Ghost Writers . . . Why not?

banjo · Mar 7, 2006

Birol said:
You guys do realize, don't you, that Jenna, the writer whose house you're in, is a ghostwriter? Do you consider her dishonest?

I think the contempt you have noticed by many here is for Patterson, not the ghost writer. By producing novels under his name he creates the impression that he himself has written it. And to the extent that he doesn't pubicly acknowledge that fact, his work is a fraud.

Celebrities have been ghost written all along, and they haven't met with the same reaction that a well known author would. You wouldn't expect Mike Tyson to write his own autobiography, would you?

PS I hope it's okay that I used that question mark.

Prosthetic Foreheads · Mar 7, 2006

banjo said:
You wouldn't expect Mike Tyson to write his own autobiography, would you?

In the case of Mike, I think it might make for the most interesting read if he did. It could turn into the first autobio/horror when he breaks from his unintelligible rant/prose and directly threatens to eat the reader's children.

aruna · Mar 7, 2006

banjo said:
And to the extent that he doesn't pubicly acknowledge that fact, his work is a fraud.

QUOTE]

But since he now DOES publicly acknowlegde it, and even has the ghost-writer's name on the cover, Patterson is exonerated!

batgirl · Mar 9, 2006

banjo said:
Is that like the Noble taking credit for the toil of the Serfs?

In the case of the workshop or atelier, no, because the master was an artisan, and the journeymen and apprentices would, in the natural course of things, become master artisans themselves, and have their own workshops. They were all of the same class - the middle or merchant class, neither noble nor peasant.

Which isn't to say there was never exploitation. Originally there were only masters and apprentices, and the creation of a mid-level, the journeyman (who worked for day-wages, journee=day) was a step towards wage-slavery. It was supposedly a step on the road to having one's own workshop, but many craftsmen found themselves stuck there, working for someone else for decades instead of a seven-year apprentice indenture.

Probably enough history geeking for now.
-Barbara

dlcharles · Mar 14, 2006

Satiric humor

It would appear, contrary to the postings here, there are a lot of 'closet ghosters' in AW. An individual posted in AW for a ghost-writer to tell her story and her recent email states the response was overwhelming. I find a certain satiric chuckle in this. No one has openly responded to her thread yet she claimed 'overwhelming responses'.

icerose · Mar 14, 2006

My Feelings

Ghostwriting.

For money, right now, to get me in a better place, yeah I'd ghost write.

Things that are unfair about ghostwriting.

The true writer does not get credit.
The true writer cannot take that credit and show it to a publisher and say, hey I wrote this book it sold several million copies.
The true writer gets to watch their hard work being used by someone else and that other person gets all the glory.

I strongly believe that they should do it as several other series do that have multiple writers and switchouts.

All writers who work on it get credit and the series name is what is sold rather than the author name.

Just my thoughts.

Sara

Sassenach · Mar 14, 2006

icerose said:
Ghostwriting.

The true writer cannot take that credit and show it to a publisher and say, hey I wrote this book it sold several million copies.

Of course they can. How do you think the ghost writers who get the lucrative assigments get the lucrative assignments?

Noob · Mar 14, 2006

Would you use a ghost writer to help you become famous?
No way. I am pretty sure some day i will manage on my own. What is even the joy if you ghostwrite a book? You cant talk about it, you dont get credit for it, and ghostwriting would be like any other job for me - a "boss" tell you what to write or when. Thats not what i wants when i write. I want to write what i want, for myself - and if it goes well? Great! If not? The world will not go under so np.

Once famous, would you use a ghost writer to free up your life so you could enjoy all that money?

No i wouldnt. Sure i like to do some trixing on my taxes to pay less - but other then that i put my honesty highely. Publish a ghostwritten book as "mine" - would be fraud imo.
Others may do what they want (even tho i cant understand why ppl bother ghostwriting for others), but i rather have less cash - and keep my honesty.

Strongbadia · Mar 14, 2006

Silly

I think unless you are established and you even have the option of having a ghost writer, then the argument is a moot point. You are wasting your energy thinking of things that do not concern you at the moment. It is like writing your Nobel Prize acceptance speech before the book is even published. I hardly see a point in that. Maybe it is just me.

icerose · Mar 14, 2006

Sassenach said:
Of course they can. How do you think the ghost writers who get the lucrative assigments get the lucrative assignments?

Then I don't know how ghostwriting generally works, because I saw a few contracts for ghostwriters that said that if you accepted the assignment you could never say it was your work to anyone, it was virtually their work, they paid for it and the ghostwriter is just that, a ghost, an unmentioned one at that.

BuffStuff · Mar 14, 2006

I'm not quite sure how it works either, but perhaps, depending upon the contract & the circumstances, they could mention it in a resume to an agent, publisher or editor. But they couldn't, for example, mention it 'publically'

aruna · Mar 14, 2006

Noob said:
Would you use a ghost writer to help you become famous?
.

The very concept of using a ghost writer to help you become famous is ridiculous. Why should any writer who is good enough to help you become famous do such a thing? And how would it work? You still have to go through the submission process, and unless your ghost writer is already famous as a writer (yeah, sure!) you wil have the same problems. OK, so your ghost writer wrote you a rejection-proof novel, and you get a six-figure contract. Do you really think he or she is going to let you take that advance and be happy with the 2 or 3 thousand dollars fee you pay him, or 10% comission, or whatever? No, he'll go straight to your editor and say who really wrote it. Your career would be in ruins before it even began. As a nobody who can't write you have nothing to stand on.

Noob · Mar 14, 2006

Strongbadia said:
I think unless you are established and you even have the option of having a ghost writer, then the argument is a moot point. You are wasting your energy thinking of things that do not concern you at the moment. It is like writing your Nobel Prize acceptance speech before the book is even published. I hardly see a point in that. Maybe it is just me.

I do have to say i disagree.

For some its not worth to do everything, just to get cash. For some there is things that are more importent in life.

Maybe for you that seems strange, but i know who i am and what i stands for. I know I will not change my opinions, even if i get richer then I am today.

Spirit_Fire · Mar 15, 2006

Who you gonna call?

The Ghost Writer Busters!

:tongue

Ghost Writers . . . Why not?

banjo

Prosthetic Foreheads

aruna

On a wing and a prayer

batgirl

Writting broad

dlcharles

icerose

Lost in School Work

Sassenach

5 W's & an H

Noob

Strongbadia

icerose

Lost in School Work

BuffStuff

No more being nice to Pee D

aruna

On a wing and a prayer

Noob

Spirit_Fire

Slow-burning Muse