What is a Ghostwriter?

This is a specialist who creates a work intended for publication on behalf of another person, group of people or company (brand). In other words, a ghostwriter writes a work on behalf and in the interests of his client or employer, at his expense and on the basis of his materials (ideas, knowledge, experience, research).

Ghostwriters write custom books, articles, columns, blogs, letters, speeches, lawsuits, complaints, business proposals, social media posts, wedding toasts, songs, paintings. That is, anything that can be written and published on someone's behalf.

Often a ghostwriter is hired for a one-time job, but some professionals perform ghostwriting work as part of their job duties on a regular basis, for example, a personal assistant, secretary, publicist writes letters, speeches, public statements or drafts other documents on behalf of their manager or client.

What exactly does a ghostwriter do

Usually, ghostwriters are all specialists who participate in writing someone else's text, but in fact, hired writers can do different jobs, so they should be called differently. In particular, Western experts distinguish between ghost authors and ghost writers.

  • Ghost author — a person who created a work in whole or in part, but is not listed as its author or co-author.
  • Ghost writer — a person who has helped create a work based on the author's material (content), but does not claim credit for their contribution.

Ghost authors and ghost writers write texts on behalf of and for other people or companies, and can equally provide services confidentially. The difference between them is that the former does the author's work instead of another person, i. e. completely replaces the author, while the latter helps the author to realize his ideas in writing and at most can be considered a co-author. Read More

In practice, everything is simpler: the client is called the author and the contractor is called the writer, because it is more convenient to divide the roles, responsibilities and remuneration of the project participants in this way. For example, often the author of a movie idea is one person, and the screenwriter is another. In the same way, a speechwriter can write a text based on the ideas of his client. The difference is that the speaker will not be listed as the author of the speech ideas, but will be considered the author of the text with all its content, while the speechwriter will remain unknown to the public.

In fact, the options for helping an author are many and can be provided not only by a ghostwriter, but also by a literary consultant, a writing coach, a personal assistant, a developmental editor, a beta reader, and a researcher. Here's what a ghostwriter does:

  • Prepares materials on the basis of which the author can independently write the book: develops the concept of the book, including its structure, collects materials, briefly describes the content of sections and chapters, selects title variants based on the analysis of competitors' books and search queries. That is, it creates a plan of work on the book so that the author has less work to do.
  • Creates a book from an author's rough draft (literary editing). If you have written a draft but are so tired that you don't have the energy to edit it, a ghostwriter can do it instead. He can be given any text, even in the state of "draft of draft". Editors do not take on such texts, because they have to be completely or largely rewritten, which is beyond the editor's job. A specialist who does this does the work of a ghostwriter, even if he calls himself an editor.
  • Creates a book based on the author's written materials. For example, can make a book based on your blogs, articles, seminars, webinars, lectures. In addition to writing the text, in this case you also need to develop the concept of the book.
  • Creates a book based on interviews with the author, i.e. the material for the book is collected in the process of working on the book. Usually, the ghostwriter also creates the concept of the book and additionally conducts his/her own research on the topics addressed by the author.

As Forbes contributor Sydney Le Blanc wrote, "There are many ways to work with a ghostwriter; it all depends on what is convenient or best for you and what is in your budget." You can ask a ghostwriter for any assistance with the book writing process from research to manuscript preparation. Often, ghostwriters provide advice on all matters related to writing and publishing books, as well as beta reader services.

How did the term "ghostwriter" come about?

In Ukrainian, "ghostwriter" is a linguistic borrowing from English, that is, a word that is used without translation, just like "copywriter" and "speechwriter".

The English term "ghostwriter" consists of two parts: "ghost" and "writer".

Why "ghost"? Because usually the hired writer provided services in confidence, and in English the term "ghost" has been used since at least 1884 to mean "one who secretly performs work for another." Apparently, around the same time, American publishing houses and editorial offices combined the word "ghost" with the word "writer" and the concept of "ghostwriter" was born.

In his memoir Adios to Ghosts, Christy Walsh wrote that he first heard the term "ghostwriting" from a colleague in 1912 when he worked for the Los Angeles Herald. 

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, the first written evidence of the use of the term "ghostwriter" is in Arthur Ransom's book Bohemia in London, published in 1907. The next evidence was from 1908 in The Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily Star, which mentioned that there were a dozen ghostwriters in the city. The term was also in the 1908 dictionary in its modern meaning.

"Writer" is still used to mean "one who can write" or "one who creates books or literary compositions." With the development of the market and writing, the word rater began to be used in compound words to specify the writer's specialization: speechwriter — someone who writes speeches; copywriter — someone who writes advertising, screenwriter — someone who writes screenplays.

In the West, ghostwriters are often simply called ghosts or writers. Ukrainian ghostwriters also sometimes call themselves writers, because the Ukrainian word "письменник" (literally means "writer") is perceived too narrowly — as an author of a work of fiction, not a person whose job is to write texts to order for payment.

Sometimes copywriters are confused with ghostwriters, and ghostwriters sometimes call themselves editors because the word "ghostwriter" is considered negatively by some people.

In Ukrainian, ghostwriter is translated as "ghost writer," in particular, the title of Roman Polansky's feature film The Ghost Writer (2010). There are also variants of "nameless author" or "phantom writer". 

Unlike copywriter and speechwriter, in Russian ghost writer is transliterated in several ways: "ghostwriter" or "ghostwriter". We use the term "ghostwriter" because it is the most used, and therefore the most recognizable.

Unlike copywriter and speechwriter, ghostwriter is transliterated in several ways in Ukrainian: "гострайтер", "гоустрайтер" або "ґоустрайтер". We use the term "гострайтер" because it is the most commonly used and therefore the most recognizable.

Is a non-disclosure agreement necessary?

Despite retaining the name "ghost" the services of a hired writer are far from confidential. Today, ghostwriters are increasingly being mentioned in the books or articles they help write.

If it's a book, the ghostwriter can usually be recognized by the words "with" in front of the name on the cover. For example, the cover of Howard Behar's book, It's Not About the Coffee, says that it was written with Janet Goldstein.

The definition of ghostwriting in modern dictionaries also does not contain a word that indicates the secrecy or confidentiality of ghostwriting, only that ghostwriting is published on behalf of another person:

  • According to Cambridge Dictionary Согласно Cambridge Dictionary, ghostwriter — “someone who writes a book or article, etc. for another person to publish under his or her own name”,
  • The Merriam-Webster dictionary contains the verb “ghostwrote” in the meaning of “to write for and in the name of another.”

Change: Oct. 18, 2024, 12:56 p.m.