Ghostwriting

- Ghostwriting -
by
Leo Hunter
© Copyright 2010 Leo Hunter
published by
Able Limited Editions


Ghostwriters are actually hired guns and they're employed (commissioned) by publishers or entrepreneurs or public bodies to write whatever on their behalf. They may even be employed by other writers or authors, or by you Jo Soap.

In that last context, you may have a story you need told in a written form. But you simply don't know how to go about writing with the view of having it published (told) legally (see Writing Rules by Leo Hunter in particular).

Since they're employed, they obviously must be paid. And the going rate in the UK for freelance ghostwriters is around £250 per thousand words (at the time of writing this piece). But that may be substantially reduced if the piece commissioned to write is to be written as a seventy-thousand word novel (fiction) for example.

What the commissioning employers get for their money obviously depends on the contract. But generally speaking ghostwriters ought to ensure there is at least adequate, admissible, and reliable evidence to corroborate what they write. And that requires research materials obtained by them legally. In other words, they're not merely copywriters. They must investigate the evidence produced by their commissioners (employers), plus obtain their own materials if necessary. Copywriters merely type the stories. And that's essentially why it costs so much besides the thorny issues of copyrights, consent, and who in fact is to be named as the author. Any ghostwriter who agrees to write for less is a fool.

Those issues of copyright and consent are well outside the commissioned remit of this piece. But it's quite normal for the said employer to be named as the author. And that's simply because they are the employer. But on the other hand, it's also normal for employers to actually distance themselves from public scrutiny for whatever reason. So whatever else you do, check the contract thoroughly on that identification issue, and particularly in the context of copyrights. If it's actually silent on that issue, you can safely bet the employer will be so named as the author owning copyrights as implied by intellectual property law and employment law.

Nasty stuff that, implied law; compounded by the insidious fact that no law whatsoever protects your ideas contained with intellectual property. So be extremely careful if you're tempted to become a ghostwriter. Know the relevant law inside out before you do is the best advice l can give. Or seek reliable legal advice on the contract backed up by a second opinion before you accept it.

So there you have it in the proverbial nutshell. Ghostwriters are employed beasts, commissioned to investigate and research the matter at hand then write (report) their findings on the behalf of their employers. Be it on your own conscience if you as the ghostwriter conclude as directed though.

Able Limited Editions offer a ghostwriting service. But any such commissioned work undertaken will only be written from an apolitical perspective.

Leo Hunter