Reasons
to hire a ghostwriter
Ghostwriting
is not "cheating"
What
a ghostwriter does
Does
the client do any of the writing?
Who gets the credit on a ghostwritten book
Who
owns the rights to a ghostwritten book
Working
on speculation (for a promise of "future
profits")
Many
authors use ghostwriters...you're in good company
How
much it costs, how long it takes, how you pay
The
BEST reason to hire a ghostwriter
There
are many good reasons for an author to hire a
ghostwriter. Maybe
you have a great idea, but lack the ability or the
time to turn that idea into a readable — and
marketable — book. You may even be an
accomplished writer, but just have too many other
things going on in your life to put the mental and
emotional energy into writing a book. Or maybe you
simply have a bad case of chronic writer's block. You
could do one of several things: (1) leave the book
idea on a back burner and get to it
"someday" (though someday never seems to
arrive); (2) work on it in your "spare
time" (which you never seem to have); or (3)
hire a ghostwriter.
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Isn't
using a ghostwriter "cheating?" Ever
since there have been ghostwriters, there have been
those who expressed doubts about the ethics of
ghostwriting. Wikipedia, the famous online free
encyclopedia, describes a ghostwritten book as
"deceptive," since the author on the cover
is not the actual writer. In truth there is nothing
unethical about having someone else write your book
for you. Ghostwriting
may be "deceptive" on some level, but then,
so is wearing makeup, or keeping a neat lawn and
having a nice paint job on the exterior of your house
when the inside looks like the aftermath of Pompeii.
For that matter, it's also "deceptive" for
an actor to use a stunt double or a body double. But
is it unethical? Of course not. Think of it this way:
by hiring a ghostwriter, you are simply putting the
best "face" on your ideas. Or, if you
prefer, you're hiring a "stunt writer."
It's done all the time, by famous folks and ordinary
Joes alike. And it may just be the best way for you
to finally get your thoughts on paper. (Of course, we
do not ghostwrite theses or school papers or any
other work in which the whole point is to write it
yourself; that would be unethical.)
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What
exactly does a ghostwriter do? Pretty much whatever
needs to be done to create or finish a book! A
ghostwriter writes, rewrites, edits, researches,
etc., on behalf of, or in collaboration with, another
writer. Ghostwriters can do anything from writing a
book completely from scratch to rewriting or
polishing an existing work. At Schmidt Kaye &
Company, we've done it all. We've written a nearly
400-page book that began life as a 23-page
pamphlet...we've created a 250-page book based on a
series of audio tapes...we've written books based on
clients' sketchy notes and outlines. We've taken
overly long manuscripts and have trimmed them
down...too-short manuscripts and lengthened
them...disorganized but promising manuscripts and
completely revamped them.
Sometimes,
in fact, there is a very fine line between ghosting
and rewriting. We did extensive editing and rewriting
of a book for one client; at least, that's how our
services were described in the contract. Yet he now
proudly introduces us to others as his
"ghostwriters." Other authors had short
manuscripts that we embellished substantially. We
guess you could say that in those cases, we did "mostwriting!"
Does the
client write anything (besides the checks)? Only if he or she
wants to. Very often, the person whose name appears
on the cover of the ghostwritten book does no writing
whatsoever. In the case of many celebrities, the
celebs do nothing more than lend their name to the
project. Do you really think former American
Idol star Clay Aiken, who by his own
admission has always loathed writing, actually penned
his bestselling autobiography, Learning
To Sing? Of course not; it was written
by accomplished author Allison Glock, and Clay just
lent his name, his story, and his smiling face to the
work. (It helped that Ms. Glock is a Southerner
herself, which brought a note of authenticity to the
warm, down-home narrative.)
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Who gets
the credit for a ghostwritten book? That
depends. For the majority of the ghosting projects we
have done, the author's name alone appears on the
cover, and we are credited on the title page,
copyright page, and/or the acknowledgments. Such is
the case with many ghostwritten books on the market.
As you probably know, that's where the term
"ghostwriter" came from in the first place;
ghostwriters work behind the scenes, invisibly.
We
(Schmidt & Kaye) are generally acknowledged for
our "extensive assistance" or for being the
ones "without whom this book would never have
been completed." For self-published books that
we designed and laid out, we are of course given
credit for these specific tasks as well.
On
the other hand, many other ghostwritten works have
the name of the author/celebrity and
an "as told to" or "with" credit
for the ghostwriter (e.g., "by Johnny Actor, as
told to Grace Ghostwriter," or "by Johnny
Actor, with Grace Ghostwriter").
In
our contracts, we always include a stipulation on how
we are to be credited. It really is up to you; we
have no ego investment in seeing our names on the
front cover of a book. We do have an ego investment
in doing the best job possible for you, to create a
book of which we can all be proud.
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Who owns
the rights to a ghosted book (and
who keeps the profits on a self-published work, or
receives the advance and royalties from a trade
publisher)? The client does, unless
specified as part of the original working agreement.
