Is ghost writing ethical?

cynic

jhsurti 7-5-2018 05:49 PM
A genuine author comes to mind. Vikram Seth. He had announced "A Suitable Girl". He has nearly finis ...

This is indeed rare. Authors these days just work on churning out books is quick succession, quality be damned.

jhsurti

cynic 9-5-2018 09:44 PM
This is indeed rare. Authors these days just work on churning out books is quick succession, quali ...

Yes, I read Ravi Subramaniam's book. Found a couple of them interesting but when I picked up his third book, it seemed he was simply carrying on with very similar plots and was kind of repetitive. So he is off my list. Last week I tried him once again with his "Murder She Wrote" but it didn't hold my attention even after 40 pages so I gave up.

cynic

jhsurti 10-5-2018 05:51 PM
Yes, I read Ravi Subramaniam's book. Found a couple of them interesting but when I picked up his t ...

This is an issue with not just books, in other creative fields as well. Once the authors achieve success with a certain concept, everything that follows is cookie cutter. Very few of them move out of tried and tested formula.

jhsurti

cynic 10-5-2018 08:18 PM
This is an issue with not just books, in other creative fields as well. Once the authors achieve su ...

Same thing happened after I read a couple of books by Robert Dugoni. Just as you describe - cookie cutter!

SamarG

Nothing wrong with ghost writing. There are some who are actually proud of the skill that they have of taking the incoherent ideas of another person and making them intelligible. Not everyone can be a star, so why not?

cynic

SamarG 23-5-2018 06:54 PM
Nothing wrong with ghost writing. There are some who are actually proud of the skill that they have  ...

Is it not fair that the reader is informed that the book is ghost written? Otherwise it would amount to cheating the reader.

SamarG

cynic 23-5-2018 10:30 PM
Is it not fair that the reader is informed that the book is ghost written? Otherwise it would amou ...

Yes it would be preferable if they declared the ghost writers name upfront, but if ego or commercial conditions dictate that it can't be done, I'm cool with it.

edenv

yeah - just look at authors like Patterson - he's churning out 30 or so "books" a year some ghosts getting credit but most not
i dont mind people taking over "franchises" - - at least they're upfront about it and you know what you're getting (Girl with Dragon Tattoo comes to mind) - and some are even better than the originals who often get stale after 20 books with same hero (Patricia Cornwell?)

rentpeproperty

If one isnt capable of writing a book, much less penning his thoughts down, the book itself will largely be an interpretation of the ghost writer's perception of the source's viewpoint. I just don't see the point in reading a Ghost Written book!

jayyogeswarusa

No I don't like it but defiantly I would read the book and strongly suggest that they mention that or acknowledge it in the book though