Did you know Hillary Clinton used a ghostwriter for her post-White House, round-one memoirs? Her ghostwriter reportedly received $500,000 for the job. Hillary's hubby had to work two years as the president for that dough.
Ghostwriters out there, take the money while you can, from whomever you can. With publishing what it is, the well may just dry up a touch. Christmastime 2008 saw decreased sales in Z-list celebrities, and I say it's about time people started spending money wisely. Sure, they're just not buying books at all -- though they are buying Kindles -- but I hope that when they choose to spend their $9.99 on a Kindle edition, they skip over Michael Phelps' How To Win More Medals Than Muhammad.
It makes it difficult to tell who's actually writing out there. Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer both released memoirs last year. There's no "with..." on their book covers. I'm going to assume they at least wrote drafts of their books, even if they were later polished (and how many nonfiction books aren't?). She's a well-received children's book author, and the excerpts I've read of his seem too witty and candid to be inauthentic. Besides, they both starred in my favorite childhood movie.
On the safe list: Barack Obama. First because he's Our Hero, but also he started before he was famous. Rachel Clayman of Crown Publishing confirms: "I've never worked with any other writer who needed less line editing than he did." Jimmy Carter was probably our last presidential booksmith, and he continues to publish. Ronald Reagan famously remarked of his memoir, "I hear it's a great book!" If John McCain had won, he could have tossed Faith of our Fathers into the ghostwriter mix.
The more we look into it, the more discouraging and farcical it becomes. Sarah Palin now seeks to broker a book deal. If we package it with the inevitable W memoir, the OED will commit suicide just to roll around in its 26-volume grave. And where does this madness stop? Wikipedia has the ultimate insight: "God could also be considered a ghostwriter of the Bible." Sure hope he got a great advance.
Friday, February 13, 2009
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2 comments:
This is on par with a thought that floats into my head when I'm feeling jaded and cynical about politics. Speeches. All these spotlight political celebrities have speechwriters. Even Obama (although, if what you say is true, he may contribute more original ideas than I had believed. Good for him). So I always wonder - we are judging these people on their ability to move the American public with their words, and yet, how many of them are truly theirs? Sometimes I wonder - what if Neil Armstrong had a speechwriter? Somewhere, someone out there is really bitter for not getting any credit for a beloved American line.
Good point. Which was why watching Palin pre-election was so fascinating :P
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