What Media Outlets Are Saying About the Gathering of the Ghosts
Ghostwriting is gaining visibility as more celebrities, business leaders, and experts realize the value that collaborating with experienced writers creates – and publishers realize that ghosts can make sure non-writers make deadlines!
The profession’s standing was evident by the top-tier media outlets that sent correspondents to cover the Jan. 22 Gathering of the Ghosts ghostwriting convention cosponsored by ASJA and Gotham Ghostwriters in New York.
In addition to ASJA member Debbie Abrams Kaplan’s ASJA Confidential blog post on the event, check out these highlights from the convention coverage:
Recognition
Because their contributions to the literary world have traditionally been made in secret, ghosts rarely get public recognition. But the world is shifting. In recent years Donald Trump’s ghostwriter Tony Schwartz related his story, and regrets, in The New Yorker, and J. R. Moehringer, ghostwriter of Prince Harry’s mega-selling memoir Spare, published a revealing peek into the intimate dance between author and writer.
Ghostwriting Trends: A Report from the Gathering of the Ghosts in New York City, by ghostwriter and GOTG organizer and panelist Josh Bernoff, JaneFriedman.com.
Rates
The profession has a history of being undervalued, and one panelist advised everyone in the audience to double their rates and add 20 percent.
Ghostwriters Emerge from the Shadows, by Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter, the New York Times.
Andy Awards
Andy Awards
The winners of the inaugural Andy Awards, which honors ‘outstanding book collaborations’ in three nonfiction categories, have been announced.
Inaugural Andy Award Winners Announced, Publishers Weekly.
Schmoozing
The first ever day-long Gathering of the Ghosts conference, hosted by Gotham Ghostwriters at The New York Academy of Medicine, drew some of the top professionals in the field, who spent the day schmoozing, chatting candidly about their work, and exchanging information.
Ghostwriters Gather to Discuss a Booming Industry, by Erin Somers, Publishers Marketplace (subscription required).
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Michelle Rafter is a ghostwriter and ASJA member based in Portland, Oregon. She is ASJA’s publications chair and ran the organization’s 2023 virtual annual conference.