Who hires ghostwriters? These people!
Thinking about working with a ghostwriter, but not sure it’s a “done thing”? Some professionals who commonly work with ghostwriters
When it comes to ghostwriting, there’s a lot of information floating around the internet. Many, in particular, are confused about whether the whole business of ghostwriting is “legit.”
It’s easy to understand why many internet users are confused.
For one, there’s an enormous variance in terms of moral flexibility among those who call themselves “ghostwriters” (note: most of my business comes from ghostwriting work).
A ghostwriter could be:
- A skilled writer who helps a CEO perfect articles informing the public about what his/her organization does
- A speechwriter helping a head of state prepare a major policy address
- An “academic ghostwriter” who secretly authors a student’s university coursework, thereby allowing the latter to deceive an educational institution into awarding an artificially high grade
You can probably guess my feelings about the whole industry of academic ghostwriting (my last example): I think it’s illegitimate and sullies the professionalism of those who work in what I would call more “legitimate” ways.
Let’s put those helping charlatans land ill-won grades into a separate bucket. Who are we left with? These are some of the individuals that commonly hire ghostwriters for their writing projects.
Time-strapped business leaders and entrepreneurs
One of the most voracious hirers of ghostwriters are all manner of business executives and entrepreneurs.
Business leaders are often subject matter experts (SMEs) who know a lot about their area of knowledge but who are poor communicators.
The SME-writer collaboration has proven its worth across all manner of industries and geographies.
Both tiny startup CEOs and Fortune 500 executives can be found working with ghostwriters to help them take their know-how and package it into eloquent language.
Business leaders are likely to enroll the help of ghostwriters to help author material like:
- Keynote addresses at industry conferences
- Op-eds and guest blogs in significant trade media publications
- Blog posts on the company website or newsletter
- Investment relations (IR) materials
Politicians and diplomats
I have long argued that speechwriters should be included in the fold of those we commonly think of when we use the term “ghostwriter” (purists tend to apply it only to those who work on book publishing projects for their clients; these days I think a more expansive definition is far more logical).
Speechwriters, after all, are commonly employed in writing words that get attributed to another individual — in speechwriting lexicon, the person often referred to as the principle.
Politicians and diplomats are some of the most frequent users of speechwriting services. While politicians at the highest levels will often retain dedicated speechwriters (White House speechwriters tend to accrue some level of notoriety) those with less demanding schedules will either write their own speeches or outsource the speechwriting process to a marketing agency or a speechwriting specialist.
Those in the policy sector — including politicians — are often overwhelmed with requests for speaking engagements. Furthermore many of their speeches are expected to communicate important nuances of policy and are likely to attract media attention.
Even if they don’t commonly think of themselves as retaining the services of ghostwriters, many politicians and diplomats do exactly that.
Celebrities
Another addendum to the category of individuals with sometimes monstrously busy schedules, celebrities also often find themselves being prodded to offer their written or spoken thoughts on issues of interest to their fans.
Rather than turn these down on account of their demanding schedules, some speechwriters will turn to speechwriters. Speechwriters may be drafted to help celebrities:
- Pen acceptance speeches. While short, these often attract lots of media attention. If every word matters (and will be reported on) a professional speechwriter is sometimes the best and safest choice!
- Author autobiographies. Particularly popular during the holiday season, it’s no secret — both inside the industry and outside of it — that many celebrity memoirs are not, in fact, written by the celebrities themselves but rather by writers on contract.
The above is an extremely non-exhaustive list of those who commonly hire ghostwriters.
Even if the ghostwriting marketplace has its shady operators and sub-niches, overall there are more “legitimate” uses for ghostwriting than “black hat” ones.
Interested in working with a professional ghostwriter for your next thought leadership campaign or non-fiction book ghostwriting project? Daniel’s writing website is DSRGhostwriting.com.
