Prospective authors contact ghostwriters for various reasons: theyve had a book in them for years, but just didnt have the time to write one; theyre at a point in their careers where they realize that a book is the next step; or theyre pretty good writers, but need a professional
ghostwriter to improve the final product.
When I speak with these future authors, theyre intrigued by what I do but have their reservations. Will hiring a ghostwriter mean that the book isnt theirs anymore? In other words, does it compromise his or her understanding of intellectual property? Theres also the extreme view that working with a ghostwriter is just down right unethical.
First off, its far from unethical. Allow me to compare the role of
the ghostwriter to that of the surrogate mom. (A disclaimer: some may find the following somewhat bawdy.) A surrogate is hired to perform a task that, for whatever reason, the parent cannot. When the baby is born, the surrogates role is done. The zygote may not carry any of the biological mothers DNA whatsoever. But without the birth mother, the baby would never have seen the light of day.
Just because the new mom or dad worked with a surrogate, does that diminish the new parents role?As a man, Ill never know what it means to give birth to a baby. So thats where my analogy stops.
Ghostwriters take your expertise and make it accessible and entertaining to your target audience. To provide another analogy, imagine you were getting a divorce. The marriage break up is messy: complicated assets to divide, conflicts to resolve, and child custody to settle. A couple could take a Do-It-Yourself approach or they could hire competent lawyers who will represent their best interests. When I speak with divorce attorneys, one of their biggest challenges is fixing a divorce that a couple thought they could handle on their own. Working with a ghost writer doesnt indicate any compromise of your integrity or expertise. Rather it means that youre seeking an expert to make sure that your intellectual property is presented in the clearest most effective way possible.
