Ghostwriters for hire...
Model and reality TV star Jordan, pictured here with husband Peter Andre, released a ghostwritten autobiography
It's publishing's dirty little secret. The autobiographies purportedly written by celebrities from the worlds of business, entertainment and sport are more often than not worded by faceless hacks who only see a small portion of the hefty advance.
The big-selling biographies from celebrities such as Jordan and Louis Walsh were not penned by them, but rather journalists carefully selected by the publisher.
Sometimes the person who coaxed the words out of such high-profile figures either doesn't get mentioned at all or is merely listed in the acknowledgements. Welcome to the world of the ghostwriter, an art that has recently come into the public eye thanks to Robert Harris's latest novel, The Ghost, which concerns a journalist writing a former prime minister's life story.
One publishing insider suggests that there are few celebrities who literally write their own autobiographies -- maybe less than 20pc -- but the book world is often reluctant to let readers in on the fact.
When it came to Paul McGrath's award-winning autobiography, Back From The Brink, no secret was made of the fact that his 'ghost' was Irish Independent sportswriter Vincent Hogan. "Paul approached me to write it," Hogan says. "He had a fascinating story to tell -- a career packed with highs and lows. He's one of the most articulate footballers I've ever met; somebody who can tell anecdotes to interest even the most jaded observer.
"And he was very interested in the process of writing the book -- he read the material as it was being written, and was obsessive about detail." The same cannot be said of Wayne Rooney, who despite an advance of €5 million for five instalments of his autobiography, only met with his ghostwriter, Hunter Davies, six times. Davies, who is renowned as a writer in his own right, as well as the man who penned the Paul Gascoigne autobiography, believes even the most talented writer will be unable to fashion anything interesting from mundane celebrities. "The vital thing a ghostwriter needs," according to Davis, "more than their pots and medals, more even than their so-called celebrity, is a good talker who enjoys telling stories and is not ashamed or scared to reveal himself. And you need a rich life, with a variety of experiences -- ups and downs."
Paul Gorman ghosted the second Boy George autobiography, Straight, and says it is essential to have empathy. "George and I are both London-Irish and the youngest of six, and I ended up living with him in New York for four months. It was an extraordinary time."
Gorman suggests that ghosting an autobiography is almost like therapy for the subject. "They can really pour their hearts out. Sometimes, though, they see it on paper and can't believe what they've said. I think with George there was a worry that I'd got inside his head a bit too much. There wasn't exactly a falling out, but it was a bit awkward afterwards. It would have been like seeing your psychiatrist socially."
Ghostwriting first came to prominence in the 1920s around the time that the notion of celebrity was born. Baseball legend Babe Ruth had syndicated ghostwritten columns published across the US. Such columns appear in the sports columns of newspapers the world over today.
And book publishers soon cottoned onto the fact that celebrity autobiographies would sell even if the celebrity was still in their infancy -- think Kerry Katona and Shayne Ward. (Katona, by the way, will publish a ghosted novel next year.)
Getting into the ghostwriting game is a delicate business. Robin Eggar ghosted Midge Ure's If I Was... and has also written biographies of Tom Jones and Shania Twain. He prefers the latter process. Ghostwriting can be tortuous (and sometimes torturous) even before it starts. Recently he was courted to write a famous rock star's story. He was flown to LA "but the trouble was the star didn't want to do the book. And to be honest, I think if I'd taken it on I'd have gone mad.
"The problem is you are not in control," he says. "It is someone else's story and your job is to make him sound much more articulate than he really is. Midge Ure had been struggling with alcoholism for a while and the experience of exposing his thoughts brought the demons home. It was quite traumatic, but his wife liked the book."
Journalist Bruce Dessau who wrote Blitzed!, the autobiography of Steve Strange, the New Romantic musician, found the experience frustrating. "You really have to check your ego at the door, and my self-obsession was far too big to spend that long listening to someone talk about himself."
Meanwhile, Vincent Hogan has no immediate plans to ghostwrite another book. "I wouldn't just take on any book. It's also a very involving process -- to do it properly you have to spend a long time with the person and tease out as much as you can. I was very fortunate in Paul McGrath and Nicky English [the ex-Tipperary hurler's 1996 autobiography Beyond The Tunnel, was ghosted by Hogan] that both were very open."
However, he would probably drop everything if Roy Keane came calling. "I think he's got a really great book in him. He is still an extraordinarily enigmatic person. He has remained guarded for a long time, but if he opened up it would be a very special read."
