Jump to content

Ghostwriters You Should Know What's happening


shashanewallace

Recommended Posts

Posted

Hey guys. I no longer work on Fiverr that much, but when I saw what was going on, I thought fellow ghostwriters should be aware of potential backlash coming out of a particular case. I made the transition from avid ghostwriter to self-published author last year, so I’ve been hanging around the author circles, and this cropped up a couple days ago.

A popular romance author was caught plagiarizing from other authors. So far there are over 19 authors that she has plagiarized and published these books. She has won awards and one of these books was also on RWA list for a prize. It was pulled recently given the complaints. She is also a NYT bestselling author. Why do I mention this? Because she has reach. It’s trending on social media. When she was found out recently and her sins all spiraled before her, she tried to shift the blame. Guess where? To Fiverr.

This author claims that she hired a ghostwriter from Fiverr and had no idea the ghostwriter plagiarized content and submitted it to her. It’s not that I think this isn’t possible, but the way she conveniently adds that the ghostwriter had already closed their Fiverr account is a lot more than fishy to me. Plain and simple, I believe this author is using us ghostwriters on Fiverr as a scapegoat.

So, right now, the author world is discussing the topic of ghostwriting very hard. There is bashing both of ghostwriting and Fiverr. I know several people use ghostwriters to maintain rapid release but given the scrutiny, Fiverr and ghostwriters here may be treated a little suspect, even more than usual. Romance writers may take the most hit in clients giving things a while to simmer down before they hire ghostwriters. Or they may try to be more stringent about certain checks before they approve work submitted by us.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to set a few people straight about this site. The world seems to think we are all crooks who don’t take pride in our work. I call b.s on it. I may not be here working a lot anymore, but I use services here, and I earned a lot here too. I may not be around a lot anymore, but I remember this is where I started before I started earning enough self-publishing to branch out on my own. Keep striving for excellence and maintain integrity in our work.

Posted

Fiverr isn’t responsible for a crooked ghostwriter, nor are they responsible for an author that can’t recognize plagiarism that everyone else recognized.

Also, I would think that a popular author values her name, and would protect it from a ghostwriter who might not even be as good as her, even if he or she isn’t a plagiarist. It is one thing for a celebrity or politician who can’t write, to hire a ghostwriter, that’s understandable. But when you’re a published author, hiring a ghostwriter is just plain laziness.

In the end, it doesn’t matter, people complain about Fiverr all the time and yet the website keeps growing. People come here because it’s like going to a supermarket, you find what you need and order it. I don’t think that’s changing anytime soon.

Posted

I am a writer/blogger, a ghostwriter and an author as well. I’ve worked on Fiverr for years doing writing, research and providing other services. There are a large number of sellers on Fiverr who say they provide writing services but they aren’t skilled. I am sure some of them do copy things and if they use certain techniques (I won’t call those out here for good reason) they can hide that from some buyers. Some sellers in various categories try to do things they shouldn’t try or they fail their buyers with late deliveries and cancelations.

Buyers need to do their own due diligence when searching for a writer. People have talked trash about Fiverr and sellers for as long as I have been here, not just about writing but about all sorts of things. Actors and VO artists are accused of charging too little and causing problems for high dollar artists who don’t use Fiverr. Logo designers are accused of stealing logos or use logo generators. That’s never going to stop and it doesn’t really worry me.

As long as I can make money on Fiverr and be responsible for doing original work, I’m happy with it and if people talk I ignore them instead of trying to set them straight. They are missing out on some great values and some wonderful sellers. Other writers can say what they wish about freelancers and ghostwriters. I pretty much agree with fastcopywriter as well, but that’s my own two cents on the matter. No big deal.

Posted

So a pretend-author was found out and now blames the very profession and company who made her being a popular author possible to distract from her own building her fame and readership on cheating. I must admit my compassion isn’t majorly triggered by that.

Doesn’t mean that Fiverr or other people should tolerate “fake work”, be it ghostwriter’s writings being passed on as original while being plagiarised, copied logos being sold as original work, completely unedited Google translations being sold as native manual translations, etc., of course, but maybe the poor victims should start looking for a bit of the blame in themselves, if they already don’t want to do the work, maybe spend some thoughts and time into making sure they use a ghostwriter who gets fair payment and won’t plagiarise.
I don’t think Fiverr or any other company really has the means to check and determine such things beyond perhaps simple checks for word-by-word plagiarism. I’m pretty sure many authors, be they real authors or pretend-authors get inspired by others’ books too. I’ve read and seen many books/series that pretty much use others as a template, be it consciously or not.

With how the book market has developed, and especially as someone availing yourself of the ghostwriter profession for cheap prices, you don’t really need to be a naturally suspicious creature to get the idea that there is a high possibility of black sheep and that you need to be careful.

And thanks for the post, very interesting, not being a ghostwriter but being someone who writes her own books, too.

Posted

Cheaters can be found in every field and everywhere. It’s part of the animal world, including mankind, and has been around since ever. The only difference is that now, today, there’s something called internet that allows having the world and its content, on the tip of the finger. So, what in the past took months or even years to pinpoint a cheater, now it can be checked up almost instantly.

