Nothing seems to infuriate literary-minded people more than an author taking credit for writing they didn’t do. A few weeks ago, Hachette canceled the American release of the novel, The Shy Girlfollowing a series of online accusations that it had been written with unacceptable AI support. Last month, reporters and journalists published angrily about Grammarclaims to provide LLM core training from the works of living and deceased authors—without their participation, compensation, or even consent; The company behind the app eventually pulled the feature.
The collective outrage ignores a truth the publishing industry acknowledged long before the rise of artificial intelligence: Not everyone with a great idea or unique story has the skills, experience, or time to write a book—or even a book. review. Right now, AI tools are cheap and widespread, ready to get the service that other people need. But these models are trained unpaid creative work. They steal. They liesand they lies about lies. So instead, I’d like to make a case for an often criticized profession—one I’ve participated in—that rewards good writing, helps writers survive in a more challenging field, and allows extraordinary perspectives to reach audiences they otherwise wouldn’t. That’s right: Ghostwriting is great, really—when it’s done by humans.
Ghostwriting has an undeservedly bad reputation. Even without AI, some readers feel betrayed if the title on the book cover doesn’t tell the whole story. When the actor Millie Bobby Brown he produced a novel based on his grandmother’s life with the help of a ghostwriter, people at X told him he should be ashamed. Feelings of stolen valor are not new: Thirty years ago, Hillary Clinton allegedly worked with a soul composer for his 1996 anniversary, It takes a Village– an unusual move for political figures. But the stigma was so great that Clinton did not acknowledge her partner’s contributions to the book at all.
That said, the stigma has been fading. California Governor Gavin Newsom worked with a ghostwriter for his memoir, published in February. Many other members of the public recognize the value of the profession and credit their journalists for publication. Demi Moore thanked her, the The New Yorker journalist Ariel Levy, at the beginning of thanks in his 2019 book, Inside Out. 2020 anniversary cover The meaning of the name Mariah Carey praise to the singer and Vibe and Nature editor Michaela Angela Davis. Clearly, the partnership paid off: The book hit No. 1 on New York Times list of best sellers.
Carey’s memoir is a favorite of Claire Parker and Ashley Hamilton, who for five years hosted the podcast, Celebrity Memory Book Clubin which they read more than 250 books. Not only do they have no problem with ghostwriting as readers or fans, they may prefer it. They considered Alec Baldwin’s 2017 book, Howeverwhich he wrote himself, was “absurd.” The couple also found Shania Twain’s autobiographical memoir difficult to get through, despite the real-life dramatization—a narrow escape from an abusive parent; her husband’s relationship with her best friend. “Why is it that someone who rose to the top in his profession in singing or acting also has an incredible ability to tell long-form stories?” Hamilton told me. “It’s very hard to do, and people spend years and years studying it.”
Even autobiographies written entirely by their subjects are edited, of course. Of course others have been very much has been edited. The lines between that work, ghostwriting, and co-writing can be blurry. An author can come in ghost with a complete draft, or a co-author can start from a blank page. (Because of this confusion, the ghosts I talked to only gave an estimate of the number of books they wrote, depending on how you would count certain projects.)
What seems clear to me is that experts should hire experts, and everyone should be paid. When aspiring writers use AI, tech companies and their investors benefit. Ghostwriting, however, gives experienced writers a real life in an industry where sustainable work often seems like a long-lost dream. According to a 2024 study administered jointly by the Gotham Ghostwriters agency and the Society of American Journalists and Writers, one in three writers earns more than $100,000 in annual income from the job. Compare that to the average book-related earnings for authors published by Big Five Houses in 2022: about $15,000, according to a study by the Writers Guild. Those numbers are rough, but of course fees vary from project to project. Julia Scheeres, who teaches memoir writing in Stanford’s extension program and wrote her own best-selling memoir, tells me she charges an hourly rate of $150 for ghostwriting activities that can last months or years. Caroline Cala, a New York-based author who has written about 10 books on actors, athletes, and businesspeople, told me she had deals that “touched the six-figure range.”
Many of these projects arrive sold to publishers, with a contract and timeline already in place. Cala, who has written a series of middle grade books under her own name, says that even when the rates are comparable to those of a personal project, ghostwriting feels like a gamble because the work isn’t done with the hope that a brand will buy the book later. Corey Powell, who often collaborates with science teacher Bill Nye, is grateful that he can put his level ahead, based on his own time and effort. And when the client is in technology, entertainment, or business, ghostwriters can try to make more money than is available in traditional publishing—and then use that money to fund their own work.
Ghostwriting can be threatened by LLMs, but these tools only provide a shadow of the service that a real-life writer and editor can provide. The ghostwriters I’ve talked to feel that the best work is always done in close collaboration with the named writer, in a mutual respect for what each person brings to the table: the participant’s skill with voice and narrative, the writer’s fluency in their own life and expertise. A good partner can also be a thoughtful sounding board and trusted advisor. “Every client I’ve ever worked with on a ghostwriting project has said, ‘This is amazing. It feels like therapy,'” Cala said. “I think the human experience of sharing your stories and secrets with someone — whether they’re making a finished product or not — is something that can’t be replicated.” That intimacy isn’t just a pleasant effect: It makes for great prose.
Caitlyn Alario, a poet who has worked on 20 ghostwriting projects, recently lost a client to AI after five years of working with them on a memoir. The customer was confused about the process and did not have the money to pay Alario. But when he showed Alario the results of his experiments with the AI, Alario noticed that the tool had completely distorted the client’s voice, sometimes even inserting a cruel voice where the author meant for a funny voice. “I’ve never heard you talk about people this way,” Alario told him. Scheeres also had a client try using AI to do editing, but he reminded her that—at least for now—most traditional publishers won’t buy a book that’s been touched by the technology. As with most things, you get what you pay for.
When done well, ghostwriting can be a productive and respectable means of sustainable livelihood for writers. And for anyone without writing talent or training, hiring a guide, coach, therapist, and sparring partner—in other words, a writer of the human spirit—will pay off in the form of a great book (which usually sells a lot of copies). In a world drowning in AI and temperature gradients, careful craftsmanship is essential. So please don’t just ask ChatGPT. Hire a professional.
