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A celebrity is interviewed with relation to writing his/her life story.
The celebrity agrees and undergoes a series of interviews with an experienced writer.
The experienced writer then writes the book from copious notes taken during the recorded interviews.
The book is published showing the name of the celebrity as being the author.
The book is marketed as an 'Autobiography'.
No acknowledgements are given to the 'Ghost writer'.
Is this not fraud?
In my opinion, it's akin to me asking someone far better than I will ever be at writing, to write a story from notes I have made and then me posting 'my' story under my name on SW.
Anyone out there with any thoughts on this? -
Well, I think it's kind of like 'copyright'. It's the writer and the celeb. The celeb gives a story, but then the writer writes it out and publishes. I'd still reckon the book to be the celeb's work, though the writer was the one writing it. It's like asking someone a favour. They perform it, but it's your idea in the first place.
Now here's the 'copyright' thingy coming in. If the writer, after noting and carrying out the interview, CHANGED the celeb's story, it wouldn't be possible to sue him, now would it.
Because
1. The wriote did the story himself, with a bit of HELP from the celeb. It's his own work!
2. The celeb has given no orders of his\her story to be private or not.
Now I watched an incident like this on TV. The one SAYING the story was furious because her friend had 'stolen' her story and got an A. There's the copyright prob again: she hadn't stated anything and therefore it was no crime. -
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This is where I get confused. The book is published showing the celebrity as the author, when in reality the celebrity has not written the story. Someone buying the book may be under the impression the celebrity is actually the author and is therefore being mis-led.
As an example; you or I could have an idea, hand it to an established professional writer who actually uses his/her lierary brain to come up with a best seller but when the book is published and sent to the shops, it is your/my name on the cover. The book sells and suddenly you/myself is an overnight sensation because everyone belives you or I have written the book. I know WE wouldn't be able to do it, but a celebrity most certainly can. The celebrity pays off the writer and gets the kudos of being a literary genius when in fact he/she probably can't string two sentences together.
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"The celebrity pays off the writer and gets the kudos of being a literary genius when in fact he/she probably can't string two sentences together. "
I think you just answered your own question right there.
Ghost writers are a fairly common thing, especially with Celebs. The main reason for their use is a book will sell a hundred times better if it has a celebrity's name on it rather than some unknown. There's many reasons why the celeb might not write it such as lack of time and skill. Normally I believe the celebrity has say over everything being written.
There's other people who use ghost writers too. Apparently they're fairly popular in the technical world with a lot of text books being written by a writer based off of notes and such from a professional.
I'm sure there's all sorts of legal contracts going between the person with the idea and the ghost writer.
"The one SAYING the story was furious because her friend had 'stolen' her story and got an A."
This example however doesn't sound like ghost writing to me it sounds like plagiarism. As I mentioned with the contract a legal ghost writer always has consent and a binding agreement. The ghost writer also gets paid, they just don't get the recognition.
I'm not sure, as I have no idea if I've ever read a ghost written book, but the ghost writer might even get credit somewhere on the copywrite page or even on the page where the author thanks people. Of course they're not going to come right out and say "thanks for writing this book."
Is it fraud? Not legally... but is it tricking the reader, yep. Not nice. -
hence the name Ghost Writer. You get paid to write the book,that's your credit--not your name on the book,or it would defeat the purpose of ghost writing. As long as you get paid,does it really matter?
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depends on the time and amount
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I'm not bothered about the Ghost Writer. My point is that the celebrity takes the credit and applause for something he/she has not done - ie write the book.
I applaud the Ghost Writers because I would thing that in quite a few instances they would be working really hard for their money trying to figure out just what the celebrity actually means.
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Ghost writers get paid very well for their skills and they are usually very happy with the regular pay packet. The author pays for the 'ghost' writer.
Not all authors can complete the unexpected third or fourth book in a series, though they do have the extensive notes ready. Sometimes they have half the chapters done before they fall sick, fall in love,fall out of love or the dog dies.
Some authors who have had a ghost and like the way they work, usually save a fortune the next time around by using the 'ghost' as a collaborator, giving them credit on the page, a 'pat-on-the-back' in the Author's foreword notes. The 'ghost' however, has to take a punt that the book is going to sell, because they only get a percentage of the NETT profit - they may wait two or more years for the check. There is 'kudos' though.
Most publishing houses who specialise in 'Celebrity' books have a team of professional 'ghosts' and the ghosts are matched to the celebrity, together with an editorial team and ancillary staff. Self Publishing for the Stars!
The perks would be very good though
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Thanks for the insightful comment Lis.
"usually save a fortune the next time around by using the 'ghost' as a collaborator,"
I've seen this a lot lately big writers like James Patterson are collaborating on their newer books. I didn't really think any before those collaborations could have been Ghost written though. Interesting... -
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Also, a lot of dead authors use ghost writers (no pun intended) ... V.C. Andrews, Robert Ludlum... both dead, and still cranking out stories. All the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys stories were written by ghost writers. (I think even Mozart ghost wrote a few musical pieces for people... at least I think it was him)
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Yeah I thought about the Robert Ludlum one but I thought they had put the other person's name on the book too? So I didn't really consider it Ghost writing.
Didn't know about Mozart though, that's kind of cool. -
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A few of Ludlums books were written completely by ghost writers, while others started to use the 'Robert Ludlum with (author name)' a few years after his death, or 'based on a story by Robert Ludlum' in huge letters, and the author in smaller letters. Basically, using his name to sell books.
I didn't knaw that about Mozart, either, until a year or so ago when looking up information for a project.
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Very Interesting!
Thanks for that piece of knowledge Elisabeth
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The thought of Zelebs...
...using ghost writers doesn't bother me in the slightest, beacuse (one) i'm never going to read them, and (two) half of them can't string a sentence together, so it's kind of a given.
On the other hand, i find the idea of marque authors using them appalling. Makes me glad i don't buy books from the supermarket. -
Hi Lawrie!
A ghost writer produces what is known as a 'Work for hire'. Who ever pays for the project(book) is the author unless agreed otherwise. The terms and payment would be determined by the parties involved.
'Work for hire' is explained on the copyright registration form and in some of the Copyright Office's publications it's explained in greater detail.
John Creasey is credited as author for more than 600 books under more than ten pseudonyms. I suspect to accomplish this feat, he employed ghost writers.
It's similar to being employed by a company in which any ideas you develop belong to the company with no recognition other than the agreed upon salary. The patents or copyrights belong to the company.
Aspasia/Andy
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Many thanks!
Thank you everybody who contributed to this topic. I've picked up some very interesting information.
I'll just take it for granted that every "celebrity" book or every "auto"biography has been written by a ghost writer.
Lawrie
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I think that both the celeb and the ghost writer should get credit for the work, and that it should be considered a team work effort.
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I think it depends on the celebrity. If the person in question is an actor/actress or some other thinkless job then yeah odds are they didn't write it. But, others such as newsanchors/reporters and comedians (especially comedians) will tend to write their own stuff.
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Lawrie
Jun 6 6:17 AM
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