There are different types of writers, and I would hazard a guess that you are one, too.
Am I right?
So, what do I mean when I say ‘absent author’?
Well, clearly I mean an author who is not present during the writing of their book.
What? How can you write a book if you are not present? It’s damn right impossible. Trust me, I’ve tried. One night, I told my computer to finish chapter four and when I checked it in the morning, nothing had been done. I know. It’s unforgivable. I spend hours sitting at my computer and it couldn’t even manage a measly few paragraphs for me. I promptly sent it to the naughty step and left it there to stew for a full sixty minutes.
As writers, whether you write fiction or non-fiction, we spend hours and hours researching, plotting, crafting, devising arc’s, editing, character backgrounds, re-writes……well, you get the idea. We work damn hard.
But, what is the absent author?
Hold on, I’m getting to it.
Let me throw a few names at you. Actually I think it’s easier to show and not tell 🙂
Okay, are we on the same page? For those of you still scratching your heads, I’m talking about ghostwriters – and not the supernatural kind.
Jordan (aka Katie Price), Hilary Duff, Nicole Richie, Lauren Conrad, and Snooki have all produced novels with the aid of ghostwriters.
They market the book via press and television, leading their young fans to believe they have in fact either picked up a pen, or tapped endlessly at their keyboard and written every word themselves. And, guess what? They get angry if questioned about it.
According to website ‘Jezebel’:
“Ms. (Nicole) Richie promoted her second novel, “Priceless,” in an interview last year with USA Today, describing her writing routine: write early in the morning, before the rest of her family wakes up. “I write all my own stories,” she said.
But Ms. Richie’s publisher, Judith Curr of Atria Books, indicated otherwise, saying that a ghostwriter did most of the writing of Ms. Richie’s book. (Ms. Richie did not respond to a request for comment.)”
Hilary Duff, who when quizzed as to why she didn’t credit her co-writer, basically replied with a ‘why should I? It’s my idea.’ (That is my edited version)
But is this right?
Agents and publishers know there is money to be earned off the back of the celebrity’s name. They also know if they market the product correctly, they can often secure the sale to the movie/TV rights as well. The publishers earn a stack of cash, and the substantially wealthy celebrity extends their ‘brand’….everyone’s happy. Or are they?
What about the writers who ACTUALLY wrote these books.
It is almost non-existent they are ever mentioned on the cover. Doesn’t the publishing industry owe the ghostwriter a little more credit?
Doesn’t the publisher have an obligation to let the reader know their beloved celebrity had (a lot of) help with writing the book they are about to read?
Shouldn’t the publisher have a conscious and clear their desks of celebrity endorsed stories? Maybe make a little room for the talent of up and coming novelists?
Then again, publishers and agents are in this game to make money. It’s probably the main reason they get up in the morning. They’d be nuts if, for instance, they were to choose first time and unknown novelist Sissy Smith from Ramsbottom, Kent over, say, Cameron Diaz.
If you read Kristen Lamb’s blog, you’ll see that social media plays a massive part in a novelist’s road to sales. However, you’d have to be dancing with the fairies and sprinkling magic dust to think you’ll ever create a name bigger than an A-list celebrity. Not even marketing 25 hours day will get you that kind of notoriety.
So, as always, I would like your comments.
Do you think publishers have a moral right to print the co-writer or ghost writers name on the cover of a novel? Should readers know whose writing they are reading? Or is it just a business and they are right to earn their money anyway they choose? Are you a ghostwriter? Would you want to be one?
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I think most ghost writers have chosen to write for others and choose to give up their rights to be named. It’s all worked out in their contract. Named, co-author, not named, etc…
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Welcome and thanks for stopping by. I agree totally with you…..but do you think it’s right? 😀
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I like your ghost with a pencil. Did you do that artwork? As for ghost writing, as you know I was a staff writer for 37 years and that is essentially ghost writing. When you hear “writers” complain they wrote a script for Universal Studios and when the show came on TV, it was nothing like the script they wrote because some jerk rewrote it; well, I was one of the “jerks” who rewrote it.
There is a give a take about that. They are the ones who get the onscreen credit for the work. They are the ones who win an Emmy (if indeed one was won) but I am the one who had the full time job and made more money than they. The biggest give and take is if the staff writer didn’t rewrite it, it would never have been on TV at all, because there are way too many net specs (network specifications) and other requirements and regulations that no one outside the industry could possibly know about them all, much less how to handle them in a script. The most obvious thing people usually don’t take into consideration is even a fantastic writer writing his/her first screenplay could not compete with a merely competent writer who has written screenplays 50 hours/week for over 30 years.
So to answer your question, I think if it’s not right, at least it’s all right. Besides, 5,000.00USD (3,059.52GBP)/week can buy more than a by line any day. 🙂
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Hi Win. Unfortunately I didn’t draw the ghost. I was about 17 the last time I sat down and had time to draw. It was of Jason Bateman in TeenWolf Two (or Too, as it was in the advert). I’ll have to show you the picture. Maybe I’ll post it on here for a laugh. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
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How do I say, “I wonder if the book buying public (at least the Snooki book buying public) would recognize the distinction even if it were made?” without sounding like a pretentious snob? I guess I can’t.
As a writer myself I’d like to think Publishers SHOULD mention who truly wrote the book. If a celebrity invests in a hot Manhattan restaurant they’d be hard pressed to find a chef who’d let his or her Michelin Star dish be passed off as the celebrity’s signature creation. I don’t see why writers should settle for any less respect for our art and effort.
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Love the Snooki comment. Maybe I’m just old, but I have no idea who she is…..but I feel the same about UK’s Katie Price. Thanks for the comment x
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I agree with H.E. Ellis. The actual writer should be acknowledged. However, give me an opportunity to ghost write a book for some celebrity whose name-power guarantees me a royalty on millions of sales and see how fast I prostitute myself.
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I like how your mind works.
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Like I said, I have the best peeps, EVER! 🙂
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Lol, David you make me laugh. How much would you charge? 🙂
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Great blog, Donna, and great questions. I believe the ghost writer’s name should be on the book. Right on the cover. No one actually believes Snooki or Nicole Richie can write their own names, much less their own books. I doubt it would effect sales in the slightest.
Would I be a ghost writer? Hard question. I like to say, “I have my price. You want integrity, that will cost extra.” But it isn’t true. I would have to be looking at a LOT of money. Writing is like making candy or raising kids to me. The only price high enough to make my time worth it is love. Now, if someone would like to test that theory, I’m all ears. 🙂
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Piper, I’m still trying to figure out who Snookie is. 😀
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Snooki is one of the ignorant, trashy party girls on the American (sad to claim this one) show Jersey Shore.
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[…] The Absent Author by Donna Newton. Would you be a ghost writer for Snooki? What’s your price? […]
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I think you’re right in that it is technically ethically and morally fair to credit the ghostwriter. However, I also feel that someone agreeing to be a ghostwriter will be aware that this is the way it’s going to work, and that’s what they’re getting paid for. I doubt any of these celebrity ghostwriters were promised credit and then weren’t given any. They have to sign contracts saying they won’t ask for credit and basically sign their work away. I personally wouldn’t want to be a ghostwriter because I don’t like the idea of someone else getting credit for my work, no matter how much I’m paid to let them.
I get the purpose of ghostwriters for memoirs. It’s the novel thing that confuses me. It’s one thing for a celebrity to want to share stories about their lives and make some extra money doing so, but why a novel?
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Thanks for your comment, Alana. I, like you, couldn’t (and more to the point wouldn’t), sign my work away either. I wonder if they are allowed to claim credit for it on their CV (resume)?
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