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#31 |
Has got to the black veil
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I would think the guest/ghostwriter would strive for a similar style, for just that reason. If they didn't achieve it, the readers would stop buying and the "brand" would go away.
But I agree the publishers should be more open about it. Probably the various imitators would develop their own fan base eventually. |
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#32 |
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Try "Tale of the Fox" and its sequel "Sentry Peak". Both "military fantasy" and very good indeed (IMHO). Both available from Baen.
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#33 | |
Connoisseur
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Quote:
![]() We should not forget that the concept of authorship is a modern one. In the Middle Ages most literature had no known author, and this is because the roll of the author was not important in comparison to today. But even for this early literature, we would like to know who wrote it - but the attribution of some works to some authors is sometimes questionable. But of course, for contemporary literature I also prefer to know the true author's name ![]() |
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#34 |
When's Doughnut Day?
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Ghostwriting = Deliberate Deception for Monetary Gain
I've found several sources of info about this widespread practice (one article suggests it comprises 40% of what you read) which seems always to be defended as both legal and ethical but alway by people who have something to gain from the practice. Their arguments read like rationalizations not explanations. They stress that no one is harmed since there is a contract between the publisher, "author", and ghostwriter. Apparently, the consumer, who is the clear target of the deception in hopes that some will buy a book which they otherwise would not buy, is of no concern. I was hoping to find and report here some specific court cases that established legal precendence for the practice but I have failed. I'll have to defer this to some future law students who I hope to ask some day.
A victimless crime? I don't buy that for a moment. Twenty bucks spent on something which is not what it was advertised to be is simple fraud. I don't care whether someone else thinks it was a good product or not. And I don't care if authorship attribution is a modern trend which some think is "nice" to have but which isn't really important. Sorry, but if it's a lie done with the intent to deceive others for monetary gain then it's fraud IMHO. Not much harm? I could easily imagine the damages to an individual consumer might not be small. Well-known literary critic Sally Bigwords from the NYTimes writes a column about well-known author Joe Blowhard and in it she writes at length about the progression of Blowhard's literary style over the years culminating in his most recent work "The Big Bang." After Sally's column appears in print it comes out that Blowhard has Alzheimer's and that "The Big Bang" was written by a teenaged ghostwriter from a middle school in the Bronx. Sally is now a public fool, loses her lucrative job, and begins her new job delivering pizzas door-to-door. If I was Sally, I would want to sue the pants off of Blowhard, his publisher, the on-line vendor who sold the book, and anyone else involved in the deception. It would not surprise me if something like this has actually happened. The bottomline is that I'll be more careful about what I buy. Tally another reason for having limitless faith in mankind. I'm hoping for a new species soon! ![]() |
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#35 | |
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#36 |
fruminous edugeek
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@vivaldirules, could you post a link to that "40%" claim? As cynical as I can be at times, that seems a bit high to me.
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#37 | |
fruminous edugeek
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#38 | |
When's Doughnut Day?
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Quote:
I would assume this is no more than someone's wild guess combined with a little bragging. But if the order of magnitude is correct, it's pretty sad. Perhaps this is so, but to the consumer buying the Andrews book on-line from Amazon or B&N mentioned yesterday, such an attribution is not available at the time of purchase. |
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#39 | |
When's Doughnut Day?
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#40 |
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I've never opened one to have a close look, not having any interest in the genre, but the true author is certainly not obvious from a glance at the cover.
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#41 |
When's Doughnut Day?
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Sorry for my ranting. I'm surprisingly agitated over this subject. Please carry on. I'm going to find some Prozac and lay down with my Reader to read the new Clapton autobiography which, by the way, he claims to have written himself after sacking the ghostwriter he originally hired - he thought he could do a better job himself!
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#42 |
Resident Curmudgeon
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Finally an autobiography written by the actual author.
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#43 |
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You believe something that one of these "celeb autobiographies" tells you?
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#44 |
Connoisseur
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They should call them biographies, not autobiographies, and nobody would complain.
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#45 |
When's Doughnut Day?
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I couldn't bring myself to buy Clapton's book whether he wrote it or not. Not much different from buying something of Britney's, Paris Hilton, etc. Ick. I read a Joseph Campbell book instead. Yes, it was one I scanned myself this summer. Some enjoyment after all that effort.
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