After the premiere of the film “Author Widmo,” directed by Roman, there was a ghost boom (no, not their service.) It was easy to name a ghostwriter. Sam wondered how it would be great to be a “ghost” and derive profits from it. Then I wisely. The truth is completely different and has nothing to do with film realities.
I think that you should start by saying that the ghostwriter is (as it should be) like Yeti – everyone has heard about him, but nobody has seen him. And rightly so, because if the author of the phantom, would it really be a “phantom” if he advertised himself to power? Well, I do not think so.
Ghostwriters exist and they’re fine
Personally, I do not consider this procedure to be a bad thing and it does not compromise my sense of ethics (provided that the thing is properly agreed between the parties and is not a sign of fraud). However, those who do not know should be made aware that ghostwriting – that is, writing texts for someone and attributing to the author – is, according to American law, least appreciated. I do not know how it looks in other countries, but our legislation clearly states that copyright is not transferable. This means that you can not give someone copyrights to the song. This should not be confused with property rights that can be transferred / re-sold and that is the basis of the work of all creators who carry out original works. An image, text, sculpture, musical piece, or any other work can be sold, but you can not (legally) give up authorship. In other words, the author still remains the author, although someone else profits from his work.
Who are the ghost authors?
It happens differently. Obviously, there are no statistics that can determine who the specters are, but most often they will be people more or less related to writing. Journalists, writers, copywriters, often professors of various fields, and sometimes people who have nothing to do with this activity. Calling a ghostwriter or copywriter is easy. To be in reality – extremely difficult. You can read about the scenes from the author’s work here, for example.
A ghostwitce portfolio? And that’s good!
Since we have already waded through what ghostwriting is, the question arises, “how to find a ghostwriter?”. Well, this is not an easy matter. The copywriter can be the author of the spectrum, but it does not have to and vice versa. It should be clearly emphasized that something like the ghostwriter portfolio does not exist, because it can not! If we voluntarily “donate” copyright to a given work, we can not put it in the portfolio.
No phantom author will boast about his achievements and clients. No. And if it’s different, it’s an ass, not a ghostwriter. It will break a sacred confidentiality agreement.
Of course, this does not mean that the author of the phantom does not have any samples of texts. The vast majority of authors – if not all – treat ghostwriting as an additional source of income and certainly have a mass of their own texts. As I have already mentioned, the author is often a journalist, copywriter or simply a writer.
When looking for a ghost author, you should also approach people who strongly advertise this type of services with great caution. Ghostwriting is basically “illegal” (it sounds almost like we’re selling drugs to children) and by advertising it, you can get your troubles off you and your client. That is why you can often find a ghostwriting offer, squeezed in, somewhere between other services, so that it is available, but not too much – according to the principle “who is looking, he will find it.”
Ghostwriting is expensive
The price is another indication, informing us whether we are dealing with an amateur or a professional. Ghostwriting requires secrecy regardless of everything. Another factor for which this service is expensive is the fact that you can not derive any benefit from your own work – neither material nor immaterial (fame and glory). You write, you get the agreed amount and honor. No royalties, no way to show off the work. If the book becomes a world bestseller, then its true author will not have anything. That is why ghostwriting is not so cheap, which is much more expensive than regular copywriting.
Copywriting is not ghostwriting!
In conclusion, it would be helpful to explain why copywriting does not equal ghostwriting. A common mistake when signing a contract for the transfer of proprietary copyrights is the belief that at the same time the entire copyrights are transferred to the orderer. It does not move. The author of the text still remains the author, although he does not derive any material benefits from this, apart from the agreed payment.
Confidentiality clause in the contract with the transfer of property copyrights
Several times I happened to have a contract with a so-called confidentiality clause. This means that the creator is obliged to keep a secret and can not in any way disclose what he wrote and for whom. I know that I am not the only one and many copywriters have been struggling with the problem of how to treat such a record properly. Well, in my opinion, this is ghostwriting and such an agreement should be considered in this category.