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Until recently a solid definition of ghostwriting had never been presented to me. Ironically, knowledge about the field of ghost writing seems as illusive as the ghost writers themselves. Personally, the first time I’d heard about ghost writing was when a movie with Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor came out apparently dealing with the topic. I’m not sure if I have been an exception in my delayed learning, but I thought an explanation and some facts would be useful for any other late bloomers.

First of all, what is ghost writing? According to U.S. News, it is the anonymous authorship of a written work, published under a pseudonym. So, ghost writers are hired to write for other people, and publish under that person’s name. Jobs in ghostwriting include memoir writing, autobiographies, interviews, speeches, and family histories. One of the more common emerging areas in ghost writing is medical journals. In recent years there have been several complaints about the style of writing performed by ghost writers. In the objective field of medical/scientific writing, ghost writing articles have been accused of bias, and being unable to competently write in the voice of the named author.

Oddly, being willing to go unrecognized for your writing can pay very well. The median pay for an experienced ghost writer of at least 8 years, as listed by U.S. News, is $56,900. Ghost writers with more than 8 years of experience can make between $49,800-$111,000
annually. These figures are significantly higher than the estimated wage of a first year college graduate for 2011; a whopping $22,000. Who says an English major can’t feed themselves?

One of the highest paid jobs in ghost writing is in academic plagarism; or being paid to write school papers for struggling students (obviously not financially struggling, though!). The November 2012 edition of the Chronicle Review featured an article anonymously submitted by a ghost writer who has worked since his college days to write papers. The author reported that on any given day he is working on upwards of 20 different projects. The huge demand for academic papers on ghost writers is such that the “companies” that hire them have to turn away students during midterms and finals. Ouch, are students really this dishonest and lazy? Apparently so. The ghost writer from the article claims to have written over 50,000 pages of academic writing since he began, covering every imaginable topic. Depending on the topic and deadline of a given paper, the ghost writer claims to have charged $2,000 for a piece.

It seems that the real money for artists nowadays may not be in fame afterall, but in the foregoing of public esteem for the satisfaction of a job well done.

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Monday during class we heard from  Sheila Burns, co-owner of Bloomsbury Books. I thought it provided a really interesting insight into the world of a small independent bookstore and how they are being affected by the rapid changes in the publishing industry. I thought it was particularly interesting the change she discussed in her dealings with publishing companies. Before Amazon, she would meet with hundred of people from different companies showing her their products. Now, she typically only deals with the “Big Six”. How can a small independently run bookstore compete in a world where six publishing firms dominant all avenues of business? How can they then even begin to think about also taking on Amazon?

The answers I got out of our discussion really boiled down to culture. People enjoy bookstores, people enjoy supporting their local economy, and people enjoy having a social hub center to go and hear authors speak and be able to interact with them. However, I’m not entirely convinced this will be enough to save them.

I think that Burns also illustrated how key it is for a bookstore to be able to adapt to these uncertain times. Being able to supplement bookstore use by attaching a coffee shop, having intriguing speakers, and keeping your stock supply relatively low are all things that can help (and do, as Bloomsbury’s shows)  a smaller bookstore stay afloat in today’s increasing digital lifestyle.

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There’s nothing like walking into a bookstore. The hushed voices, the smell of paper and ink tingeing the air. I love bookstores; all of them. I’m not too particular about whether it’s a chain or a local operation. To me, all bookstores are like a sanctuary.

I just finished reading the article “End of Days for Bookstores? Not if They Can Help it”. The article stressed the importance of bookstores, both local and chains, evolving in the new reader marketplace. I think it is very important for bookstores to acknowledge the changes and find ways to work with them, not fight against them. Apparently Google Books is working on allowing local bookstores to be able to sell e-books on their site. This is a step in the right direction, I think. By joining the e-reader market, local bookstores will be able to further their survival.

Now, I’m not an e-book reader. I’m way too attached to the feeling of turning actual paper pages, the smell of a new book, and the weight of it in my hands, to give in to an e-reader. But this isn’t to say they don’t have their place. Many people I know are crazy about their e-readers, and that’s just fine by me. I figure, as long as their reading, who cares what the format is?

But of course, the bookstores care. According to Len Riggio, the CEO of Barnes & Noble, “book sales have declined for everyone…because who categories like reference books and travel books are no longer needed, now that such information is available for free on the Internet”. And how true that statement is. It’s often much easier to log on to the Internet and find the information your seeking right then. It’s instant gratification of knowledge. I know whenever I have to write a research paper for class, I hardly ever crack the pages of an actual book because it’s so much easier and quicker to just look it up on-line.

But schoolwork is different than reading for pleasure. When it comes to reading what I want in my spare time, I always reach for an actual book. I want to have my own extensive library someday, so I am always buying books. I most often buy them from Barnes & Noble, but that’s because they have a wider selection of the books I like to read than my local bookstore. Sure I usually feel a twinge of guilt whenever I walk in the doors, but it’s not enough to dissuade me from making a purchase. Additionally, at Barnes & Nobel, I can get both the novels I want to read, as well as the magna I’m interested in, all in one go. Not so at the local store. When I shop local, I have to go to the “regular” bookstore as well as the comic book shop. Sure, it may not seem like such a big deal to have to go to two stores, but I suppose it all goes back to that whole instant gratification thing. I can get what I want, when I want it.

All that being said, I guess the most important thing is that I’m still buying paper and ink books. I’m doing my part to keep the wheels of the traditional bookstore moving. And the traditional bookstores are finding ways to reach out to new customers, which further helps to keep them in business. And as long as they are in business, there will be people reading, which is all I care about.