You might have read them, but you don’t see them. Sometimes, you would not even know that they exist!
Yes, we are talking about ghostwriters. So just who exactly are these mysterious, shadowy figures lurking between the pages of our favourite book? Don’t be scared, ghostwriters are very much human!
Authors who are paid to write under someone else’s name are called ghost writers. A ghost writer could be an individual or a string of writers, all using the same name. They many complete the entire project or ghostwrite parts of the book.
The main job of a ghostwriter is to seamlessly adapt their writing skills to fit the style of the publicly named author. Ghostwriters also advise on content and style issues when needed.
When are ghost writers used?
Celebrities or political leaders often use ghostwriters to pen their memoirs. This could be because the celebrities themselves do not have the time or flair for writing. Ghost writers may also be behind authors of serialised books or those who produce a large number of books regularly.
Famous books written by ghostwriters:
- “Nancy Drew” series: Here’s a whodunit: who wrote the famous “Nancy Drew” series? The most obvious answer might be Carolyn Keene, of course – the author whose name is stamped upon the cover of every book. Here’s the plot twist: Carolyn Knee is actually multiple ghostwriters. Commissioned by Edward Stratemeyer, the 56 books were written by at least eight ghostwriters. Chief among them was Mildred Wirt Benson.
- “The Babysitter’s Club”: Author Ann M. Martin solely wrote the first 35 books in this series. But it was Peter Lerangis who wrote the subsequent novels.
- Houdini’s illusions: Sure, Harry Houdini could catch a bullet with his teeth and escape a water torture cell in two minutes. But could he write? Well… not really. That’s why H.P. Lovecraft, ended up becoming Houdini’s ghostwriter in 1924. He wrote a short story “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs” for Houdini.
- “Animorph”: Author K.A. Applegate did write the first 24 books of this popular YA series, but she ended up only outlining most of the next 27 books in the series. A group of ghostwriters did the actual writing for those books.
- “Jason Bourne” books: When author Robert Ludlum, kept churning out one bestseller after another even after his death in 2001, fans smelled something fishy. No, it was not the doing of rogue secret agents! It was later revealed that Eric Van Lustbader had continued ghost writing the books after Ludlum’s death till 2017.
Oh really?
- Were “The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” ghostwritten? Think Alexandre Dumas and the two books that immediately come to mind are the classics “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Three Musketeers”. But there’s a slight chance that he might not have actually written them. There are claims that Dumas wrote these books with Auguste Maquet, who remained uncredited for his contributions.
Picture Credit : Google