains, memory corruption, web-based attacks, and protocol analysis clearly Pedagogical instinct. You know how to turn dense research into something teachable, with scaffolding, worked examples, and a structure a reader can follow AI as a tool, not an author. You fact-check rigorously and protect authorial voice Self-direction. You can own chapters and hit milestones without being managed Native-level English and an uncompromising eye for detail Security certifications such as Security+, CEH or OSCP or similiar. Preferred LaTeX or Overleaf experience, or the willingness to ramp quickly. A doctoral background, or experience adapting dissertation-grade research for publication. Writing samples that explain the how and why behind a specific vulnerability. LogisticsHours: 15 to 18 per week, scheduled by you against milestone dates Term: early October to early December 2026 Structure: 1099 independent contractor, fully remote Compensation: flat project fee, paid by milestone within seven days of acceptance, discussed in our first conversation Process: weekly timesheets, prompt logs, and periodic screen recordings of working sessions, used internally to refine our authoring workflow We are moving quickly and reviewing applications as they arrive. How to applyApply at https://www.readwritex.com/careers/cybersecurity-technical-writer Include your resume, the books or long-form titles you have written or edited and the publishers involved, a short writing sample explaining a specific vulnerability, any certifications, and a brief note on how you use AI in your writing.