Would you ever want to be a ghostwriter—doing the work in the background but never acknowledged—or do you prefer to be the star?

Would you ever want to be a ghostwriter—doing the work in the background but never acknowledged—or do you prefer to be the star?

I think I would be happy doing the background work and not worrying about being the star. :grinning_face:

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Unfortunately ive always preferred to be the star so dont think i could be a ghost writer.

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I would not want to be a ghostwriter, but not because I prefer to be a star, only because it seems like hard tedious work. I would rather write my own book or story.

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I think I would like it. I’d rather write about someone other than myself. And I don’t care about being the star, just pay me.

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While I have no need to be the star of a book, if I’m going to research and write a book,I’d like my name down as the author. It seemed like her name wouldn’t even appear on the cover as the author.

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Not sure if I would want to be a ghostwriter. Probably not, but I guess it would depend upon book person wanted me to write about. Seems if you are writing, you would want your name out there.

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Definitely background work for me! I Love the research aspect. Getting to know the person, finding out what makes them tick, exacting all the inside, gut feelings. Looking into the background of their lives, like a PI.

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No, I definitely would like to be the star!

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I was a newspaper reporter and feature writer for a small town newspaper. The owners didn’t allow anyone to put a by-line with their stories. The paper was sold and I felt so good about my stories being credited to me! I now write for our local heritage society newsletter. I definitely put my name on my feature stories. They involve research, interviews, and much time. I think I deserve the credit for them!

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While I have always had a dream of being a published, successful author, it does open you up to all the criticism that comes with it. I think I could be a ghostwriter. I won’t turn down honest money, so I think I could do it.

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I think I would find the research the most interesting part, but as someone else said, I think I would also like to get credit on the cover for all the work I did.

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I’m with you! Researching the time period and events would provide important and interesting context, too. I’d love the work but maybe not the pressure of the publisher’s timeline.

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I wouldn’t want to be the ghostwriter or the star!

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I would enjoy the research.

Since I do not feel comfortable drawing attention to myself, I think I’d enjoy being a ghostwriter. I think it would be very interesting researching and getting to know my subject(s).

It’s actually wonderful to be able to write and research and pull together a project without being responsible for the promotion and marketing that comes after. It leaves me with time to do what I love–write. Being a ghostwriter is a great job.

I don’t think I would want to be a ghostwriter. Not because I have to be a star, but I don’t think that I’d enjoy the research, and I might find it difficult to work with an author who had a specific storyline and would not change it if I had another idea.

Let me be in the background any day of the week. However, I have a whole new respect for ghostwriters after reading this book. Trying to make the “star’s” story come alive with so much shared control and maybe not even shared must be a difficult role under the best of circumstance.

I don’t always have to be the star but if I put a lot of time into doing the research and the background, I’d want the credit.