Name Recognition

I used to belong to a local writer’s group. Frustrated at my inability to figure out how to get published (I had written three novels and couldn’t get the attention of any publishers in this crowded market) I dutifully spent a Saturday a month with a group of strangers, trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

One of the benefits of this group was their ability to pool the membership fees and bring in experts. We had people from the publishing industry come and tell us about the realities of trying to get noticed in an over-crowded room. And esoteric knowledge sometimes came our way.

It was here that I learned from industry professionals that some best-selling authors no longer write their own books. I was floored. I write because I have to write. It isn’t something I learned and it’s not in any sense optional. The ideas come, unbidden, as I walk down the street. The turns of phrase. The slashing wit.

Some Big Names (and I know the dangers of libel) bring their publishers a fortune by name recognition alone. They don’t have the time to write all those books, so they come up with the ideas and publishers hire ghost writers to do the dirty work. Imitation, they say, is the highest form of flattery.

My writing partner Fantasia said, “I couldn’t do either one—let someone write my stories or write pretending to be someone else.” Yes, she has integrity. But getting recognized may require deception.

Back in the day before the internet changed writing forever, some legitimate authors had to make their living as ghost writers. They masked their genius behind the name of someone with more public recognition. Giving credit where none was due.

Of course, in a world where politicians don’t write their own speeches, and news anchors read somebody else’s copy, writers are always behind the screen. Most of us don’t want to be famous, but we would like to be paid a little for our work.

I don’t have the time or the money to attend my writer’s group anymore. I let my membership lapse. I still spend time every day scribbling feverishly in the pre-dawn hours before heading to work. And I know that success only means earning money for somebody else.

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K. Marvin Bruce

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