Have you ever wondered who really writes those inspirational books by your favorite celebrities, politicians, and sports figures? Chances are, it’s not actually them. Instead, it’s likely a ghostwriter, an expert wordsmith, who can turn speech patterns and sentence structure into a coherent story and garner huge sales and big advances.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama used a ghostwriter for her huge 2018 bestseller, “Becoming,” which she received a whopping $60 million joint advance, for both her and husband’s memoirs. She’s not alone either. Hillary Clinton teamed up with ghostwriter Barbara Feinman Todd for her 1996 bestseller, “It Takes A Village.” Gwyneth Paltrow initially claimed to have written her 2011 cookbook, “My Father’s Daughter,” but later admitted it was with the help of ghostwriter, Julia Turshen.
J.R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer prize winner, is the highest paid ghostwriter in the business, reportedly earning seven figures for writing Prince Harry’s memoir “Spare.” However, his name never appeared in the advance news the publisher released nor will it appear on the cover. Similarly, Moehringer’s name never appeared anywhere in Andre Agassi’s 2010 autobiography or in Phil Knight’s 2016 bestselling memoir “Shoedog.”
Some ghostwriters may get a line on the cover that says “written with,” but it’s rare for them to get credit on the title page of acknowledgments. According to literary agent Madeleine Morel, whose agency 2M Communications, Ltd. has represented only ghostwriters for more than twenty years, “There are probably 25 really top-flight writers, but few get credit on the cover. It’s a battle to get the name on the title page of acknowledgments.”
But things are changing. Using a ghostwriter used to be like admitting you had done internet dating, but that stigma is fading away and many celebrities are turning to ghostwriters to write their memoirs. The average ghostwriting project pays $75,000 to $100,000 for as little as six months work, making it a lucrative field for writers.
Collaboration agreements are usually ironclad and top-secret. Every collaboration agreement has a confidentiality clause in it, which means that anything the author may have told the writer which doesn’t go into the book is confidential and can’t be shared. However, Morel always negotiates a clause in the contract that the writer gets credit for the book in their publishing resume and sometimes on their website.
While there are only a few celebs who have written their own book, the world of ghostwriting is only going to increase. As Morel puts it, “It’s all banner headline and names in publishing now.” Ghostwriting may be behind the scenes, but it’s a vital part of the publishing industry and the reason why many of your favorite books even exist.
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