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- Go to Ghostwriting. Can you earn an honest living?
L.E.Gant, is correct about that Zentropa
posted by
Azur
on May 17, 2005 at 12:26 PM
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Wetzel, ghostwriters enable people who can't write well to tell their stories which is a good thing
posted by
Azur
on May 17, 2005 at 12:25 PM
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Ghostwriting
I'm new to all this writing as a profession talk. Ghostwriting strikes me as dishonest I understand editing, but to actually write for another and sell it as that, seems dishonest? Peggy
posted by
Wetzel
on May 17, 2005 at 10:20 AM
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for zentropa: If you want to ghost write,the thing is to approach people who want something written - you DON'T wait for them to come to you (unless you want to wait forever).
posted by
L.E.Gant
on May 15, 2005 at 10:13 PM
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Zentropa, I too love the comments about writing
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 5:20 PM
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Zentropa, I think it is a great privilege to help someone get their words out to the world though I think fame is less the criteria than having a story to tell. I used to work as an editor and the best relationships with writers were founded on a mutual understanding of wanting to produce the best work possible.
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 5:13 PM
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This has been an educational session for me. Not only from MayB's post, but also the numerous comments to it. Myself, I'd be glad to write anything, whether it were ghosted or not, and could really enjoy a professional relationship with someone famous. Of course, no one would approach me about ghosting anything. They wouldn't know who I was to approach in the first place.
posted by
zentropa
on May 15, 2005 at 5:03 PM
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L.E.Gant, the best of all worlds is to ghostwrite and write your own. That is what I am trying to do. Mind you I always burnt the candle at both ends.
I agree it is a sensible use of one's time if you get the gig
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 3:13 PM
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Ghost-writing is not that bad - you do get paid for it, and usually not in copies. Let's face it: if you write a book (fiction or otherwise) and get it published by a publisher, you will be wiating for up to 2 years before you start collecting royalties. EVen when you do start with the royalties, how much will you get paid? Normally about 10% of the coverprice, which is often around $30. How many books will be sold? usually less than 5,000,but let's suppose they all sell. So, you get paid $15,000 - two years or more AFTER you wrote the book!
As a ghost writer, you'd get paid somewhere between $5,000 and $7,500 for the same book, which would be printed under someone else's name. NOW! The price you get fopr your work is negotiable - you might opt for $20,000, if you believe that the book will be a best seller (because of the author's name). But it'spaid NOW!
So, which is better: taking a risk that you might make $30,000 in three or four years or $10,000 paid right now?
I've always felt that taking the pay was better, instead of hoping to make a fortune (remember: 60,000 books published each year, and only a hundred or so best sellers) and having to pay living expenses in the meantime.
posted by
L.E.Gant
on May 15, 2005 at 2:38 PM
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Terpgirl30, I think that there are people, quarterbacks, entrepreneurs etc who have interesting thoughts, great ideas but who can't write. If they didn't use a ghostwriter those thoughts and ideas would be inpenetrable.
I too apply selectivity to which projects I would put my name to
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 2:16 PM
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Talion, yes get the work in and paid before the checks bounce
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 2:14 PM
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Word.smith, yeah I would have trouble doing it if I fundamentally disagreed
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 2:13 PM
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Merryanne, it is not such a big step is it? You've done it
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 2:12 PM
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Terpgirl30, yes I have had work where people haven't heeded my advice and I am very happy not to have my name on it
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 2:11 PM
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MerryAnne
Trust me, as far as the fiction goes, it would depend on how much you liked the book. I've written sections for people that I liked but were part of a generally inane book. I am great not having my name on it.
Kim
posted by
terpgirl30
on May 15, 2005 at 1:06 PM
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Interesting,
I never thought of the writing that did in the corporate world as ghost writing. Even when I was coming up with "quotes" for the people I was writing for and about. I thought I was just working...;-)
I don't think I could ghost-write fiction. It would really irritate me to see someone else get credit for a book I wrote.
posted by
MerryAnne
on May 15, 2005 at 11:51 AM
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I guess if I'm not
writing against my beliefs, I might be able to handle ghost writing. Bring on the
posted by
word.smith
on May 15, 2005 at 11:30 AM
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MayB
If the cops don't show up at your door and the check doesn't bounce, then all is well.
posted by
Talion
on May 15, 2005 at 10:46 AM
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I'd love to do some ghostwriting
Wait, with some of the self published books I edit, I think I am ghostwriting. Trust me, I don't want credit.
In my first writing group, there were two heavy hitters who not only had scores of books/articles on their own, but who did the ghostwriting for very famous people who supposedly did columns. That was an eye opener for me. Call me naive. I'd read these columns for years, then found the author had little to do with them.
As far as book, well, I don't proclaim to be an NFL quarterback, so I'm guessing not many of them would call themselves writers. Yet they have the story to tell, and sometimes that story is best told first person. I'm good with it. It can be a great relationship, according to my friends who have done it.
All those newsletters you see: financial, insurance...most are work for hire, then sold to newsletter companies where the agent can stick his or her name on it.
posted by
terpgirl30
on May 15, 2005 at 10:38 AM
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ginnieb, perhaps too many. I need more than one lifetime I think
posted by
Azur
on May 15, 2005 at 10:24 AM
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Geesh MayB..
...you are multi-faceted...have your 'hands' in so many different areas of writing. Amazing! :)
posted by
ginnieb
on May 15, 2005 at 10:22 AM
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