Today it is very common for celebrities to write books about their lives, as Lauren Conrad, the Kardashian sisters, and Snooki of “The Jersey Shore” did. However, have you ever questioned whether or not they actually wrote the book themselves? Personally I feel as though I have always overlooked this detail. If their name is on the cover as the author, why should anyone think any different? The New York Times decided to leak the real truth; “Ghost Writers” are the ones to credit for the writing in the novels, although celebrities often have their own ideas on plots, and characters.
There is typically an understanding between these so called “Ghost Writers,” publishers, and agents. However, celebrities are not shy when it comes to taking credit for these books. How would you feel if you were a writer, but were only possibly mentioned of the acknowledgments of the book? I think that this is not entirely fair to the writer, and also shows selfishness in the celebrity. According to the article, when asked about who wrote their books, celebrities only mentioned themselves, but publishers sometimes indicated something different. Do you think that a “celebrity book” would be less marketable if the “real” authors name was printed on the cover, and why? I don’t necessarily think that this would affect the sales of the book, because as long as the celebrity’s name or picture was on the cover, that in itself would make the book marketable to teens and fans of these celebrities.
Here is the article to read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/fashion/noticed-celebrity-books-and-ghostwriters.html
This is actually something I have thought about before. It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to be an established writer, and I can guess that most all of these celebrity authors have not done amount of time or work it takes to be an established and credible author. As wrong as it is that these authors take all the credit of their book for themselves and don’t appear to have much guilt, I also wonder why these “ghost writers” are willing to perform their talents in the attempt to help a celebrity broaden their name and title, without getting the credit they deserve. I understand that there are families to feed and lives to live, so these “ghost writers” are probably doing it for the whopping pay check and benefits they will receive from the sales of the books they write fro others, but what about the glory? Don’t they want to share their success publicly instead of keeping their talents hidden under a celebrity’s name? I wonder what producers do to keep the “ghost writer” quiet?
ReplyDeleteI have also thought about this before. I just never thought it was possible that all these celebrities are taking the time to write these novels. When I see their names on the cover, I still question whether or not they are writing the words versus it maybe just being their ideas and about their lives. Therefore, the fact that there are "ghost writers" does not surprise me. Personally, I would never want to be a "ghost writer" because it would be really hard to see a celebrity taking credit for my own work. I believe if the true author's name appeared on the cover, it may have an impact on the sales. I think a big reason people read these books is because they think they are reading the true writing of the celebrity.
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