The progressive blogger I follow, John Shore
, has written an insightful post about Sarah Palin and the truth: "Sarah Palin: The Truth Called. It Wants Its Book Back," which is also at the top of the HuffPo.
I am someone who (1) ghost-writes all the time for people in my job by writing, rewriting, and editing and usually not getting a byline and (2) doesn't particularly like not getting credit for my ideas. (It's the narcissist in me, I confess. My husband knows enough to give me credit for my ideas--he's learned!) Somehow I don't mind terribly when I don't get the credit when I write company communications on behalf of others...even when I write news stories for the company intranet, I'm okay.
But...if I were to spend days or months ghost writing someone else's memoir, about how important it is to be truthful and a "maverick," (yada, yada, yada)...and that person did not acknowledge what I had done??? That would drive me absolutely crazy. Cleary, Palin's ghost writer is under some kind of arrangement whereby she cannot claim any credit for this book (here's her web site).
It's just not graceful to refuse to give credit to others for their hard work (because, as Shore notes, Palin of course would have a say about this). Not that I'm terribly surprised by this recent news. On behalf of real writers anywhere, I say give Lynn Vincent and other ghostwriters the acknowledgement they deserve. It's the honest thing to do.
, has written an insightful post about Sarah Palin and the truth: "Sarah Palin: The Truth Called. It Wants Its Book Back," which is also at the top of the HuffPo. I am someone who (1) ghost-writes all the time for people in my job by writing, rewriting, and editing and usually not getting a byline and (2) doesn't particularly like not getting credit for my ideas. (It's the narcissist in me, I confess. My husband knows enough to give me credit for my ideas--he's learned!) Somehow I don't mind terribly when I don't get the credit when I write company communications on behalf of others...even when I write news stories for the company intranet, I'm okay.
But...if I were to spend days or months ghost writing someone else's memoir, about how important it is to be truthful and a "maverick," (yada, yada, yada)...and that person did not acknowledge what I had done??? That would drive me absolutely crazy. Cleary, Palin's ghost writer is under some kind of arrangement whereby she cannot claim any credit for this book (here's her web site).
It's just not graceful to refuse to give credit to others for their hard work (because, as Shore notes, Palin of course would have a say about this). Not that I'm terribly surprised by this recent news. On behalf of real writers anywhere, I say give Lynn Vincent and other ghostwriters the acknowledgement they deserve. It's the honest thing to do.
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