No Shame In the Ghostwriting Game

You’re too damn busy running the world to do it all yourself

Ghostwriting can get a bad rap. Journalists love a good debate over whether or not the profession is even ethical. Since I make a living by ghostwriting for executives and entrepreneurs, I’ll let you guess which side of the argument I rest on.

I want to give a huge shout out to This is Us actress, Chrissy Metz, who proudly shared the name of the ghostwriter who helped write her new memoir (his name is Kevin Carr O’Leary, btw) during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. So stunned over Chrissy’s admission, Colbert actually paused to commend Chrissy for revealing such truth about the writing process. In Colbert’s words, “Most people don’t give credit to their ghostwriters. It’s your story, you’ve told them. That’s so nice of you (to give credit to your ghostwriter).”

To all of you busy professionals out there, employing a ghostwriter, and copping to it, doesn’t show signs of weakness. And it doesn’t reveal an implicit malfunction in your ethical barometer. It just proves you’re too damn busy being powerful and important to do it all yourself.

You hire marketing support, tech consultants, life coaches, the list goes on. Why shouldn’t you hire a ghostwriter to assist with your communication needs? So long as the sentiments and tone of voice accurately represent your personality and opinions, then I say you deserve extra credit for your ability to delegate. Successful entrepreneurs know that by focusing on their core strengths, while allocating the rest, is the only way to get ahead.

Bravo to Chrissy Metz, and to all the other “important” people out there who are confident enough to let their ghostwriters’ flags fly.