Ghost Writers – Porn Stars of the Publishing World or Co-Authors?

Sarah Palin Winks

A ghostwriter is defined as a writer who gives the credit of authorship to someone else (Princeton). Why do we live in a world where the talented and the creative sell their work without attribution, and celebrities sell themselves as “authors” when in fact they have merely purchased the hard labor of another and taken full credit for it.

Merriam-Webster defines an “author” as the writer of a book, article, or other text. I don’t get it! The definition of an author is very clear…an author is the WRITER of a book (except when they aren’t but pretend to be). How do celebrities like politicians, movie stars, and sports athletes get away with pretending to author a body of text without actually penning it? Why don’t we hold them accountable for pretending to be author’s when in reality they clearly are not. Patterson writes fewer and fewer of his novels, with more complaints about quality and consistency while only sometimes giving credit to his co-authors – http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24patterson-t.html.

Is an author really an author if they don’t actually write their own book? Think Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, etc. Do we really believe that they write their own books? Of course not… In fact, most books by famous personalities are written partially if not fully by Ghostwriters. For example:

• Billy Graham – “The Approaching Hoofbeats” written by Mel White
• Pat Robertson -“America’s Dates With Destiny” written by Mel White
• Lee Iacocca, “Iacocca” written byWilliam Novak
• Even Bill Gates book, “Road Ahead” had two collaborators

Author Actually Writing

So, how can someone like Sarah Palin put her name on a book and call herself the “author” when she didn’t write it? Her book even says “Copyright 2009 by Sarah Palin.” To their credit, ghostwriters are often legally bound not to reveal that they’ve ghosted certain books, but does that make it right? Now Sarah Palin has a new book coming out, America by Heart – who do you think wrote that one? Probably not her. But can you blame these celebrities for wanting to be recognized as bestselling authors?

We ask for transparency in our food products, with a label that clearly details what ingredients are present, and where the food comes from – valuable information for a buyer. Don’t readers want to know who actually writes the books they are reading? Maybe not; perhaps we as readers don’t really care. Maybe its similar to our fascination with sports personalities – they can do no wrong. We prefer to be enamored with our celebrities, as if they were more than they really are.

George Bush Holds His Breath

Let’s relate this to something more tangible perhaps – giving birth through a surrogate. Maybe you are unable or even perhaps unwilling to give birth to your own child. So you hire a surrogate, pay them X thousands of dollars and they do the work – morning sickness, stretch marks, insatiable appetitefor extraneous food items (think grapefruit, chocolate, or chicken perhaps), and sacrifice of many creature comforts. After birth they hand the baby to you, regardless the level of remorse, and that baby is now transferred to their new and rightful mother for the rest of time. So what’s the difference? Well, for one thing, a child is a living, breathing organism, a human being. A book is sold for profit or purpose. Being an author clearly conotates having actually written a book. In my example, you might be the most fantastic mother in the world, and will be forever be the mother of that child. However, no matter what happens, you will never be able to claim that you gave birth to that child, for that credit is due elsewhere.

In the end, we are to blame. We are often so obsessed with our celebrities that we are willing to turn a blind eye, overlooking the fact that they didn’t even bother to write their own book – yes, the one they claim to be the author of. Maybe it doesn’t matter, as long as the reading is good and it has the information they want.

Old Fashioned Typewriter

To be clear – you cannot be an author of a book without having written the book, just as you cannot be a “surgeon” without having performed surgery. Can you be a bus driver without driving a bus? Can you airline pilot without flying an airplane? Can you be a chef without stepping foot in the kitchen and actually cooking? I don’t think so. Can you imagine preparing your resume for a high-paying job when all of your work experience was actually outsourced to someone else? Yes, that’s called plagarism –paying someone to do your work for you and putting your name on it as if you wrote it yourself.

And the ultimate question; can you really be a human if you refuse to live? We cannot outsource our life…or can we? We outsource so many things – even University professors are outsourcing the grading of student papers to other countries:

The Chronicle of Higher Education in April reported on the University of Houston business school’s contract to have student papers uploaded to “teaching assistants” (mostly residing in India, Singapore, and Malaysia), who read them, mark them up, and offer constructive advice. UH professor Lori Whisenant, who initiated the university’s contract with the firm EduMetry, said she is generally pleased with the results. [Chronicle of Higher Education, 4-4-10]

Ghost Writer

Well, of course we can outsource various aspects of our life, but we must look ourselves in the mirror when we get up in the morning, and when we go to bed, with conscious acceptance of our level of integrity. We need to give credit where credit is rightfully due. Yes, business is business as my friend Mark reminds me, but integrity and our soul are so much more. In the end, you cannot blame the ghostwriters as they are just doing the job they are paid for. We can only blame ourselves by buying books written by those we admire even when we know they are pretending to be something they are not – authors.