Creator of Speculative Fiction and Dark Fantasy
I saw that a series of books I’ve ghost-written has just gone on sale via amazon. I have very mixed feelings about this.
On one hand I want them to succeed to prove to myself my writing is good, on the other hand, if they do succeed I’ll be crushed.
Anyone else a ghostwriter out there who knows this weird feeling?
*glum*
words, glorious words...
Colleen M. Chesebro ~ Novelist, Prose Metrist, & Word Witch
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What exactly does ‘ghostwriting’ mean??👻
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Means I write the whole thing for a fixed, agreed amount of money (in this case it was $500 for the four part series), and hand over all rights to the work to someone else.
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Yikes! That seems so unfair
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I knew the deal going in. It’s only now that it stings a bit 😏 oh well, onward!
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Do they openly take credit for the brilliance of the writing or do they admit that there was a ghostwriter?
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They take credit. Which is why sometimes when you read a great book, you can never truly be sure it’s been written by the author who says it’s theirs! That’s why I like to check authors out on social media🤗
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How can you tell? (If it’s ok to ask)
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Make sure the ‘supposed’ writer has all the usual social media accounts; FB, Twitter, Insta, blog. Check and see if they post regularly. really that’s the only way to get an idea!
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Or you could just google how much money they make, lol. Money = ability to hire ghost writer….. Less Money = probably a writer terrible generalization, but still funny.
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Hahaha! Love it! And probably true!
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Sounds like success to me! See, years from now Jess, when you are that famous millionaire author that we all knew “way back when”, you can “come out” and RE-publish those hidden gems to all of your adoring fans! Stephen King did it! Remember?
Congrates Jess! 🙂
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Hahaha! Awesome Penny! 🤗
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I’ve done a small amount of ghostwriting in the past through a freelancing website. A part of one travel-related article I wrote is still available on the internet. An entire article about the “Environmental impact of the pharmaceutical industry” is also still available. It does bother me that the latter has a Ph.D. scientist in the pharmaceutical industry listed as the writer. I was really proud of that article. I did a lot of research for it. I was paid a pittance for writing it. That is why I stopped ghostwriting.
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Yes I too have stopped. I can’t bear to see my ‘babies’ out there under someone else’s name.
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Awww, I can’t relate as I’m not a ghostwriter, but I have decided that I think ghostwriters should get some credit. I’ve thought it should be something like “Directed by [Person who wanted it ghostwritten], Written by [Ghostwriter]” or something like that. Because obviously the person who made it happen gets some credit, but it’d be nice if you as the writer could get some major credit too. Writing is difficult enough, ghostwriting seems insanely difficult!
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Yeah, no more for me. I’m focusing my attention on my own baby now!
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I think it’s awesome that you’ve done ghostwriting. It would be nice if credit is given. I’ve never done any ghost-writing myself but would imagine it can be a lucrative career with the right clients…like a side career while working on your own manuscripts. You were hired for a reason, so you know you’re good!!
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Problem with it (as I quickly found) is that I gave my A game to my client and when I sat down to my own novel I had nothing left. So, despite the cash, I’ve given ghostwriting away in order to focus on my own work.
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Good for you. You don’t want to burn out putting someone else in the limelight. Between the two, I’d definitely want to concentrate on my own work!
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Exactly!
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Wow ghsot writing how interesting! How big was the four part series you ended up writing(like how many words)? Can I ask how you go about getting jobs as a ghsot writer?
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It was a novella series at 10K per book, four books in the series. So only 40K all up. Sure thing, ghostwriting contracts ABOUND on Upwork. And HEAPS are asking for paranormal romance so if you ever wanted to i’m sure you could find work there (but please hon, just stick to writing for you! It’s too distressing to see your work under someone else’s name)
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Exactly the reason why I don’t think I could ever get into ghostwriting. I have a bit too much pride.
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Good on you. I won’t do it again.
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I’m not sure if my level of pride is exactly a good thing! 😀
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I’m not a believer in pride as a sin, what’s wrong with knowing your worth?
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You’re right!
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