Ghostwriters emerge from the shadows
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Sunday, October 6, 2024


Ghostwriters emerge from the shadows
Daniel Paiser, a ghostwriter, in New York on Jan. 22, 2024, who has collaborated on books with Serena Williams, John Kasich and Whoopi Goldberg, among others. Practitioners of the solitary and highly secretive profession got together to compare notes and celebrate their work. (Sinna Nasseri/The New York Times)

by Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter



NEW YORK, NY.- Ghostwriting is a secretive profession. It’s long been maintained that a good ghost writer, like a well-behaved child in the old proverb, should be neither seen nor heard.

So it was unusual for a group of around 140 ghostwriters to gather, as they did in Manhattan on Monday, to schmooze and celebrate their work with awards, panel discussions and keynote speeches. The one-day conference, called the Gathering of the Ghosts, took place at a moment when ghostwriting is in high demand and gaining recognition as an art form of its own, after years of operating largely in the shadows.

“There’s great value in building this community because of the nature of what we do,” said Daniel Paisner, who hosts a podcast about ghostwriting called “As Told To” and has collaborated on 17 New York Times bestsellers. “We do it in a vacuum, sitting alone in our underwear in our offices. We don’t get out much. So I think it’s helpful to be able to compare notes.”

Held at the New York Academy of Medicine, in a room lined with old, leather-bound medical books overlooking a snowy Central Park, the event included panels about finding the right publisher for a project, whether artificial intelligence might render ghostwriters irrelevant and conversations about how much a ghostwriter can charge (the consensus: more). The profession has a history of being undervalued, and one panelist advised everyone in the audience to double their rates and add 20%.

“Is it good to be a ghostwriter?” Madeleine Morel, an agent who specializes in matchmaking book projects with ghostwriters, said at the event. “I’ll paraphrase Dickens: It’s the best of times and the worst of times. It’s the best of times because there’s never been so much work out there. It’s the worst of times because it’s become so competitive.”

Jodi Lipper, who has ghostwritten 25 books, including a collaboration with shoe designer Steve Madden, said she was gratified to see awards that recognize ghostwriters for their talents. “There has been this misconception for a long time that ghostwriters are people who couldn't write their own book, that they are these hacks,” she said.

Lipper and other ghostwriters argue that their job requires not only literary chops but a host of other skills, including wrangling talent and drawing out illustrative stories from their subjects. The writer must also effectively channel the subject’s voice, so readers feel like they’re hearing directly from the person whose face is on the cover.

“I have a whole process — like for every client, I have a different scent,” said Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts. For one project she might put lavender essential oils in her diffuser, she explained, and for another, she might use lemon. This helps her slip into her subject’s voices, she said.

Lewis-Giggetts received an award at the conference Monday for the book “Sisterhood Heals,” although the name on the cover is Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D. (Her scent for that book was lemongrass.) She also writes under her own name, and her essay collection, “Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration,” won an NAACP Image Award last year.

“I have my own work, but I’m still doing a lot of ghosting,” she said. “Quite frankly, because it pays the bills.”

While many celebrities and politicians maintain the pretense that they are writing their own books, it’s becoming more common to acknowledge one’s ghostwriter and the occupation has gained more visibility. Collaborators for celebrity memoirs — which can be enormously lucrative for publishers — are in increasingly high demand, with some making six figures for their work.

The genres that many ghostwriters work in — memoirs by actors and musicians, athletes, CEOs and self-help gurus — are the types of books that publishers are pouring money into, because a well-known author with an established following can potentially sell millions of copies. Some of last year’s top-selling nonfiction books were ghostwritten memoirs — Britney Spears’ “The Woman in Me” and Prince Harry’s “Spare.”

The field’s growth has been good for writers, too. Often, professionals want a book to their name: Books can spruce up a resume, or help land keynote speeches or consulting gigs. Those authors also need ghostwriters.

Dan Gerstein, the CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters, an agency that co-hosted Monday’s conference, said the field is flooded with former journalists, for example.

“Ghostwriting is the best thing that’s happened to a lot of writers, because without ghostwriting I don’t know what they’d be doing,” said Morel, the agent, who noted that she has orchestrated ghostwriter matches for more than 60 New York Times bestsellers. “Former editors, former journalists, former mid-list writers — they’d probably be working at Starbucks.”

