I’ve been really surprised at how many people have no clue that ghostwriters even exist… teachers, other writers, lots of folks… but then lots of things surprise me.

And you’re probably right… about the choir… oh well.

That being said, I think there is a fine line when it comes to book writing. Most that are ghostwritten these days say “with (insert name of real writer here…)”. Further, I don’t believe that many actually believe that Donald Trump or Paris Hilton write their own books.

So this little doff of the hat is enough in my mind to give the “wink wink” that the Donald wrote this book — because who really cares anyway?

On the other hand, if Ernest Hemingway wrote his memoirs and then revealed later that someone else actually did the writing, that could be a problem. (BTW — can you imagine anyone being able to ghostwrite for him?) Theoretically at least, this would raise issues, though I can’t see anything like this ever happening.

In the corporate world, do people think that the CEOs actually write their own introductions to the Annual Report? Do banks write their own brochures? Does Starbucks come up with its own posters? No, no, and no.

But they take responsibility for the messaging, which is ultimately most important. “I’m this Starbuck’s owner, and I approve this P.O.P…”

Whoever does the actual writing is simply secondary.

~Graham