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kilohertz53 · 10-24-2007, 04:03 PM

Because I'll do almost anything to kill the “Guess Who Won the Nobel Prize” thread, here it goes:

I like to listen to audiobooks while driving or working around the house and yard. I usually choose thrillers, mysteries, or action-adventures because they move along briskly and don't demand much of me as a reader/listener. They're my junk food literature: tasty and filling, and of questionable nourishment. I base my selections on the quick plot descriptions on the CD case or online. Sometimes these wind up being books “written” by James Patterson, Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, or Robert Ludlum. At least those are the names in huge type over the titles. It's no big secret that much of their newer stuff is ghostwritten. The ghostwriter's name usually appears in smaller type somewhere on the cover. (And, yes, I do know that Mr. Ludlum died in 2001.) In a strictly legal sense, it's not fraud because the ghostwriter gets some credit. But it feels wrong to me somehow. It may not be dishonest but it's definitely disingenuous for a famous writer to turn himself into a trademarked brand name and allow his publisher to market ghostwritten books under his name. There's nothing like selling out and dissing the readers who made the writer popular in the first place if there's good money to be made.

The happy-face spin that publishers can put on this practice is that they're helping new writers get a foot in the door -- an apprenticeship in the craft (not art) of writing that could lead to bigger things after they “pay their dues”. Everybody wins (especially the Famous Author and the publisher.) Risk adversity and greed have nothing to do with it, right?

Now I suppose you could say that it's inconsequential because these books are just popular genre fiction. The ghostwritten books could even be superior to the famous author's actual works. After all, these aren't the writers who will be on the Nobel, Pulitzer, or Booker prize short lists. But their semi-counterfeit books will keep the brand names on the best seller lists for longer than they deserve to be, making it that much harder for new and creative writers to break through.

How do you feel about the trend toward “brand name” fiction writers?
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10-24-2007, 04:03 PM	#1
kilohertz53 Zealot Posts: 141 Karma: 671 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Harwichport, MA Device: Sony PRS-500, Sony PRS-350, Augen "The Book"	Fiction Writers as "Brand Names" Because I'll do almost anything to kill the “Guess Who Won the Nobel Prize” thread, here it goes: I like to listen to audiobooks while driving or working around the house and yard. I usually choose thrillers, mysteries, or action-adventures because they move along briskly and don't demand much of me as a reader/listener. They're my junk food literature: tasty and filling, and of questionable nourishment. I base my selections on the quick plot descriptions on the CD case or online. Sometimes these wind up being books “written” by James Patterson, Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, or Robert Ludlum. At least those are the names in huge type over the titles. It's no big secret that much of their newer stuff is ghostwritten. The ghostwriter's name usually appears in smaller type somewhere on the cover. (And, yes, I do know that Mr. Ludlum died in 2001.) In a strictly legal sense, it's not fraud because the ghostwriter gets some credit. But it feels wrong to me somehow. It may not be dishonest but it's definitely disingenuous for a famous writer to turn himself into a trademarked brand name and allow his publisher to market ghostwritten books under his name. There's nothing like selling out and dissing the readers who made the writer popular in the first place if there's good money to be made. The happy-face spin that publishers can put on this practice is that they're helping new writers get a foot in the door -- an apprenticeship in the craft (not art) of writing that could lead to bigger things after they “pay their dues”. Everybody wins (especially the Famous Author and the publisher.) Risk adversity and greed have nothing to do with it, right? Now I suppose you could say that it's inconsequential because these books are just popular genre fiction. The ghostwritten books could even be superior to the famous author's actual works. After all, these aren't the writers who will be on the Nobel, Pulitzer, or Booker prize short lists. But their semi-counterfeit books will keep the brand names on the best seller lists for longer than they deserve to be, making it that much harder for new and creative writers to break through. How do you feel about the trend toward “brand name” fiction writers? .