Ghostwriting.

[astillac]

I just spent the last two days reading through a 713 page e-book only to find out that it was written by someone other than whom I thought. Granted, the man's name is on the cover with the "famous" author, which is more than most ghostwriters get, but I, somehow, didn't put the two together until I read the 713th page; the bios. My naivety, I suppose. But it doesn't spare my feelings.

 

I don't understand why ghostwriting exists. Well no, that's not accurate, it exists because of the need to keep us flushed pink with the illusion we have or can control money. But why would anyone give up the reigns of their story, the sheer fun of writing for what? Another million? Three million? To line the pockets of someone you want to impress? Where's the point at which you get so distanced from life, so nebulous and thick in yourself, you actually begin to think you could pay someone to find out who you are and pretend to be that person?

 

If writing is pure communication, telepathy, as close as we get to thinking in someone else's head, why would we allow someone to take that away?

[marguerite]

I just spent the last two days reading through a 713 page e-book only to find out that it was written by someone other than whom I thought. Granted, the man's name is on the cover with the "famous" author, which is more than most ghostwriters get, but I, somehow, didn't put the two together until I read the 713th page; the bios. My naivety, I suppose. But it doesn't spare my feelings.

 

I don't understand why ghostwriting exists. Well no, that's not accurate, it exists because of the need to keep us flushed pink with the illusion we have or can control money. But why would anyone give up the reigns of their story, the sheer fun of writing for what? Another million? Three million? To line the pockets of someone you want to impress? Where's the point at which you get so distanced from life, so nebulous and thick in yourself, you actually begin to think you could pay someone to find out who you are and pretend to be that person?

 

If writing is pure communication, telepathy, as close as we get to thinking in someone else's head, why would we allow someone to take that away?

I think you're talking about two separate phenomena. One is the celebrity whose story will sell but who can't him-/herself write to save his/her life and wouldn't even care to start, so a ghostwriter is hired as the only means of getting said story on the page.

 

Two is not really ghostwriting but marketing. Either Famous Author comes up with a series idea and doesn't want, for whatever reason, to do all the work and so recruits hungrier authors to fill in the blanks, or Publisher decides that Hungry Unknown will sell more books if Famous Author's name is on the cover (figuring that, like you, the ordinary reader won't realize s/he has been conned until p. 713).

 

In either case, I don't think the person hiring the ghostwriter gives a hoot about the integrity of his/her own story. But I do feel quite strongly that the poor ghostwriter should get more for his/her efforts than a casual mention on p. 713!

 

As a rule of thumb, I'd say whenever you see a book where Famous Author appears alongside Hungry Unknown, you can assume HU did all the work. It's the grad student phenomenon: grad student writes a paper, famous professor puts a stamp on it and as a result is listed as first author. Grad student gets publication out of the deal and eventually grows up to get first listing on papers written by other grad students.

 

It's life--and has been going on for a while. Bet you didn't know Aristotle was still writing agricultural manuals in the 1550s!

Best,

M

[astillac]

It's still a con job. It's like someone pretending to sing with someone else's voice. Just because it's gone on forever doesn't mean it's right.

[Steve E]

... Bet you didn't know Aristotle was still writing agricultural manuals in the 1550s!

Now that's a REAL ghost writer!

 

But, Calli, M, I imagine most people become ghost writers because they need the money, hope to become credited collaborators someday, or see it as mentoring towards establishing their own (more public) careers. And, yes Calli, uncredited work is stealing. I'm sure every office clerk on Earth feels that way towards his/her boss. ("They just use your minds and never give you credit..." - Working 9-to-5) But it was credited, much like the writer's credits zipping by at warp speed at the end of sitcoms. But JFK didn't come up with "Ich bin ein Berliner". My point being that the truth will always come out eventually. ("The Truth Is Out There" - X-Files.)

 

And how do you know I'm even writing this?

-Thoth?

 

("Doodley doodley doodley doodley boing boing boing boing." - X-Files incidental music.)

[marguerite]

Now that's a REAL ghost writer!

 

But, Calli, M, I imagine most people become ghost writers because they need the money, hope to become credited collaborators someday, or see it as mentoring towards establishing their own (more public) careers. And, yes Calli, uncredited work is stealing. I'm sure every office clerk on Earth feels that way towards his/her boss. ("They just use your minds and never give you credit..." - Working 9-to-5) But it was credited, much like the writer's credits zipping by at warp speed at the end of sitcoms. But JFK didn't come up with "Ich bin ein Berliner". My point being that the truth will always come out eventually. ("The Truth Is Out There" - X-Files.)

 

And how do you know I'm even writing this?

-Thoth?

 

("Doodley doodley doodley doodley boing boing boing boing." - X-Files incidental music.)

Calli's right, it is still a con job, since two authors' names are on the cover when one did the work (although at least this guy got his name on the cover!). Another, more palatable reason publishers do this kind of thing is to give unity to a series; I'm thinking of the Starbridge series A.C. Crispin sponsored years ago, where different people who were listed as second authors wrote the individual volumes within a set of parameters set (I assume) by her, but because Crispin's name came first, they were all filed together in the bookstore. Each book contained some kind of introduction/acknowledgment of what was going on, although it did smack of false advertising.

 

Real ghostwriters do work for money, but since their names are printed, if at all, in teeny type on the back page, I don't know how often they become credited collaborators as a result. Maybe they see themselves as on a par with company report writers, who normally aren't credited for what they do.

 

Not to burst anyone's balloon, but is there a crowd of people out there who think Bill Shatner wrote the Tek War novels or the books credited to him "and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens," a pair who have produced SF novels without (gasp!) Bill's help? I think this is an example of the situation Calli is asking about. What's in it for the Reese-Stevens? Crass commercialism, presumably, which is, I would agree, somewhat off-putting. What, they couldn't come up with new ideas on their own?

 

Get those paws off my Golden Lynx, J.K. Rowling! She's mine, all mine!

Best,

M

[Steve E]

Wait. You mean Tek War was fiction? I thought they were Bill's memoirs.

 

But seriously, "a con job"? Like "bait and switch"? You thought you were getting one author but got another? If the book is no good then it's no good no matter who wrote it. Such practices only hurt the "star's" reputation. If it is good then we seek out the real author's name in the teeny type (at least I do) and look for other works under that name.

 

And let's not forget that good authors are often their own ghostwriters. Stephen King originally published Rage, The Long Walk, Road Work, The Running Man and Thinner under the name Richard Bachman, just to see if his success was a fluke.

 

I know it can get complicated. (I've got a name for you: Kilgore Trout. Talk about complicated!) This alone may make people think they're being conned. But as long as the ghostwriter's name is in there somewhere I'm more or less satisfied.

 

Hail the Ghostwriter. Who, like the book doctor, as often as not makes a good book possible.

-Thoth.