In 2014 popular British Youtuber Zoella (Zoe Sugg) debuted her first novel “Girl Online.” The book rose to number nine on The New York Times Young Adult Best Seller List, but it was soon revealed that Sugg did not write the book on her own. She had help in writing it from ghostwriter and young adult novelist Sioban Curham.
When the truth about the authorship came to light people online called Sugg a fraud. Time Magazine, in their reporting about the controversy, quoted one of these angry tweets,” As one commenter on Twitter put it: “Ghostwriters should be banned. If you’re not smart enough to write a book, admit it. Don’t take the credit for someone else’s work #zoella. I’m”
Soon Sugg’s publisher, Penguin, had to issue a statement clarifying how “Girl Online” came to be, “The factual accuracy of the matter is simply that Zoe Sugg did not write Girl Online on her own,” the statement says. “For her first novel, Girl Online, Zoe has worked with an expert editorial team to help her bring to life her characters and experiences in a heartwarming and compelling story.”
Penguin named Curham as an editorial consultant on the novel, not the ghostwriter; it was never confirmed that she did ghostwrite the novel. Curham did come out and talk about her own experience working on “Girl Online” and the controversy around it.
An article from The Guardian quotes Curham, “I was hugely impressed that, when given the dream opportunity of a book deal with Penguin, Zoe Sugg chose to create a storyline that dealt with these serious issues – out of a desire to help her fans. And, when I was offered the opportunity to help Zoe, I also saw the opportunity to help get important and empowering messages across to her incredibly huge fanbase. Messages about self-belief, anxiety, sexuality and – oh the irony – online hate.”
Now, I do not think ghostwriting should be banned; it has been commonplace within publishing for years. You have probably encountered a book that has been ghostwritten without even realizing it.
What I think happened with Sugg and the controversy with “Girl Online” was that people who were familiar with Sugg or fans of her had to face the reality that no one is truly authentic on the internet even if they say they are.
Before we dive deeper into the not so spooky world of ghostwriting, let’s clarify what it actually is. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary ghostwriting is, “to write (a speech, a book, etc.) for another who is the presumed or credited author.”
Examples of ghostwriting can be seen in celebrity memoirs, celebrity-written novels and long running children book series.
One of the most well known instances of ghostwriting involves everyone’s favorite fictional teenage detectives “Nancy Drew” and “The Hardy Boys.” These two series were the invention of the Stratemeyer Syndicate.
Interesting name aside, the Stratemeyer Syndicate was a publishing company founded in 1905 by Edward Stratemeyer.
How a book series was conceived in the syndicate was that Stratemeyer would come up with a basic plot outline and then pass it on to a ghostwriter who would then write the book. These books would then be published under a pseudonym.
For “Hardy Boys” (first published in 1927) it’s Franklin W. Dixon and for “Nancy Drew” (first published in 1930) it is Carolyn Keene.
Both of these series have never been out of print since their debut and are still published under these pseudonyms. “Nancy Drew” current publisher is Simon & Schuster and “Hardy Boys” is Penguin Random House.
As someone who grew up reading “Nancy Drew” and watching the various adaptations, it blew my mind when I learned that Carolyn Keene never existed.
With the rise of celebrity memoirs there has been a rise of ghostwritten ones. In recent years we have gotten “Spare” by Prince Harry ghostwritten by J.R. Moehringer.
In the article “Ghostwriters Come Out of the Shadows” from Publishers Weekly Rachel Deahl writes about why so many celebrity memoirs are ghostwritten.
The article says,“And in today’s industry, where publishers are more and more reliant on nonfiction projects by authors with significant platforms, good collaborators are in higher demand than ever.”
If a ghostwriter receives credit for their contributions it will usually be in the acknowledgments or will have the word “with” before their name on the cover.
Whenever the topic of ghostwriting comes up the question of is it ethical is right behind it. And the thing is, I really don’t have an answer for you.
I have always seen ghostwriting in the gray area of writing. It’s not good or bad, it is just a thing that has always existed.
Ghostwriting in many ways challenges our preconceived notions on the image of the writer. This solitary figure obsessively working on their magnum opus for years until they get it right. But the thing is that’s not true, everyone needs some help when it comes to writing. That might be an editor cleaning up your words to a ghostwriter writing them for you.
In the Youtube video “Fear Of Ghostwriting” from PBS Digital Studios, Lindsay Ellis has this to say, “but ghostwriters exist because there is a demand for them and it goes to show that sometimes there is more value to the name attached to the words than who actually wrote the words in the first place.”
I agree with Ellis on this point. Would you have picked up that book if you did not recognize the name or was it the name that piqued your interests in the first place?