Meet Christina Hamlett - Playwright, Novelist, Ghostwriting and More! (Part 2)
CHRISTINA HAMLETT is a former actress, theatre director and award winning author whose credits to
date include 42 books, 175 stage plays, 5 optioned feature films and squillions of articles that appear
online and in trade publications worldwide. She is also a script consultant for stage and screen (which
means she stops a lot of really bad projects from coming to theatres near you) and a professional
ghostwriter (which does not mean she talks to dead people).
I’ll throw myself under the bus. I’ve been skeptical about ghostwriting for quite some time - I mean, shouldn’t the person writing the book get more than a paycheck for their hard work? Like their name on the cover at least?
When I met Christina and learned of her experience and take on the topic, many of my biggest concerns were put to rest. Check out her thoughts and see if your feelings change too…
Ghostwriting the profession seems to be as underground as the writers employed. How would you define it in your practice? Do you specialize in a particular genre or project? Are you selective as to what assignments you'll take on or who you're willing to work with?
I think people would be surprised to hear that ghostwriting is as much above ground as anything else. Clients hire ghostwriters because they have neither the time nor the wordsmithing talents to write a book themselves. Business owners in particular turn to ghostwriters because being a published author is to their benefit insofar as establishing themselves as experts in their particular field.
Although I’ve taken on as many nonfiction projects as I have fiction, it all gets down to whether I think a prospective client would be easy to work with. The process starts with a 30-minute phone consultation in which I ask them to tell me what their project is about, what fuels their passion to want to get it on the market, and how they plan to promote it. In some cases, the clients have already started working on their own projects and then realized (1) it was too hard or (2) they hadn’t a clue what they were doing.
In other cases, they want to write tell-all memoirs in which they trash the lovers/bosses/offspring who have wronged them. (Never a good idea, by the way.) There are even those who are giddy to see a book with their name on it, but haven’t picked a topic yet. I once had a woman tell me she wanted to write a book about lemurs. “What’s your vision for this?” I asked her. “Oh, I don’t know,” she replied, “but I think they’re cute. Isn’t it your job to come up with something about them?”
This profession seems to have some lovers and haters. Lovers share great secrets of how this experience helped boost their notoriety and recognition in the literary community, others compare it to plagiarism. What turned you on to it?
The business clients I’ve worked with have been delighted with how the books I’ve written for them have boosted visibility in their respective industries. Further, they have recommended my services to their peers (which certainly boosts my bank account). It baffles me how the haters equate ghostwriting to plagiarism. How can it be plagiarism when the client has paid for the work to be done? It’s no different from any work-for-hire assignment in which the purchaser’s name goes on the finished product instead of the individual who actually authored it.
The specifics of the contract address the fact that the author doesn’t receive any share of future royalties nor can s/he tell anyone that s/he was the silent partner. If the client is perfectly happy with that arrangement, it’s entirely legal, and no one is the wiser. Obviously there may be friends and colleagues of the client who know the latter couldn’t write his/her way out of a paper bag, but that’s the client’s problem and not the ghostwriter’s.
What attracted me to this field is the opportunity to enlighten my clients about the craft of writing and the dynamics of the publishing industry - without having to participate in any of the placement, marketing and promotion. (Ghostwriters are precluded from acting as agents for their clients because it would be a conflict of interest.) Further, if the ghostwritten book does well, the client’s followers will then be clamoring for him/her to write another one. And yes, who’s going to be hired (again)?
Pressing the above question a little more, some argue ghostwriting to be yet another tool fueling the top 1% (or rather, anyone with enough money to pay for it) in getting credit for work they never actually did. How would you correct this myth?
If clients have the resources to pay for ghostwriting services, I have no problem with them taking all the credit they want.
Working with an employer can be taxing. Working with someone who has a murky vision or an even worse ability to communicate it, even harder. What are some things you've hated about ghostwriting? How about some things you've loved?
I’m going to start with what I love and that’s whenever I see a client who has not only learned from the creative process, but who has also become a better writer than they were when our journey began. Many of them want to jump in and participate by sending me their messy streams of inspiration (I call it “throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks”) and then seeing how I massage it into something cohesive and brill. We exchange a lot of emails and have weekly phone chats. It’s fun to see them get excited about the progress and the structure as the book begins to take shape. For me, this is much more rewarding than someone who sends me all their notes and then disappears for six months while I put the whole thing together. (I liken this to someone who hands off their baby to a stranger and says, “Go ahead and raise ‘em any way you want. I’ll be back when they turn 18.”)
So what do I dislike? I think it’s safe to say that no industry is without its share of Clients From Hell. Given my screening process, I’ve been able to avoid a lot of these. Now and again, though, I’ve had clients turn into kvetchy, self-absorbed divas with the personalities of excitable vipers. Suffice it to say, I treat them with the same degree of respect as anyone else. I also make a mental note to never work with them again.
Breaking into the ghostwriting field doesn't sound easy - heck, your name isn't even credited on your work. How would you advise someone curious about pursuing this market? Is there a recruiter, website, or company they should research to cut their teeth and build a credible portfolio?
