Ghostwriting Dilemmas - Opinion
Laura at Writing Thoughts has asked me to contribute to the conversation about ghostwriting kicked off by Devon Ellington.
Let me say up front, that I have never done ghostwriting in the traditional sense of writing a book for someone under their name, with no acknowledgement to the actual author. I have never really thought about it before, as I have never been approached or had the opportunity.
Laura has challenged me with some questions -
Would you completely write a book, play, or other creative work and allow someone else to have the credit? Would you write a blog and allow someone else to claim it as their own? Would you use a pen name or pseudonym? Would you write a nonfiction piece and allow someone (or something as in the case of a company) to have the credit? Would you write someone’s term paper for them?
Other writers have added to the conversation, and have some interesting things to say. These include Lillie Amman, Sally Goetsch, Denise Grier and Walter Burek.
The Art of Ghostwriting
I’m learning a lot about ghostwriting, and I’ve found that this tiger has many spots. Even the term itself is open to broad interpretation and approaches vary. I know a lot of colleagues have ghostwriting as one of their tools, and I take my hat off to them. Here’s why.
My husband can hear a piece of music just once, then sit down at the piano and play it beautifully, note for note. He has a wonderful ear for music. That is a gift. Anne Wayman at the Golden Pencil has the knack of being able to tune into and find someone’s “voice”. She can listen to them, pick up on their style, and replicate it. That is also a gift.
Someone wanting to tell their story, (whether famous or not) but who doesn’t have the writing skills, would be a lucky person to find Anne. Lori Widmer is another excellent writer who does ghostwriting. I learned a lot about how ghostwriters work by reading Lori’s comments along with others, on Lillie Amman’s post on the topic.
Where Did My Byline Go?
I have written plenty of documents, reports, grant submissions, courses, operational plans, advertisements, brochures, press releases etc etc. Not one has my name on it, or is credited to me. That is the norm for business and marketing, and for working with and in organisations.
Ego wise and personal branding wise, my name is on enough other types of writing, that it doesn’t bother me to have my name on everything. Plus, I know I did a good job when I wrote them, so that is more important to me. Sure, I want to build my writing brand, but I choose to do different types of writing, so that is part of the deal.
What About Books?
As an ex bookstore owner, I’ve organised and hosted my share of author events, and worked closely with authors, publicists, publishers and the media. Apart from the “as told to” and “in collaboration with” acknowledgements, there are also celebrities passing themselves off as the writer of the ghostwritten book. This seems to go by without any comment or questioning by the media and public.
Ghostly Speeches & Other Ghostwriting
How about presidential and other landmark speeches? These are very rarely written by the person delivering the speech, yet the words are attributed to them, and claimed by them. I have never seen a fuss about that. Words (especially for writers), are very tied up with personal expression, so things can get a bit more emotive when protecting values, principles and words.
Web content writers sell their articles and these are often onsold without attribution. This does not seem to cause too much of a ripple. Where emotions in this debate seem to get especially high is when it involves something more substantial, such as a book.
Personally, with ghostwritng a book, I would want a very clear brief, and the opportunity to touch base with the person at various stages of the process, preferably a collaboration. There is research too, of course. I would be happy to take on the challenge of a non fiction book, but I don’t believe I have Anne’s voice for fiction, so I’d leave that alone.
I believe it all comes down to personal choices taken on a case by case basis. I am interested in exploring blogging with and for businesses, so I will need to give this some serious thought. While I’m keen to do guest blogging, I would not write a personal blog for someone without their close collaboration and involvement.
How About Pen Names & Ghostwriting Term Papers?
When it all boils down, ghostwriting is a grey area. What exactly is ghostwriting? That’s a grey area too. Would I write term papers for someone? No. That is not a grey area for me, nor is it legitimate ghostwriting. That is cheating. Plagiarism is cheating too.
I don’t consider pen names in the same arena as ghostwriting. Authors sometimes use pen names to separate their professional work persona from their private writing, or to separate their writing indentities. Australian children’s author Jennifer Rowe writes adult fiction, but uses her grandmother’s name, Emily Rodda, for her children’s book series, “Deltora Quest”. Each name is a separate brand with a separate audience. That is fine with me.
To Each His Own - Logistics & Personal Choices
It is not appropriate to generalise and say ghostwriting is right or wrong. It is more about the appropriate choice for each individual writer, each individual situation, and also the logistics. I would also never knowingly write anything false or misleading, or take on a job I was not comfortable with.
Are you comfortable with the topic and the arrangement? Do you have the skills and knowledge for a specific genre, style or topic? Do you prefer a close collaboration with the client or doesn’t this concern you? Are they paying you a fair price? Are you available?
Hey, here’s an idea… 
if you know someone who wants a ghostwriting job done, tell them to contact me. I’ll talk to them and decide if it’s something I feel I can take on. I wonder if once I’ve beeen involved in ghostwriting on a first hand basis, whether my views will change at all. Thanks Laura for challenging me, as I learned a lot about an area that is new to me.
Update:
I just came across a post by Cass who provides a very interesting link to a professional ghostwriting company. They detail the type of books they have published and the prices. Suffice it to say that it appears that ghostwriting is well paid. Hopefully, the writer gets a fair cut of this.