Top-tier ghostwriters are also being lauded for their literary skills, with some publishers even touting their participation in a project as a hint to readers and booksellers that a memoir will be juicy and artfully written. Actress Demi Moore gave ample credit to her ghostwriter, New Yorker writer Ariel Levy, for working on Moore’s memoir, “Inside Out.”

In a sign of how much more open ghostwriters have become about their work, J.R. Moehringer, an in-demand and widely acclaimed ghostwriter who has worked with tennis star Andre Agassi and Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, wrote in The New Yorker about the challenges of working on Prince Harry’s memoir.

Moehringer revealed debates that he and Harry had over particular scenes, and described how he would talk himself down when they clashed: “For the thousandth time in my ghostwriting career, I reminded myself: It’s not your effing book.”

Still, some stigma remains around the profession, and organizers and attendees of the ghost gathering hoped the event would help to clear misconceptions.

“There’s so much onus on your own work, on your own voice, on your own story,” said Holly Gleason, who was nominated for an award for a book she wrote with country musician Miranda Lambert. “But the truth is, telling a story really well is important.”

But some delicacy lingers around revealing a ghostwriter’s participation in a work. To be eligible for awards, both the official authors and their paid collaborators had to co-submit for consideration and agree to share the award.

Years ago, Paisner said, he was invited to a dinner party at the apartment of former Mayor Ed Koch, where Paisner introduced himself as the person who helped Koch write his book. Later that evening, Koch asked for a word. “He said, ‘I would prefer if you never say that again,’” Paisner recalled.

For a long time, Paisner said, people seemed to believe that these books were written by having a person of renown speak into a tape recorder and then bringing in a ghostwriter to transcribe those thoughts.

“It is not that, and I think readers are slowly coming around to accept that it is not that,” Paisner said. “That these are not the musing of the rich and famous as dictated to the lowly ghostwriter.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

January 25, 2024

Carl Andre, austerely minimalist sculptor, is dead at 88

An English mystery: What killed 7 giant tortoises found in the forest?

Frank Farian, the man behind Milli Vanilli, is dead at 82

Why was Greta Gerwig snubbed for a Best Director nomination?

1st Festival of Lights in Wallonia to host work by British artist Robert Montgomery

Celebrating 'Bloomberg New Contemporaries' can be seen at Camden Art Centre

Gallery Delaive presenting 'Ayako Rokkaku: Dreams in My Hand' at Hangaram Museum of Art in Seoul

Art Brussels 2024 marks milestone 40th Edition: Unveiling an International Spectrum

'Takesada Matsutani and Kate Van Houten: Paris Prints 1967 – 1978' now showing at Hauser & Wirth

130 years since the birth of architect Aino Aalto

MAGMA Gallery set to open exhibition of works by Nicola Facchini

The cosmic genius of Iris Van Herpen

Artist & Curator Conversation for launching of 'Hangama Amiri: A Homage to Home' at Kemper Museum

Ghostwriters emerge from the shadows

'Local Ties' acquisition of contemporary works by Seattle artists announced

Edouard Sacaillan 'Les toits de Paris' is now having a solo at Kalfayan Galleries

The 13th Austrian Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts goes to Junya Ishigami

'Oppenheimer' leads the way with 13 Oscar nominations

Danielle Brooks on her Oscar nomination: 'Look What God Has Done'

Charles Osgood, lyrical newscaster on radio and TV, dies at 91

Artists who performed as the Soft Moon and Silent Servant die in Los Angeles

William Villalongo exhibition opens today at Grinnell College Museum of Art

Exploring Popular Art Styles in 2023: From Ancient Mythology to Modern Portraits

Elevating Ink: Alena Zozulenko's Artistry in Tattooing

How To Spot A Fake Online Casino?

Some Intriguing Features Of Slot Online Games

Leather watch bands stylish and durable

How Has Technology Revolutionized The Landscape Of Cosmetic Surgery Procedures?

Unlocking Excellence with Kimbet77: Your Trusted Source for Premium Services

Publishing Pitfalls to Avoid: Common Mistakes in the Book Creation Process

Empowering Businesses: The Fennemore Legacy Under James Goodnow

Unlimited Joy Awaits: VIDMATE Mod APK - Your Gateway to a Video Wonderland




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful