We take the anonymity part of our ghostwriting services very seriously. When we are ghostwriting, we may be doing some creative work and typing but we are representing you, the real author.
I would not dishonor myself, our agency, or sacrifice my integrity just for a little bit of credit. Yes, credit and attention may be good (and rewarding) but not at the expense of our integrity. YOU are more important than that! YOU are more valuable than revealing your secrets and privacy – especially when you have entrusted it to us to be protected.
We have seen some other ghostwriting services who seem (I don’t know for sure) to attempt to get around the anonymity part of the equation by posting images of the book covers or something reminiscent of the book covers of the book projects that they have ghostwritten. I’m not judging them per se, as each can do what they want but if we did that, I would call it dirty pool. In this day and age, it is so easy to research something, even a photo, and reveal information that is not ours to give. With tools like TinEye one can upload the image of the book cover and find the real book.
We have also seen sites where the plot of the ghostwritten book projects have been revealed as if to build credibility for the ability of the ghostwriters to write a book. There are several problems with this approach:
- Sharing a synopsis of the plot does not really reveal the writing talent of the ghostwriter. Samples of other articles (publicly available) or even the sales page are more representative of the writing capability than a synopsis.
- Revealing the plot either gives identifying information (similar to the image of the book cover), potentially revealing private information and breaking trust with their clients or it gives a plot idea to someone else so that a competing book can be written. That isn’t really quite fair to the original client either.
- It does not represent an ethical business practice and would make me wonder what else I have shared that has been violated because of a loophole. The only exception is if the client has given permission for that information to be shared but that is unwise. Already, you are paying a higher rate for the ghostwriting, for the very reason that the ghostwriter’s name is removed. Why pay a higher rate and threaten your own credibility at the same time? As a client, be sure that the ghostwriter that you hire does not do that to you!
We have seen some of our competitors indicate that they are fine with not sharing that they have ghostwritten their clients’ books but we take it a step further. If you want to share credit with us, that is something that you would need to choose on your end and we do not request it, nor mention it. You see, if I visit a site and see a reference to a book having been ghostwritten (like the story below) how do I really know if that is the ghostwriter revealing information that they shouldn’t reveal or the author granting permission. It is none of my business because it isn’t my transaction but it puts that gnawing little question mark in my mind so that I do not know whether to trust the ghostwriter or not because I don’t know who is sharing what information. That is why our policy is that we don’t ask or respond to permission to share. The closest you would ever see is a quote from a client who has insisted on sharing that information and we ask that they do that on their own site, not ours.
Recommendations from our clients mean much more than sharing information that is not ours to share. We NEVER give out client information so even that has to come from the client because of their love for us because we would not demand it.
You know, one of the sites I am thinking of, that shares the information about previous book projects shows not only book covers but the titles are very legible. I just looked one up on Amazon. On Amazon, the description goes on and on about how the author writes about such and such (a personal experience). It saddens me to see that what was a very personal experience for this author client is now revealed on another site and heavily implied that it was not written by the person who claims to have written it on Amazon. It is one thing when it might be a “regular” book (like a novel) but when it is as personal as this particular book (notice I am not giving name, title, or plot), it seems to cheapen the book. I am sad for the author and I couldn’t possibly do that to any of our clients. If you hire us and want to reveal that we have ghostwritten your book, you will have to reveal that as we value our trust relationship and do not reveal that information.
