I do a lot of ghostwriting, and it has its good and bad points. Obviously, given that I do a lot of it, I am generally ok with the concept.
However, I have recently found myself increasingly in two minds about ghostwriting and thought I would share some of the good points and some of the bad. Of course, this is purely subjective and from my own experience.
There are people who build entire careers as ghostwriters, so some must love it. Conversely, others develop their careers by farming work out to ghostwriters. It takes all types and I am not here to judge.
What is ghostwriting?
I guess I should start by explaining what I mean by ghostwriting. The term isn’t exactly set in stone. Here is what Wikipedia has to say on the matter.
In olden times of a few decades ago, it tended to be quite specific – a ghostwriter wrote books and/or memoirs for someone else. Nowadays, that definition has been relaxed somewhat. Generally, it is writing something that a different person will take credit for. However, some consider it to be simply anything where you aren’t credited.
I consider it to be writing anything where the credit is claimed by someone else. This is where the definition is a bit blurred. For example, I have written an introductory opinion piece for a magazine that isn’t credited, but the implication is that the editor wrote it. So, I can’t claim or share it.
On the other hand, I have written for magazines and newspapers where they simply don’t do by-lines. So, I can share the work, as I wrote it and it isn’t claimed by anyone else. There is no debate, and if the editor is asked, they will say it was written by me. You can see this with some of the work I have in my portfolio.
This can all be debated, but I am not trying to spark any discussion. Instead, I am here to talk about what it is like to ghostwrite, the pros and cons, and why I am personally going off the whole thing.
The kind of work I do
I get most of my work either through this site or through various platforms. It is generally blogging and articles and appears under someone else’s name. I have been asked to do longer pieces but always resist due to reasons I will explain in a minute.
A lot of my work is for corporations and magazines. This is fine. Often there is no credit attributed to anyone, but the piece is written using a lot of inclusive pronouns. ‘We at (insert company) pride ourselves on…’ etc. Or the credit goes to: ‘Written by the (insert company) team’.
Again this is fine and barely what I would consider ghostwriting.
Sometimes, however, I have to write something credited to someone else. This is where another name is put to my work. This can involve reading through some of their other work and writing in their style. It is all a little strange at first, but you get used to it. Mostly.
What is good about it?
The money. Generally, you get paid pretty well. Once you get started and work rolls in, you can make some decent dosh. I don’t want to sound too derogatory here, but there are a lot of people who want to be seen as writers but they just aren’t all that great at writing. This is fair enough, we all specialise.
When you get a nice client, and one who thinks you write how they want to sound, it can be decent and repeating work. About 50% of my income is from ghostwriting.
What’s bad about it?
The first time you ghostwrite something and see the article credited to ‘Joe Bloggs – journalist, thinker, leader’ or whatever, is a little weird. It made me feel both proud and sad simultaneously. Especially if it is in a respected publication and the comments are favourable. You are pleased your work is good enough but sad that no one will ever know, and someone with more cash is getting the credit. This is the main issue for me, anyway.
Another problem is that it is a one-time gig with no other benefits. When I write something under my own name, I can add it to my portfolio, share it as a sample, rewrite it somewhere else, and generally increase my internet presence. This latter point also adds to the chance of my work being discovered and having someone get in touch to offer me more work. Ironically, this is how I got quite a few of my ghostwriting clients.
As I said earlier, I turn down longer jobs. This is because of the one-time-gig aspect. It takes a lot of my time and apart from a payment, there is no other benefit. If you write a book under your own name, you could theoretically earn money from that for the rest of your life.
Personally, while I don’t mind ghostwriting, I want to build my profile more than I need the cash. So, I will be moving away from it all. Of course, I will still write for clients I like or clients that pay well – ideally the same people – but other than that, I will be pitching more to magazines or publications I like. Under my name.
If you want to get in touch, you can reach me at: jasonwardwriter@gmail.com. (Even if you need a ghostwriter.)
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