Regarding Fiverr, cheaters are not exclusive to the platform, they are spread all over - they can even be found in the academy world. You name it and you’ll find at least one.

Posted

Fiverr isn’t responsible for a crooked ghostwriter, nor are they responsible for an author that can’t recognize plagiarism that everyone else recognized.

Also, I would think that a popular author values her name, and would protect it from a ghostwriter who might not even be as good as her, even if he or she isn’t a plagiarist. It is one thing for a celebrity or politician who can’t write, to hire a ghostwriter, that’s understandable. But when you’re a published author, hiring a ghostwriter is just plain laziness.

In the end, it doesn’t matter, people complain about Fiverr all the time and yet the website keeps growing. People come here because it’s like going to a supermarket, you find what you need and order it. I don’t think that’s changing anytime soon.

Fiverr isn’t responsible for a crooked ghostwriter, nor are they responsible for an author that can’t recognize plagiarism that everyone else recognized.

Wish people would realize this.

People are lazy but they don’t want to write,

Actually, it’s a whole lot of marketing behind it than just being lazy. The fact is that there are only so many books that one person can write per month, and more releases mean more $$$ so some authors hire ghostwriters in order to do the rapid release strategy.

Guest manucornel
Posted

Hey guys. I no longer work on Fiverr that much, but when I saw what was going on, I thought fellow ghostwriters should be aware of potential backlash coming out of a particular case. I made the transition from avid ghostwriter to self-published author last year, so I’ve been hanging around the author circles, and this cropped up a couple days ago.

A popular romance author was caught plagiarizing from other authors. So far there are over 19 authors that she has plagiarized and published these books. She has won awards and one of these books was also on RWA list for a prize. It was pulled recently given the complaints. She is also a NYT bestselling author. Why do I mention this? Because she has reach. It’s trending on social media. When she was found out recently and her sins all spiraled before her, she tried to shift the blame. Guess where? To Fiverr.

This author claims that she hired a ghostwriter from Fiverr and had no idea the ghostwriter plagiarized content and submitted it to her. It’s not that I think this isn’t possible, but the way she conveniently adds that the ghostwriter had already closed their Fiverr account is a lot more than fishy to me. Plain and simple, I believe this author is using us ghostwriters on Fiverr as a scapegoat.

So, right now, the author world is discussing the topic of ghostwriting very hard. There is bashing both of ghostwriting and Fiverr. I know several people use ghostwriters to maintain rapid release but given the scrutiny, Fiverr and ghostwriters here may be treated a little suspect, even more than usual. Romance writers may take the most hit in clients giving things a while to simmer down before they hire ghostwriters. Or they may try to be more stringent about certain checks before they approve work submitted by us.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to set a few people straight about this site. The world seems to think we are all crooks who don’t take pride in our work. I call b.s on it. I may not be here working a lot anymore, but I use services here, and I earned a lot here too. I may not be around a lot anymore, but I remember this is where I started before I started earning enough self-publishing to branch out on my own. Keep striving for excellence and maintain integrity in our work.

Plain and simple, I believe this author is using us ghostwriters on Fiverr as a scapegoat.

What person, in their right mind, buys from a ghostwriter (or copywriter or article writer) and doesn’t check the work to see if it’s original? She is clearly lying and most people will detect that. I don’t think we will feel even as much as a small wave from this. Ghostwriters existed since the first book published and they will still exist as long as there are arranged words in pretty format to sell. 🙂

I’d say it’s nothing to worry about, even if you work on Fiverr or not.

And while I didn’t saw many authors communities, I noticed that the majority of them are pretty negative when it comes to ghostwriting, simply because they can’t monetize their hard work while the latter can.

TBH, I find it a bit strange that some people are so angry with the whole ghostwriting idea. While it’s perfectly normal to know that there are writers behind any music, ad, movie or flyer, it’s baffling for some that there are writers behind writers. 😁 In reality, there are cases where there are even writers behind writers behind writers. Haha

Posted

Plain and simple, I believe this author is using us ghostwriters on Fiverr as a scapegoat.

What person, in their right mind, buys from a ghostwriter (or copywriter or article writer) and doesn’t check the work to see if it’s original? She is clearly lying and most people will detect that. I don’t think we will feel even as much as a small wave from this. Ghostwriters existed since the first book published and they will still exist as long as there are arranged words in pretty format to sell. 🙂

I’d say it’s nothing to worry about, even if you work on Fiverr or not.

And while I didn’t saw many authors communities, I noticed that the majority of them are pretty negative when it comes to ghostwriting, simply because they can’t monetize their hard work while the latter can.

TBH, I find it a bit strange that some people are so angry with the whole ghostwriting idea. While it’s perfectly normal to know that there are writers behind any music, ad, movie or flyer, it’s baffling for some that there are writers behind writers. 😁 In reality, there are cases where there are even writers behind writers behind writers. Haha

I find it a bit strange that some people are so angry with the whole ghostwriting idea. While it’s perfectly normal to know that there are writers behind any music, ad, movie or flyer, it’s baffling for some that there are writers behind writers.