Thanks for continuing this conversation. I think a lot of the discussion revolves around what exactly ghostwriting is.
It seems there is a continuum of what people consider ghostwriting. When I wrote my original post, I hadn’t considered that some people would call Web content, press releases, and similar kinds of writing where the writer doesn’t get a byline ghostwriting. There are many times when the writer is not attributed that I wouldn’t consider ghostwriting because no one else is taking credit for the piece. The purpose of advertisements, reports, and Web sites is to get specific information to an audience. That kind of writing does not require that the writer be credited because the point is the information - not who wrote it.
As you said there are many books, speeches, or articles attributed to an author who had the ideas but needed help with the actual writing. If there is a collaboration between the “author” and the writer, I don’t have a problem with the writer not getting credit. For example, a presidential speech may be written by a professional speechwriter, but the policies certainly come from the president or he wouldn’t deliver the speech.
The kind of ghostwriting that I personally have a problem with is different. For example, I attended a teleseminar in which a well-known Internet marketing guru advocated that someone who is passing himself off as an expert in a field doesn’t need to know anything about the topic. The “guru” said the “expert” can go to to elance or guru.com and hire a writer for $300 or $400 to write an e-book that the “expert” can sell for $29.95 or $49.95 or even more. I believe this is unfair for the writer (who, of course, enters into the agreement willingly so he must not consider it unfair) to do all the work and earn what the “expert” makes in only a few sales. It’s also unfair to the buyers who think they are getting advice from an expert, and what they get is research done by a writer who has been paid a few hundred dollars. The end product may be excellent or poor or somewhere in between - but it’s not what the buyer expects.
Another example: a romance cover model is credited with novels that he has not even read, much less written. If the “author” had the idea and collaborated to the extent that he was confident that the book expressed his ideas, I have no problem with that. My personal objection is when the “author” on the cover claims full credit for a document which was written without any involvement from him.
Work-for-hire, such as a manual for a company or a manuscript for a book packager, don’t fall into the same category in my mind.
Hi Lillie
Thanks for this thoughtful response. I think we are pretty much on the same page. I don’t consider business writing etc ghost writing in the traditional sense, but as various forms of business writing had been mentioned as such in various comments around the web, I wanted to include them in the conversation and make the distinction.
You make an interesting point when you say business writing “does not require that the writer be credited because the point is the information - not who wrote it.” It’s the client claiming they wrote something themselves which seems to be the major point of controversy, especially if there is little or no collaboration. I guess, as this is an accepted aspect of the publishing industry, in the end it is up to each individual writer to make their own decisions, about where they stand on this.
With regard to your other comments about poor writing and research, you make some excellent points here. I have the same concern with bid for job sites and some ads on Craigslist. I am a business person, so understand about the bottom line, but I don’t want to see writing devalued. I won’t get into the writing for low pay debate at this point.
I am very happy with collaboration. I would not write the romance novel example you cite. Thanks for reminding me about ebooks. While I’m a fan of the potential of well written ebooks, this is an area where consumers can easily be taken advantage of quality wise, as it is a sight unseen product, usually with very few reviews available, so is largely a matter of trust.
Thanks again. I really appreciate your insights and your comments. It’s an interesting topic, possibly in part, because of the definitions/interpretations and grey areas, as well as writers’ individual stances.
Yvonne
This is a good, well-considered piece and makes a thoughtful contribution to the discussion. Thanks for taking the time to complete this rather hard assignment
Hi Laura
Thanks. It was an interesting exploration. I learned a lot. Thanks for the challenge and “hard assignment.”
Yvonne
Thank you for the link, Yvonne. I found your thoughts very interesting. I’m still chewing the idea over. I don’t think it’s something I personally have time for, but I do think it’s a field that could be used successfully by others. I was a little disappointed in the Penn site, only because I could not find any information about how to get started.
Hi Cass
Thanks for dropping by. I didn’t delve too deeply into the Penn site, in terms of finding out how to write for them, but thought the fees and range of topics their authors had written was interesting. Thanks for alerting us to the site. I hadn’t realised there were organisations which specialised in matching up ghostwriters and clients.
Yvonne
Yvonne, this is an excellent analysis of ghost writing, covering many bases. I’ve never done ghost writing. However, as a corporate writer, I’ve written many articles that didn’t have my name. I’ve written press releases and promotional articles for businesses and I had no problem with my name not appearing. Would I do ghost writing for someone? I’ve never been approached about this. I guess it would depend on the person, the contract, and the payment.
Hi Mary Emma
I think you sum it up beautifully, when you say it would depend on the person, the contract and the payment. It really is a case by case decision, as for all writing. I appreciate your regular visits and comments.
Yvonne
Thanks for the nod, Yvonne! I think those who protest too loudly about ghostwriting don’t really understand what “real” ghostwriters do. Thanks for the great overview.
Hi Lori
You’re welcome, Lori. I was especially interested in your comments on the topic around the various sites you visited, just because, as you say, you are a “real” ghostwriter. Thanks for clarifying how it all works, and for sharing your experience and insights. I learned a lot.
Yvonne
Apr 21st, 2007 at 5:45 pm
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