Ghostwriting

“Honesty is the best policy.” - Shakespeare

At a recent Gulf Coast Writers Association meeting, the speaker, Chris Angermann, editor-in-chief of New Chapter Publishing, mentioned that about 30% of the books on the New York Times Best Seller list were ghostwritten. I found this figure shocking and I’ve been thinking about the business of ghostwriting since.

I knew ghostwriting was fairly common in non-fiction books but was surprised to learn that the practice was also used in fiction writing. I understand that a well-known author or a celebrity name sells books and selling books makes money. But does that make it right? It simply doesn’t seem honest to me to take credit for something that someone else wrote.

It’s also hard for me to distinguish the difference between a person paying someone to write a book for them and a student paying someone to write a term paper. However, the pretend ‘author’ receives accolades and a nice royalty check while the student is kicked out of school.

On the positive side, I understand that some people with good stories to tell may not be good writers or some good writers may lack for ideas. A ghostwriter probably receives a nice fee and is not expected to participate in promoting which has its appeal as well.

I have no qualms with teaming up. I only wonder if a book clearly stated, “idea by Big Celebrity Name as written by John Doe,” would really sell fewer copies than one with just the celebrity name. In other words, would sharing the credit be a bad thing?

This blog is not to judge ghostwriters or the people who employ them. Quite the contrary. I’d love to hear their views on the subject. I’m keeping an open mind because I feel I’m missing important points on both sides of the argument of whether the practice is right or wrong.

What are your feelings on ghostwriting?

Thanks for stopping by.


Tags: Shakespeare, ghostwriting, Gulf Coast Writers, Chris Angermann, New Chapter Publishing,

Update

I’m back! The past three weeks have been a roller coaster ride—but nothing to do with my book, The Ride.

Hospitals and rehab centers have been the focus of my attention during my 87 year-old mother’s road to recovery from numerous medical problems. At the same time, Arkansas was deluged with rain and storms. A tornado stuck within a mile from their home, where my husband, sister, and I were staying. We were without power for about eight hours. More tornado sirens sounded a couple of days later, but fortunately none touched down. We also moved my parents and 91 year-old uncle to a retirement home – not an easy thing to do with one person in the hospital and her 89 year-old husband too worried to help with any of the planning a move requires.

That is my excuse for not blogging.

Now for news about The Ride. I decided I wanted to have a copy-editor go over the manuscript, even though it may delay my release date. My Archebooks editor, Vickie, concentrated more on content.

I used a friend that I met through the Gulf Coast Writers Association, Martha Jeffers, also known as the Grammar Granny. I’m so glad I made this decision. She has a terrific knowledge of English usage and noticed the smallest of details. I’ll forever be indebted to her.

I was stunned by the number of mistakes that Vickie and I missed. I’m embarrassed by some of my grammatical errors (such as always using towards instead of toward) and simple punctuation mistakes (comma splices). In my next life, I’m going to pay attention in English class!

I hope I’ll be finished making the corrections in the next day or two. But in the process of fixing one mistake, I may have made others. If you find a goof when you read the novel, I take full responsibility.

Also, I want you to know that I have not forgotten about the publication date contest. Those of you that sent entries for May through July are still in the running.

Thank you all for stopping by. I look forward to seeing you next week.

Jane Kennedy Sutton
Author of The Ride (to be released by ArcheBooks Publishing)
janekennedysutton@gmail.com
http://janekennedysutton.googlepages.com/
http://www.authorsden.com/janesutton

Tags: The Ride, Archebooks, Martha Jeffers, Grammar Granny, Gulf Coast Writers Association