Today’s post is by author Josh Bernoff.
With 164 ghostwriters in attendance, the first Gathering of the Ghosts, which took place in New York City on January 22, was likely the largest ever gathering of ghostwriters in one place. As Dan Gerstein, CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters, the cosponsor of the event along with the American Society of Journalists and Authors, quipped, it was the largest collection of writing talent in one room…since Thomas Jefferson dined alone.
Ghostwriters are a proud but underappreciated group. Because their contributions to the literary world have traditionally been made in secret, ghosts rarely get public recognition. But the world is shifting. In recent years Donald Trump’s ghostwriter Tony Schwartz related his story, and regrets, in The New Yorker, and J. R. Moehringer, ghostwriter of Prince Harry’s mega-selling memoir Spare, published a revealing peek into the intimate dance between author and writer.
The ghosts in attendance were diverse: more women than men; young, middle-aged, and grizzled; mostly white with a dozen or so writers of color; and bursting with accumulated expertise in everything from scientific discovery to leadership and technology. They may have started as journalists, publicists, editors, novelists, and bestselling authors, but now they were united in a fellowship of scribes.
Put aside your preconceptions: while there were plenty who penned memoirs for actors and athletes, there were at least as many focused on thought leadership and advice books from business executives, consultants, health experts, and scientists bent on boosting their audiences. Few of those present set out to be ghostwriters, but fewer still regretted it.
In hallway meetings and lunch conversations, ghosts were elated to skip the usual explanations to businesspeople and readers unfamiliar with the ghosting process and instead compare notes on author antics, tactics to wrangle source material, dealing with client regrets, and how to get paid. When two ghostwriters meet, it’s not one-upmanship about fees that drives them—it’s more about client prominence: “I wrote a book for a Nobel prize-winner,” “I did one for a basketball star,” “Hey, my client was a famous nun!”
The bond between writer and author is intimate, and uncomfortable as often as it is joyous. On the conference stage Jodi Lipper, a six-time New York Times bestselling ghostwriter, spoke of the often overlooked intimacy and trust that extends beyond what’s on the page, and commented, “I’m not a licensed therapist, but sometimes we must all act that way.”
Daniel Paisner, host of the popular “As told to” ghostwriting podcast, said, “There’s a constant drumbeat in your head: ‘Don’t f— this up!’”
And as Holly Gleason, chronicler of popular musicians, explained, “There are always two truths. There is the truth of the facts…and the truth of what actually happened.” The hired scribe’s job is to tell both.
There was plenty of talk about money—how to ask for what you’re worth with a straight face, and how to get flinty billionaires to part with what they owe for work well done. A consensus emerged: a writer who charges less than $50,000 for a book of 50,000 words or more is going to starve. Ghostwriter Michael Levin suggested that writers take whatever they’re charging now, double it, and add 20 percent.
Ghostwriting is clearly a growth business. The number of prominent people—and strivers—hankering to tell their stories and demonstrate their brilliance is increasing. Even when they have the talent to write, they don’t often have the time. As publishing houses and media companies shed writers and editors, there’s a burgeoning supply of available talent. Even as it becomes tougher and tougher for an author to get a book contract with a big New York publisher, reputable hybrid publishers like Greenleaf and Amplify are multiplying, and self-publishing is opening up paths to market for nearly anybody. If you want to get a book out and you can pay, there’s a writer and a publisher ready to give you your chance to sparkle.
Like all conferences these days, the Gathering of the Ghosts gave out awards for outstanding books written collaboratively—the “Andys” (because of the “and” followed by the ghostwriter’s name that appears on the cover of some ghostwritten books). Winners included:
- Good Power: Leading Positive Change in Our Lives, Work, and World by former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, ghostwritten by Joanne Gordon
- Glimmer: A Story of Survival, Hope, and Healing by Kimberly Shannon Murphy, with Genevieve Field
- Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing in Community by Joy Harden Bradford, in collaboration with Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts
The Gathering also devoted the obligatory time to gnashing of teeth about AI. Lawyer Scott Sholder said we’d need to wait a while for justices’ decisions on the main legal challenge: were large language models (like OpenAI) trained on vast collections of text liable for misuse of copyrighted material? The panelists and audience agreed that AI could never replace the human touch of skilled ghostwriters, but I worry that you might hear the same lament from a gathering of skilled chefs certain that Americans would never eat the bland fare at fast food restaurants. The real threat may not be AI replacing writers, but replacing books altogether. If a bot can tell you Ginni Rometty’s wisdom on any management or technology topic, who’s going to buy and read her book?
