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Celeb News: Bestselling ghostwriter reveals the secrets
Member Since: 7/12/2009
Posts: 15,281
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Bestselling ghostwriter reveals the secrets
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...s-secret-world
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Bestselling ghostwriter reveals the secret world of the author for hire
Andrew Crofts has written 80 titles and sold some 10 million copies in a 40-year career, mostly under names far more famous than his own – until now
Behind such brand names as Sir Alex Ferguson, Jordan, Andy McNab and Victoria Beckham lurks the shy figure of the ghost. Sometimes, there is no deception. Keith Richards's Life was written by James Fox. Katie Price (aka Jordan) boasts that she does not do her own typing, and relied on Rebecca Farnworth to launch her career as a novelist with Angel. Further down the food chain, even the infuriating meerkat from the comparethemarket.com adverts has had A Simples Life put together by Val Hudson, formerly of Headline books.
The top category of ghosted titles remains the misery memoir, books such as Tell Me Why, Mummy or Please, Daddy, No, or Sharon Osbourne's Extreme: My Autobiography. At its peak, this genre accounted for almost 10% of the UK book market, closely followed by celebrity autobiographies (Russell Brand's My Booky Wook), true-crime memoirs (Dave Courtney's Stop the Ride, I Want to Get Off), sporting lives (Wayne Rooney's My Story So Far) and tales of derring-do (Bruce Parry, Bear Grylls, et al).
I recall, some years ago, a female pop star attending a book trade prize-giving for which her ghosted bestselling memoir had been shortlisted. Before this honour, she boasted she hadn't even opened, still less actually read, the book that bore her name. When she duly won, she left her ghost at the table and graciously collected her prize, all smiles, modesty and gratitude, the model author. When she returned to her publisher's table, the woman who had actually written the book reached out, instinctively, to touch the trophy. Bad move. The star snatched it back, clouting her ghost across the cheek to remind her who was boss. When you pay the piper, you call the tune.
His rule for accepting a new client is that they must have a good backstory. He took on Alexandra Burke (of The X-Factor) because of her mother's career sacrifice. "She was in hospital watching her daughter on TV, living her life," he says, and confides a special interest in tales of childhood abuse. Sold, the shocking rape story of Zana Muhsen, has shifted 5m copies and, Crofts believes, created a new market for books such as Jane Elliott's The Little Prisoner. Crofts also took on Big Brother's Pete Bennett, an acute Tourette's sufferer, out of respect for "an extraordinarily attractive character", and ghosted Pete: My Story, another bestseller.
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So... which of you faves have 'written a book' already? 
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Member Since: 1/2/2014
Posts: 1,195
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I came here thinking Sia was going to expose secrets from Rih, Bey, Katy, etc.
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Member Since: 12/16/2008
Posts: 59,380
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Am I wrong for thinking that this was gonna be about Iggy? 
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 9/3/2012
Posts: 29,405
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It would've been more interesting if it was songwriting but this is cool too.
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 23,412
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Quote:
Originally posted by UnusualBoy
Am I wrong for thinking that this was gonna be about Iggy? |
Bestselling ghostwriter reveals the secrets
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Member Since: 7/12/2009
Posts: 15,281
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We know Lily Allen is a ghostwriter for songs... Let me tweet ha
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Member Since: 11/5/2009
Posts: 8,096
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Oh, that's cool, I didn't know they had ghostwriters for books. I know some artists have ghostwriters to write their songs though.
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Member Since: 11/7/2009
Posts: 9,863
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I have heard about ghostwriting for books, movies, magazines, etc, etc. Some publishing companies even openly hire for ghostwriting positions, and you have to sign contracts of non-disclosure, as you probably will never be able to collect the coins your work will create...
But, I want to know which celebrity was that that had an autobiography and didn't even read the book, and won a prize for it...
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 8/1/2012
Posts: 27,547
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Katie Price and Wayne Rooney, can't say I'm surprised 
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 15,224
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is anyone surprised?
you can tell when a book is ghostwritten.
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Member Since: 12/13/2011
Posts: 26,638
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Quote:
Originally posted by Save-Me-Oprah
It would've been more interesting if it was songwriting but this is cool too.
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You ain't slick. 
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Member Since: 3/25/2012
Posts: 10,673
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Quote:
Originally posted by Zolvnski
I came here thinking Sia was going to expose secrets from Rih, Bey, Katy, etc.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Save-Me-Oprah
It would've been more interesting if it was songwriting but this is cool too.
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This. But this is interesting too I guess. 
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Member Since: 3/6/2014
Posts: 13,097
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Quote:
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I recall, some years ago, a female pop star attending a book trade prize-giving for which her ghosted bestselling memoir had been shortlisted. Before this honour, she boasted she hadn't even opened, still less actually read, the book that bore her name. When she duly won, she left her ghost at the table and graciously collected her prize, all smiles, modesty and gratitude, the model author. When she returned to her publisher's table, the woman who had actually written the book reached out, instinctively, to touch the trophy. Bad move. The star snatched it back, clouting her ghost across the cheek to remind her who was boss. When you pay the piper, you call the tune.
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Member Since: 2/9/2012
Posts: 10,283
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Quote:
Originally posted by Feather
Oh, that's cool, I didn't know they had ghostwriters for books. I know some artists have ghostwriters to write their songs though.
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In some cases, an entire team may write a single book and give the credits to a single person, just for the money.
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Member Since: 3/21/2012
Posts: 55,134
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Thought it was going to be more juicer
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 2,773
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Quote:
Originally posted by Vini
I have heard about ghostwriting for books, movies, magazines, etc, etc. Some publishing companies even openly hire for ghostwriting positions, and you have to sign contracts of non-disclosure, as you probably will never be able to collect the coins your work will create...
But, I want to know which celebrity was that that had an autobiography and didn't even read the book, and won a prize for it...
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Far from true. This is why ghostwriters live the good life. Most are paid upfront and then given royalty checks once it's out there, a small percentage. Still, it's good money. You're completely right about the signing the non disclosure contracts though.
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Member Since: 5/19/2012
Posts: 25,222
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This is really common, especially for already established celebrities. They usually send their ideas to the writers and then the writers work on it. They still have to be a big part of it (if it's a memoir or something).
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Member Since: 1/16/2012
Posts: 204
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is this surprising? even the simpsons touched this ghostwriting theme i mean...
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 23,128
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Quote:
Originally posted by Feather
Oh, that's cool, I didn't know they had ghostwriters for books. I know some artists have ghostwriters to write their songs though.
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I know what the hell how can you say you wrote an entire book but not actually write it 
That is just messy but whatever.
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Member Since: 3/5/2014
Posts: 7,164
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Quote:
Originally posted by KatyLegendperry
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cyndi lauper?
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