I think we all know that many - maybe even most - books authored by celebrities are ghostwritten. Many high-profile individuals with a message to impart don't necessarily have the time to sit down and put pen to paper day-after-day for several months. And yet they have information people want.
To overcome this dilemma, publishers often pair a well-known person with a ghostwriter - someone who has written books and is likely to deliver a manuscript the publisher can actually publish without having to rewrite it. This is not news to many of you, I know.
Books are produced everyday that have someone's name on the cover who did not actually slave over the words and phrases within. Not a big deal.
What was a surprise to even me, however, was that an estimated 30-50% of books on the New York Times bestseller list are supposedly ghostwritten. As many as half! That's a lot, at least to me.
The source of this statistic is Dr. X, a publishing industry insider who was interviewed by Scott Jeffrey for a program titled Everything You Need to Know to Become a Best-Selling Author. It was produced in 2004 but my sense is that the information, and statistic, is still valid today.
As a ghostwriter, this alerts me to the potential opportunity to partner with more would-be authors under contract at major publishing houses than I thought. Time to start checking in with my editor friends to see what exciting books may be in the works.
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The Association of Ghostwriters is the leading professional organization for ghostwriters of books, articles, speeches, blogs and social media content. Members are experienced and aspiring ghostwriters dedicated to providing high-quality content.
I began a project as a ghostwriter, but found myself wanting more control of the finished product, so now I'm the sole author. The change in ownership has resulted in a greater freedom for me; I'm no longer having to try to think like the other person. The project is no longer limited by "creative differences".
ReplyDeleteThat happened to me once, too, Simone. Sometimes the idea is great but the approach or direction is a stumbling block. And other times the client knows so much more than I about the topic that I could never consider writing it on my own. Congratulations on being able to reclaim the project and shape it as you'd like!
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