When we ghostwrite a book for you, it is a work for
hire, that is, a piece written for pay on your
behalf. We are paid for our work outright, and you
retain ownership, full copyright, and control over
sale of the work. Once the work is completed to your
satisfaction, and we are paid in full, the work is
yours to do with as you will. We almost never
contract for royalties or residuals. We look at it
this way: Our services are not cheap. (Our
ghostwriting fees begin at $25,000.00; for more
details, see the Fees page.) Once you have
paid us for creating your book, you deserve to keep
as much of the earnings from the book as possible. Of
course, if your book is wildly successful and you
wish to give us a bonus, we probably won't fight you
too hard!
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One thing
we never do is work on speculation — that is, for
a promise of a share in future profits. The truth is
that very few, if any, full-time professional writers
can afford to do this, unless the work has enormous
commercial potential. This generally means a major
celebrity will be credited as the author. Even in the
vast majority of those cases, only a portion of the
work is on speculation.
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If you do
decide to use a ghostwriter, you're in good company. According to
Wikipedia, here are just a few famous ghostwritten
books...
* Barbara Feinman was the
ghostwriter for It Takes a Village
and Other Lessons Children Teach Us
by Hillary Clinton. Clinton later won a Grammy
Award for a recording of her memoirs, Living
History.
* William Shatner used a ghostwriter for his
science-fiction books.
* The novelization of Star Wars
was credited to George Lucas but was written by
Alan Dean Foster.
Not
only actors, singers and politicians, but also some
of the highest-paid and most well-known authors, use
other writers to help create their work — in
some cases, even after they're dead! The famous
novelist Robert Ludlum, author of The
Bourne Identity and numerous other
intrigue/thrillers, died in March of 2001, but he's
still "publishing" novels. (Which makes you
wonder, who's the "ghostwriter" here?)
Actually, his past several novels were ghostwritten
from outlines he had produced, presumably before his
death. Many other extremely busy, prolific and
very-much-alive authors also produce outlines or
synopses, and then hand the project over to a
ghostwriter for completion. The resulting book is no
less "theirs," legally or ethically, than
it would have been if they had painstakingly labored
over every word themselves.
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How much
will it cost, how long will it take, and how am I
billed? Our ghostwriting fee generally
ranges from $25,000.00-$45,000.00,
which is in the middle range of the market. This is
for writing only; interior and cover design and other
services, if desired, are extra, although we almost
always offer an attractive "package deal"
for self-publishing authors. Alternatively, we
usually include a book proposal in the "package
deal" for authors who intend to approach an
agent or publisher. (For fee information on other
services we offer, please see our Fees page.)
The lower
end of the ghostwriting fee range generally applies
to nonfiction books of 200-250 pages. If the book is
extraordinarily long and/or requires a substantial
amount of extra research, the price goes up
accordingly. Fiction is also usually a little more
expensive because the development is rarely as
straightforward as a basic nonfiction book. Travel
expenses, if applicable, are extra, but we generally
do not charge for supplies, postage, etc.
Turnaround:
The average turnaround time for ghostwriting is four
to six months but can be as short as two months or,
occasionally, it can take up to one year or longer.
Much is dependent upon timely feedback from the
client.
Billing: You
don't have to pay the entire fee at once. Because a
ghostwriting project generally takes several months,
we spread the payments out accordingly. After the contract is
signed, we require a nonrefundable deposit before we
commence work. The amount of the deposit varies,
depending upon the job, but it is generally
one-fourth to one-third of the entire project fee.
Subsequent payments are generally smaller than the
deposit and are due at intervals, usually monthly,
with the number and amount of payments being
dependent upon the estimated time frame of the
project. If the project takes longer than the
original estimate, final payment can be withheld
until completion.
Payment
methods: We currently accept personal or
business checks, cashier's checks, and money orders
(in US funds, drawn on a US bank).
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If you're still
undecided about your need for a ghostwriter, consider
this...
The
best reason to hire a ghostwriter is that writing
books is the ghostwriter's job.
There's
no denying that ghostwriters are expensive, but, to
paraphrase the old hit song, they work hard for the
money! Writing a book is very
labor intensive. It's not rocket science, but it is
an art, and like any art it can be very consuming.
Creating a book can really get in the way of
"real life," and vice versa. If you've ever
tried to write a book, you have probably found this
out for yourself. You may not have the time or energy
for that painstaking labor — but a ghostwriter
does. If you have a good idea, and are willing and
able to pay good money to turn that idea into a book,
then by all means you should consider hiring a
ghostwriter. In today's highly competitive market, a
good ghostwriter (or, if you hire us, TWO good
ghostwriters) can be your most powerful secret
weapon, and your greatest ally.
If you are
seriously considering having your book ghostwritten,
please give us a call.
We're at 713.463.9263.
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