Storytelling remains an enduring and fundamental human talent. Ghostwriters are storytellers, and this is their moment. The Gathering of the Ghosts may be the first time dozens of storytellers-for-hire reveled in their creativity, diversity, and expertise, but it won’t be the last. As one ghostwriter in attendance remarked, all of us ghosts love to write, and that’s never going to change, regardless of who’s reading, who’s hiring, how they’re publishing, and how much they’re paying. Ghosts are a lot more visible now. The rest of the industry had better get used to it.
Josh Bernoff works closely with nonfiction authors as an advisor, coach, editor, or ghostwriter. He has collaborated on more than 45 nonfiction books. He was formerly Senior Vice President, Idea Development at Forrester, where he spent 20 years analyzing technology and business. Josh has a mathematics degree from The Pennsylvania State University and studied mathematics in the Ph.D. program at MIT. He lives with his wife, an artist, in Portland, Maine. To learn more, visit bernoff.com.
Ghostwriting is a process and art not easy to master yet the results can be profound. Shaping a story as told by another person is worth more than what the ghostwriter is paid. Many books are ghostwritten without acknowledgement upfront. Times are changing and this article sheds light where it is needed.
Very interesting article! I’ve been a professional, full-time ghostwriter and book editor for 15 years. I do nothing else to make money. I humbly offer a few comments.
1. I don’t get paid $50,000 a book, but I make a very nice living.
2. I work seven days a week because I love my job. To meet my income goals, I need to ghostwrite 2,500 words per day. Editing and book development can be priced by the hour.
3. I’ve ghostwritten roughly 75 full-length books in most genres – primarily self-help and business, with a few novels. I also edit books – too many to count! I’ll do whatever it takes to make the client’s manuscript ready to publish.
4. If your name appears on the cover of the book, you’re not really a ghostwriter. My clients expect and receive complete anonymity – and so do I. Once a nice doctor from Naples, Florida put my name on the cover of the thriller I had written for him. When it appeared on Amazon, the cover art was terrible and there were several very nasty one-star reviews. I called up the doctor and asked him about the reviews. He replied, “Oh, those are just some people around here who hate me.” That was the very last time I allowed a client to put my name on the cover. If I cannot control the product and its distribution, I don’t want to be associated with it.
5. Many of my client’s books have appeared on Amazon category best-seller lists. Many of them keep selling, year after year. They have staying power.
6. My entire business infrastructure consists of myself, my laptop, and the internet. Low overhead! And in the summer, I can knock off work in the afternoon, go for a swim in the ocean, and then be back at my desk in the evening. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Nice piece. Wish I’d been there. But I ghostwrite short pieces, not books, and always uncredited. Are there similar gatherings for folks like me?
“The real threat may not be AI replacing writers, but replacing books altogether. If a bot can tell you Ginni Rometty’s wisdom on any management or technology topic, who’s going to buy and read her book?”
There is actually a thriving business for executive summaries that does this already, summarizing the wisdom in books, and the rights money is pretty good (often $500-$1,000). In addition, the table of contents, at least for business books, is often all you need to know about the lessons in the book–it’s essentially a powerpoint–and that’s free to look at.
The thing is, though: no one remembers the lessons, just as no one remembers a meal at McDonalds the way they would a meal at, say, Gramercy Tavern (or even Shake Shack). It’s the stories illustrating the lessons that people remember. For example, you could tell me a hundred times that “slow and steady wins the race,” but that wisdom doesn’t feel real until it’s put the context of a plodding, but persistent tortoise and a quick, but arrogant hare. For this reason I tell all my authors: Fables don’t have morals, morals have fables. And the reasons the stories are more sticky is because their specificity makes them relatable. Readers can see themselves in the struggles and successes in great stories, however different their own circumstances are from those of the characters in the story. Some vapid bit of wisdom, on the other hand, provides no connection, no revelation, and, in fact, it might evolve into a thought-terminating cliche, such as “Work smarter, not harder.”
And that is why there will always be a market books. They work, period.
You hit the nail on the head.
After watching more than ten media interviews by the “Author” of a 2023 bestselling Memoir, I see in the article above, it names a ghostwriter. I feel betrayed as I devoted several hours tonight listening to this “debut author” discussing her difficulties in writing her memoir, never once even hinting of a ghostwriter nor the huge contribution made by Genevieve Field!
I could only dream of Ms. Field helping write my similar memoir which, has taken fifteen-years of reliving trauma, suffering word by painful word to complete.
As ghostwriting comes out of the shadows and has its day in the sun, it simultaneously risks losing the value it offers authors. Perhaps the industry will need to look for alternative labels, because the “ghost” part is disappearing.
Accountants, ad agencies, and photographers get credit for their work, why not ghostwriters? When they’re more visible, they’re worth more, not less. No one thinks Taylor Swift styles her own hair or Joe Biden writes his own speeches. So why must they imagine that Ginni Rommety writes her own book?