Ghostwriters are journalists or professional writers who are hired to write autobiographies, short stories, articles, novels, or even speeches on behalf of another person, especially for politicians, actors, or people untrained in this type of literary work, without being officially credited as the author of such works.
5 Famous Ghostwriters
Many would argue that Foster’s fame is not a typical ghostwriting achievement, and they are right.
However, it is a joke not to include him on this list because writing his novel in the classic space opera “Star Wars” by George Lucas is an incredible achievement.
The book “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker” is attributed to Lucas, but Foster wrote it.
He is a Harvard-trained writer best known for writing the “Seven Wonders” and “39 Clues” book series, both of which made the New York Times Best-Selling Children’s Books list.
His success as an author is well-recognized, and his experience as a freelance copy editor has made him an equally successful ghostwriter.
He uses the name A. L. Singer as a ghost, especially with the series Sweet Valley.
Besides children’s books, Lerangis also wrote novels based on screenplays, namely “Beauty and the Beast”, “Sleepy Hollow” and “The Sixth Sense”.
The horror and quirky genius may be known for creating Cthulhu mythology, but this American writer is more than most people realize. While writing for the pulp magazine “Weird Tales,” J.C. Henneberger (the magazine’s founder) asked Lovecraft if he could write for a famous defector artist.
It turns out that the man he was referring to was none other than Harry Houdini.
Lovecraft eventually wrote “Captive with the Pharaohs”, which was one of Houdini’s escape acts. Houdini was blown away, and the two started making other stories.
Benson is credited as the writer of several James Bond stories, including “The World Is Not Enough” and “Tomorrow Never Dies”.
Although credited as the author of James Bond novels, it was this individual who received a ghostwriting contract for the famous spy novelist Tom Clancy, specifically the “Splinter Cell” series.
Benson used the pseudonym “David Michaels” for the first and second books in the series.
Maquet collaborated with Alexandre Dumas in the elaboration of the French writer’s most famous novels: The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years Later, The Viscount of Bragelonne, and The Count of Monte Cristo. Maquet would do the historical research and produce a first draft of the novel; he would then give it to Dumas to correct, augment, embellish and, in short, give it the final touch. Maquet ended up suing Dumas to pay him a larger sum of money and to have his name appear on the cover of the books as co-author. Finally, after several years, the sentence condemned Dumas to pay Maquet a considerable amount, but the authorship of the novels would remain in Dumas’s name.
Ghostwriters are on Trend
Many traditional publishers have admitted that 70% of the books they publish are written by ghostwriters. Even crazier – 99% of the books published by artists, celebrities, and politicians are made with the help of a talented ghostwriter. Every year, the publishing industry makes more and more room for new ghost authors to take their hats off. Some modern screenwriters even receive credit or recognition from the author of the edit to show their gratitude for the hard work they put in on the project.
A trend we’ve noticed over the past few years also shows us that many entrepreneurs from businesses large and small are hiring ghostwriters to help them write a book as another product for their business. Some of these books tell the story of the entrepreneur (or company), serve as a case study of their business, or an introduction to how they can help their current and future customers.
Throughout history, there may have been a stigma attached to the title of “ghostwriter.” Today, that perspective has changed, and it creates more opportunities for an aspiring ghostwriter like you to come and take advantage of the limitless opportunities that exist in the marketplace.
A growing trend in the publishing industry regarding ghostwriting is the number of fiction authors who hire ghostwriters to write their novels. Publishers are also hiring these ghost-fiction writers at an increasing rate. And while there’s been some controversy recently with some ill-intentioned ghost scriptwriters, that hasn’t slowed the trend at all. The market is now wide open for non-fiction and fantasy writers behind the wheel. Ghostwriters play an important role in the publishing industry by helping their clients tell compelling stories. As a result, thousands (and maybe even millions) of people are affected by a successful writer-author relationship.