This shows my age, but it reminds me of when I was a kid and I read all of the Nancy Drew mystery books. They all had the author name “Carolyn Keene” (I think that was it) and I thought the books were fun. Looking back at them, some of them were pretty awful, actually. 🙂 Anyway, there was no internet then either so I didn’t really look into this author but one of my high school teachers eventually told me the truth. There was no Carolyn and there wasn’t even one ghostwriter. The books were written by many different ghostwriters who knew how to go by the formula. The author name was always fictitious. I’m sure ghostwriting has been going on as long as books have been written. 😃

Guest manucornel
Posted

I find it a bit strange that some people are so angry with the whole ghostwriting idea. While it’s perfectly normal to know that there are writers behind any music, ad, movie or flyer, it’s baffling for some that there are writers behind writers.

This shows my age, but it reminds me of when I was a kid and I read all of the Nancy Drew mystery books. They all had the author name “Carolyn Keene” (I think that was it) and I thought the books were fun. Looking back at them, some of them were pretty awful, actually. 🙂 Anyway, there was no internet then either so I didn’t really look into this author but one of my high school teachers eventually told me the truth. There was no Carolyn and there wasn’t even one ghostwriter. The books were written by many different ghostwriters who knew how to go by the formula. The author name was always fictitious. I’m sure ghostwriting has been going on as long as books have been written. :smiley:

Interesting story. I am sure there are plenty of cases like this. 🙂

I once searched “popular books that were ghostwritten”. The results surprised me a lot!

Posted

Fiverr isn’t responsible for a crooked ghostwriter, nor are they responsible for an author that can’t recognize plagiarism that everyone else recognized.

Wish people would realize this.

People are lazy but they don’t want to write,

Actually, it’s a whole lot of marketing behind it than just being lazy. The fact is that there are only so many books that one person can write per month, and more releases mean more $$$ so some authors hire ghostwriters in order to do the rapid release strategy.

The fact is that there are only so many books that one person can write per month, and more releases mean more $$$ so some authors hire ghostwriters in order to do the rapid release strategy.

That makes sense, I’m just glad my favorite writers don’t do that. Quality > Quantity. Even if it’s lowbrow fiction that makes the so-called “intellectuals” frown, it needs to be good if not great. I’ll even forgive bad spelling and grammar as long as it’s a ■■■■ good story. I’m not saying it’s not important, I’m just saying I’ve read plenty of boring goods that had perfect grammar and spelling.

Posted

The fact is that there are only so many books that one person can write per month, and more releases mean more $$$ so some authors hire ghostwriters in order to do the rapid release strategy.

That makes sense, I’m just glad my favorite writers don’t do that. Quality > Quantity. Even if it’s lowbrow fiction that makes the so-called “intellectuals” frown, it needs to be good if not great. I’ll even forgive bad spelling and grammar as long as it’s a ■■■■ good story. I’m not saying it’s not important, I’m just saying I’ve read plenty of boring goods that had perfect grammar and spelling.

I’m just glad my favorite writers don’t do that.

For me, passion dictates how often I release. Writing is my life, and I write quickly so I’ve been able to publish a book per month so far. I can write for hours non-stop but that’s at the expense of not having a social life.

Posted

I’m just glad my favorite writers don’t do that.

For me, passion dictates how often I release. Writing is my life, and I write quickly so I’ve been able to publish a book per month so far. I can write for hours non-stop but that’s at the expense of not having a social life.

I can write for hours non-stop but that’s at the expense of not having a social life.

Well, my suggestion would be to balance your social life, instead of seeing your friends every weekend, see them every other weekend. If you have a gift for writing, you should exploit it, it might even create a passive source of income for every book published. Of course, it’s important for writers to have a life outside of writing. I’m not a fan of Hemingway, but the man lived a life full of action, he rode horses, hunted, was chased by bulls in Spain, etc.

Posted

I can write for hours non-stop but that’s at the expense of not having a social life.

Well, my suggestion would be to balance your social life, instead of seeing your friends every weekend, see them every other weekend. If you have a gift for writing, you should exploit it, it might even create a passive source of income for every book published. Of course, it’s important for writers to have a life outside of writing. I’m not a fan of Hemingway, but the man lived a life full of action, he rode horses, hunted, was chased by bulls in Spain, etc.

Well, my suggestion would be to balance your social life, instead of seeing your friends every weekend, see them every other weekend.

More like seeing them every couple of years. I’m not a very social person, so it works in the favor of my writing. I’m not very adventurous either. Quite dull. One could say I live vicariously through my books.

it might even create a passive source of income for every book published

This is what I am working at. So far I’ve met the goal of making my current daytime salary every month from my books. Still not ready to give up the day job yet though. But it feels amazing to be able to know extra money is coming in without even having to write a month or two if I didn’t want to.

Of course, it’s important for writers to have a life outside of writing.

I didn’t have a social life before writing anyway. I’ve just found a new way to occupy my time

  • 3 years later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...