If one does a Google search for ghostwriting agencies, there are a number of them out there. At a minimum, many require a degree in English, Communications, Journalism and/or specialization in Literature, Economics, History, Business, Military, etc. You can also hang out a shingle as an independent, but prospective clients will expect you to already be well published on your own and have a thorough understanding of how today’s publishing industry really works.
If you want to be a ghostwriter, you must embrace the notion of being a chameleon. No matter your own style of expression or “voice,” you must be adaptable to effortlessly becoming the voice of someone else. No easy task. As far as attracting clients, business people are the easiest starting point since they are already seeking to expand their professional footprint. This could begin with something as simple as being paid to do their blogs, columns, newsletters, websites and professional profiles, then nudging them into writing an actual book.
Fair pay for work-for-hire projects can be subjective if a writer isn't part of an organized union or aware of standard practices. How could one protect him/herself from being taken advantage of and paid fairly?
It’s all about contracts that are specific in terms of deliverables, payment schedules and exit strategies. If you’re not married to an attorney (which I am), my recommendation is to hire someone to draw up professional contracts for you.
I can't help but be the "what if" gal under the guise of a pessimist. Has any particular client or project caused you to think about leaving ghostwriting and focusing exclusively on your own work? How did you talk yourself out of quitting?
Nope. Since I am already at the advantage of picking and choosing the clients with whom I’d like to work, no one as of yet has made me rethink this pursuit.
Funny, crazy, even disturbing posts on Buzzfeed and other media outlets are a big attraction to readers these days. Got any from your ghostwriting-experiences vault?
I once talked to a woman who had all the insider dirt on an American Idol contestant who went on to national acclaim and a plethora of recording contracts. It turned out that she was upset the young singer had forgotten about her once she became famous and wanted to do something really hurtful as payback. I gently suggested that a tell-all wasn’t necessarily the best way to endear herself. Further, I told her the job of agents and managers is to protect their clients from harmful publicity and that, frankly, the dirt she wanted to dish wasn’t going to get very far.
Sadly, we live in an environment which embraces the belief “If it bleeds, it leads.” Anyone with even the most remote connection to someone famous is all too ready to seize their 15 minutes of fame and say/do ugly things. I personally refuse to be any part of that.
Each field in the writing industry has its own top competitors. Ghostwriting sounds like it's equally challenging. How are you able to showcase yourself as an equal-to or superior candidate above another for the same project?
Prospective clients look at my list of credits and read my articles/interviews which attest to my knowledge of today’s publishing world. During the initial phone consultations, I ask them a lot of questions rather than doing any kind of sales pitch. Whether or not we ultimately ink a deal, they come away from that phone chat with the feeling I was genuinely listening to them. I also get referrals from prior ghostwriting clients. At the end of the day, though, I have to say I spend much more time developing projects which will bear my own name. Chasing down new ghostwriting clients honestly isn’t a top priority for me.
Fact or Fiction is often a favorite trivia question in just about every category. What are some common myths or surprising truths in ghostwriting?
Just because one hires a professional ghostwriter doesn’t mean that one’s book will immediately shoot to the top of the bestseller list. There are no guarantees in this business. It could be an awesomely well written book, but if there’s just not a market for it, no one will buy it. Many clients also believe the ghostwriter will assume the role of literary agent and go find a home for the project. This is not true, either.
Clearly you've got experience above and beyond that of someone just starting out, however no one's dreams are ever-fulfilled. What's something you haven't done or tried yet, but hope to someday? How do you think you'll accomplish that goal?
Great question, but I’ve pretty much accomplished everything I set out to do from the time I first decided I was going to be a writer. Okay, that’s not exactly true. In our chick-lit novel, While You Were Out, my writing partner Jamie Dare and I envisioned Robert Downey, Jr. (major swoonage) in the lead role of Geoffrey Bond. If Hollywood came calling and said, “Yes, RDJ is really excited to play the lead,” we would both be totally gobsmacked and feel as if we had died and gone to Heaven. Hey, stranger things have happened.
When I was 15, my first crush was on Quentin the Werewolf (David Selby) in the original Dark Shadows. Who’d have ever thought I’d grow up to meet him, become friends, chat regularly about my plays, and that he and my husband would hit it off? Dream big! Dream huge! How else are dreams supposed to come true?
Ms. Hamlett’s been nothing short of a joy to work with - I even received a signed copy of her latest book: THE PLAY’T THE THING (and how to write it). I highly recommend you snag a copy to read and learn from a pro who’s had more credits to her name than most of us will in a lifetime. But hey, like she said, “Dream big! Dream huge! How else are dreams supposed to come true?” Okay, Ms. Hamlett, let the big dreaming begin!
Thanks for reading…
—
Simply Sally
“Childhood was a very cruel time for me. My nickname at school was Bucky Four Eyes because I had buck teeth and wore thick glasses. The teasing had a detrimental effect on my self-confidence and caused me to retreat into the safe haven of books and writing. My mother’s response (she herself labeled me as homely and clumsy) was to say, ‘Since you’re never going to be beautiful, you should at least try to develop a personality so people won’t think you’re boring.’ ”