Yet another thought on ghostwriting…

I find it interesting that we all have such strong feeling about ghostwriting. But even more surprising to me is how most of you are on the opposite side of this goldmine of new opportunities than I am.

Think of the potential for new writers! We don’t have an established name like Stephen King (who wrote under a pen name in an effort to preserve the “king” brand) or J.K. Rowling. We cannot expect that the first book we write is going to be a best-seller or even get published. And can you think of a better or faster way to build strong connections in the publishing world?

Who cares what Kirsten Hersh has to say? But what if I could write a Nancy Drew book, or two or three, until I figure out what I have to say? Or moving to the non-fiction world: what if I could help someone turn their research or opinion into a work that would be readable and interesting, not boring and academic? What is wrong with that?

And in a world where movies and TV shows dominate everyday life, and the most relate-able books in the YA section are ghostwritten, are we going to rail against the quality of ghostwritten books, which can’t be that bad or Nancy Drew and Goosebumps wouldn’t be famous still today, or be glad that young adults are reading? Harry Potter and Twilight aren’t literary gold either, and they aren’t ghostwritten. But they appealed to kids in a way “literary” works can’t. I care more that books don’t die forever, or move permanently to a Kindle/iPad/computer screen, than if the books that draw in new readers are ghostwritten.

Personally, I think this is the first new aspect of publishing I have heard about that gives me hope. I’m not a magazine article writer, fiction writer, or publisher. But ghostwriting nonfiction? That sounds fascinating. I love writing research papers, and hate writing poems. I have taken twice as long as necessary to write my capstone because there is so much interesting information to include that I can’t decide what not to include. But a 100-page capstone won’t do either. And now I’ve been told I could make a career out of this? I love it. I think it’s genius. Just because someone has ideas doesn’t make them a writer. And just because I can write, doesn’t mean I want to spill my guts on the page. I would rather help the non-writer make her ideas a publish-able possibility.

About Ed Battistella

Edwin Battistella’s latest book Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels was released by Oxford University Press in March of 2020.
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