Is Ghostwriting Ethical?

This is a really interesting question, and one that comes up surprisingly often in my work as a ghostwriter. Is what we do ethical? Should the use of a ghostwriter always be disclosed? Let’s explore this issue in more detail, starting with exactly why someone might have this concern.

What does ghostwriting involve?

The first thing we need to understand is just why the ethics of ghostwriting might come into question.

Ghostwriting involves hiring an individual other than yourself to write your book for you. Traditionally, your name would then be the only one on the front cover. Sometimes, you might see books marked as “By [author] with [ghostwriter or collaborator]”, or you might see credit for a ghostwriter somewhere inside the book itself, but these instances are more rare.

It is implied that the name on the front of a book belongs to the person who actually wrote the book. This, therefore, is where the confusion arises: is it okay to pretend that you wrote a book, when you actually didn’t? Is it okay to essentially lie to readers?

A thornier issue

This question is not as cut-and-dried as it might first appear. There are a few reasons why.

Firstly, it is unusual for an author to actually have no input at all into the book. In almost all cases, what really happens is this: the author provides all of the expertise, ideas, and information for the book, while the ghostwriter simply knows the best way to write all of this down. They will write in the author’s voice, but refine it so that it reads well. This means that it’s not as clear-cut as saying that the author didn’t write the book at all – in fact, they will usually have had quite a lot of say-so about what goes into the book, come up with the ideas, chosen the information to be used, and even provided some of the phrases and words to go into the book.

It’s a common misconception that using a ghostwriter means being totally hands-off. In fact, my clients often shape the whole book by themselves, right up to that final point of just getting it on the page. I very often function more as an editor, getting their thoughts into an order that makes sense in terms of book structure, refining their sentences and explanations, and making it all look good.

Secondly, the use of a name on the front cover of a book does not and never has given concrete proof of authorship. Many authors use pseudonyms, for example. Sometimes, writing partnerships – such as a husband and wife, or two authors working together – will operate under one name for simplicity. Occasionally, an author will put a gimmick name on the front cover – for example, pretending that the narrator of the book is a real person who wrote the book themselves, when they are actually a construction of the fictional world within. With a long and rich history of putting fake names on the front of book covers, it seems that readers shouldn’t actually expect the name of the author to be a given fact.

Thirdly, books – especially those that are traditionally published – are very rarely the result of the work of just one person. Multiple editors will get their hands on the manuscript, editing it for flow and plot, word choice and grammar, sentence structure and paragraph length. Just look at the back of any traditionally-published book and read the acknowledgements to get an idea of how many people are involved in its creation. You might be surprised at the number. If it’s always a labour of multiple people, with one person’s name chosen in particular to go on the front cover, then it turns out that ghostwriting isn’t quite as different from the more traditional mode of authorship than you’d think.

A personal choice

In the end, it probably comes down to individual ethics as to whether you think it’s right or not to use a ghostwriter.

Some people might have their lines in the sand – for example, maybe they think it’s okay to use a ghostwriter so long as you publicly acknowledge you have done so. Some will think that, given the long history of fake names on book covers and the amount of collaboration involved, using a ghostwriter is not misleading at all. Still others will feel that authors should always be responsible for every word that comes out of their pen, and if the book was written by someone else, it should be their name on the cover.

Whatever your stance, it’s important to be fully informed and educated before you judge – after all, there are plenty of circumstances in which it seems reasonable for someone to use a ghostwriter. Take the memoir of a famous athlete as an example. Athletes are known for their speed on the track or their skill in the game – not for their writing skills. Wouldn’t it be quite unreasonable to expect only those sports stars who have a way with words to be allowed to write their stories? Without the work of ghostwriters, we would miss out on a lot of deeply fascinating books, and that would be a shame.

I hope this allows you to feel more reassured about the ethics of ghostwriting. It’s important to remember, too, that ghostwriting is a well-established practice which is already used to a huge extent in the publishing industry. Anyone who is against the use of ghostwriters is fighting against the tide of a common method, deeply entrenched in publishing and unlikely to go away any time soon.