In today’s engaged world, every prudent life—whether be it a celebrity movie star, sportsperson, politician, businessperson, or any giant head with a big idea—desires to translate their thoughts into words but is not in a position to do so either due to lack of time or writing skill or both. In the same dispersed world, there are some phantoms out there to help those bustling souls. We call those phantoms Ghostwriters who belong to a profession in which a writer, versed and veterans, supply their clients a written produce and let them cherish the credit, name and fame in exchange of a bag laden with money. From Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In to Victoria Beckham’s Learning to Fly, almost all celebrities’ literary fancies have been unleashed into the world by these ghostwriters only.
Although the term ghostwriters and ghostwriting had germinated from late 1800s itself but it came to light from past decade and today it would be unbelievable if a writing creature in this universe seems unaware of ghosting.
What Is The Workflow Of Ghostwriting Process?
A normal project in ghostwriter’s life follows a simple workflow.
Based on the negotiations and author’s generosity, the ghostwriter could have a keepsake in form of his mention as co-author or editor or a name somewhere in the acknowledgement page that they helped the author to accomplish the published trophy.
Some Renowned Ghost Writers
- Jeff Haden is a famous non-fiction ghostwriter and a featured columnist for Inc.com and CBS MoneyWatch.com. He is a reputed influencer in Linkedin as well.
- Marcia Layton Turner is a veteran ghostwriter and has produced almost more than 20 non-fiction books. She is also the executive director of the leading professional organization Association for Ghostwriters for ghostwriters of books.
- Hadley Freeman is a prolific writer, having written best-selling books and plethora of articles for prominent magazines (The Guardian, Vogue, Cherwell). She is also the ghost writer of eye-catching books including Victoria Beckham’s fashion book.
- Pinaki Ghosh is a deft writer and ghostwriter of numerous articles, children stories, books, novels, any many more.
- And many others
Where Can You Find Ghost Writers?
The ghostwriting services have been mushrooming in every corner of the world. Freelance writing companies sprawling from US to India to China dictate complete guidelines and amount of fees beforehand.
Some of the famous websites offering ghostwriting services are:
- http://associationofghostwriters.org
- https://www.upwork.com/hire/ghostwriters/
- https://www.writerservices.net/ghostwriter.php
- https://writer4me.com
Is Ghosting For You?
- Are you a prolific writer? Ghosting is required by the high profile clients. The quality of work required used to be juxtapose to the client’s image. Hence, its imperative that the writers must have intensive knowledge and dexterity in the domain and writing.
- Are you a great collaborator? You will have to work in collaboration. You will be required to perceive the things from your client’s viewpoints and manage to keep it raw without contaminating it with your own perception.
- Can you keep your ego at bay? While ghosting, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your client. In case of differences in content dictation and presentation, you might face criticism and will be asked to show your suggestion the way to dustbin. This may hurt your ego, but that’s what ghosting is all about—you are working on someone else’s ideas. Mix the mantra client-has-a-final-say-in-his-work in your water and swallow it. However, do not hesitate to make the client cognizant of the repercussions of the thought process or structure he is opting for. Although it’s the client who bangs the hammer on the desk, but it’s your responsibility to suggest him his best possible move.
- Are you good at managing things? In almost 99% cases, ghostwriters have to work with big shot super busy clients. Given that you need to be up to your toe to manage meetings & schedules, collaborate with third parties for research purpose, arrange research findings, and many other actionable items. You need to be mindful with making your perfect to-do-list and efficient for getting the items checked on the list.
- Can you sacrifice your identity? As soon as you dedicate yourself to ghosting, you denounce your name in print. The efforts you put, the thoughts you conceive, the words you pen, and the pain you take will render you good sum of money, nothing else. Period. Your name will never ever appear as the author or writer of your own book or paper. If you are ready to forego the credit and fame, then you sound a good candidate for ghost writing.
!Caveat: Finding someone else at the receiving end of roaring applause for your work may make you depressed. Proceed ahead with your own risk!
If you possess all the above qualities, then congratulations to the world of ghosting.
Is Ghosting Ethical?
The question whether ghosting is ethical or not has been reaching its crescendo in recent days. There is a silver line between the lawfulness and unjustness of ghosting. So far, it is considered legitimate when it is used to polish a scratchy unfinished work or help a person to collect their imaginations in presentable form provided the author spells out the truth that his styled and tailored creation is a result of professional help. What sounds like a humbug is that when one claims their penmanship on a work which actually is a byproduct of someone else’s labor. Moreover, defalcation crosses all its limit when one approaches ghostwriters to gain academic advantages. Nowadays there are plenty of online services offering universities entry essays for different price ranges with varying degrees of plagiarism. Sledding of such services is the direct indication of its demand. Students leaving no stone unturned to get admission to their dreamed universities eventually take recourse to these easy routes. The flippancy is also jabbed into the fields of music industries – song writing, composing, and who knows in singing also. The denotation of clauses “All contents are produced by me” where one needs to sign over is becoming obscure day by day. Ghosting has become a sure-shot formula to be famous and successful:
My Money + Your Talent = My Name
How far the ghosting is yet to go? There will come a time when declared writers will actually be doubted “who is the veritable writer by the way?”
I would like to end this with this excerpt from an article published in The Telegraph India:
Most ghostwriters, of course, never blab. H.Y. Sharada Prasad, media advisor to three Prime Ministers who wrote numerous speeches for them, was once asked why he didn’t write his memoirs. “A man can become a ghost, but a ghost cannot become a man,” he replied.
“A man can become a ghost, but a ghost cannot become a man,”
Related Posts:
Shweta Kumari Sharma
Latest posts by Shweta Kumari Sharma (see all)
- The Biggest Technology Lessons I Learned From My Grandfather - October 15, 2017
- Mrs. Rama Ramasamy – A Woman On A Mission To Educate - October 3, 2017
- Mrs. Funnybones Singing the Legendary of Lakshmi Prasad - July 9, 2017
- “Why am I doing this?” – The Most Powerful Question You Can Ask with the Onset of Any Task - April 29, 2017
- Why Time Stops at Shamli – Ruskin Bond Explains it All - April 23, 2017