Guest contribution by Scribers [Hub] Author and Podcaster Svenja Hirsch
Ghostwriting – the term alone is enough to give you goosebumps. If you enter it into the search engine, you will first get the suggestion “caught ghostwriting” and you can’t help but think of Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. But why does ghostwriting have such a bad image that even Google is bashing this service?
This is due to experiences like those of a customer of mine: She was looking for a ghostwriter and stumbled across one of these agencies that offer ghostwriting like contract work. She was talked down to on the phone, they were curt, they weren't really interested in her topic, just in the assignment. Pretty wrong if the book is about something very close to home, like your own history or your own business. So she didn't feel comfortable with it at all.
This isn't the first time that ghostwriting has made negative headlines. There is definitely a reason why Dr. Google sees the bad side first. However, this is not justified. The pandemic is currently ensuring that ghostwriting is being requested more frequently than before. Maybe because we're reading more again? Or because we finally have more time to take care of our own book?
The ultimate marketing tool
Maybe this is simply happening because we are finally realizing what is already common practice on the American market: publishing a book for your own personal branding is basically good form as an entrepreneur there. Why? Because a book is the best marketing tool ever. It underlines your expert status and you have the chance to reach a wide range of people - if you do it right! Because by 'reaching' I mean really touching readers and thereby being remembered.
Because a book cannot be presented on large platforms, it works online as well as in print: it also offers space for all of your own expertise, but above all personal experiences and stories. It may sound strange, but these are exactly what readers remember. It is precisely because of this personal focus that interested parties perceive a book less as marketing and more as a product that gives them something like knowledge or inspiration. They like to take it with them and put it on their shelf. Imagine: You are at home with your customers without having to do anything. You are present without being physically present: on a variety of platforms, even in strangers' living rooms.
Ghostwriting – the best thing that can happen to an entrepreneur
Ghostwriting makes it easier for everyone who wants to write their book. The process is easier when you are not alone. In addition, you don't necessarily have to be able to write, but above all you have to be able to tell stories - and anyone can do that!
For me, writing a book or having it written is an emotional and exciting process: the author or client experiences and clearly outlines their own message, their mission and the story that lies behind it. Personal growth included! This brings much more depth than, for example, text on a website.
I thought for a long time whether there was a term that could capture this and now call myself co-author. Basically, I do what a really good ghostwriter should do: I write my clients their book at eye level. I develop the concept and story together with my customers and am in conversation with them the entire time. These conversations form the basis for what I write.
Quality instead of grab-and-go items
I have always loved listening and reading stories, especially real ones. For a long time I wrote these primarily editorially, in the form of portraits, for example. But books create worlds and really bring us closer to a person. Also in the form of my genre, the biographical guides and biographies. They tell you what you wouldn't otherwise dare to ask. If you really want to reach people, write a book like this! Doing this is intense and beautiful. That's exactly why this work has a lot to do with trust and time. At least if you plan for it to be a good book and not a grab-bag piece of work.
In this respect, the very well-clicked ghostwriting term definitely needs a make-over. Ultimately, this service creates the opportunity for all people - whether with or without writing talent, with or without a lot of time - to be able to publish their books. More appreciation overall would be a good thing for such a task, right? Then maybe next time the search engine will have suggestions like “Ghostwriting Gamechanger” up its sleeve.
Photo credit: Giovanni Mafrici
