The Round Table Companies: Can You Trust Their Claims?

The Round Table Companies is one of many online ghostwriting outfits trying to dissuade individuals from hiring independent ghostwriters.  They offer eight reasons why people should hire their creative team and not ghostwriters.  The reasons hold no truth when applied to quality independent ghostwriters.  Here are the reasons and the truth behind them.

The Round Table Companies overtly claim (or strongly imply) that ghostwriters do not care about clients, do not maintain contact with them, walk away from jobs after completion, cannot capture a client's narrative voice, don't meet deadlines, do bad work and waste a client's time, never write books under their own names, have no relationships with publishers or agents, and do not know how to help clients brand themselves or their work.

Really now?  These claims are utter nonsense when applied to seasoned ghostwriters who have produced dozens of great books.

The above claims are certainly true for the thousands of people who, lacking serious credentials and experience, call themselves ghostwriters--people on elance.com, donanza.com, odesk.com, and many others.  These clearing houses list resumes for many people (perhaps not all) who have resumes and writing samples riddled with rookie writing mistakes.  But let's avoid hasty generalizations, shall we, gentlemen?  The fact is that highly talented independent ghostwriters have produced successful books for laymen, celebrities, businessmen, and politicians for many years.

Experienced, talented ghostwriters do indeed meet deadlines, write under their own names, know the publishing industry, help brand authors, keep in touch with their clients, write sequels, know how to skillfully vary narrative voice, and work closely with authors for months at a time.  They care deeply about their work, their clients, and the success of the books they ghostwrite.

I've accomplished all of the above tasks with clients for over fifteen years, and I know other professional ghostwriters who can make the same claims.  Perhaps The Round Table Companies should concern themselves more with a fair, balanced assessment of the ghostwriting industry than with their own business model that closely parallels that of ghostwriting companies.  Yes, there are bad ghostwriters out there . . . just like there are really bad ghostwriting companies and print-on-demand companies that shouldn't be trusted.

For my money, clients should work one-on-one with a veteran ghostwriter.  Working with creative teams?  Not for me, thank you very much.  Do you want corporate guidance that transfers your work from one department to another or do you want a close working relationship with a single writer who will give you his time and expertise during and after the collaboration?

Let the buyer beware.

~ William Hammett

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Ghostwriting Companies: A New Low in Dishonesty

I recently saw an Internet ad for an independent ghostwriter.  When I typed the URL intro my browser and read the website, I was astonished to see that the individual was really a company--a "broker" for ghostwriting services.  This is certainly false and misleading advertising since more and more individuals are now becoming wise to how dishonest and incompetent most ghostwriting firms really are.  The answer: say you're an independent even though you, like the big companies, subcontract the work to others.  It's deplorable.

But it gets a lot worse in the case of the site I am now discussing.  While the woman in question claims to be a writer, she says that she herself never does any of the ghostwriting.  She merely matches potential clients with ghostwriters she knows and takes a 20% referral fee for "making the connection."  And then?  She is out of the loop.  She overtly says that she makes no guarantees that clients will be satisfied with the ghostwriters she chooses.  It is up to the client to decide if he or she wants to hire the ghostwriter and then deal with the ghostwriter during the project.

Think about the dishonesty: she has a website that promises "great ghostwriting services," although she 1) doesn't do any ghostwriting; 2) is really a company/broker and 3) takes no responsibility for the quality of work produced by the ghostwriters that are "her best recommendations."

All ethics are absent in such business dealings.  There are so many people trying to make money off of ghostwriting that almost any business model will be tried.  There are many entrepreneurs out who see the explosion in the number of ghostwriters advertising online and want a piece of the pie.

Sadly, people like the woman above will continue to make money unless potential clients start to learn more about publishing, writing, and editing--unless they begin to educate themselves about the profession of ghostwriting.

If you're looking for a ghostwriter, check out websites carefully and screen potential ghostwriters by looking for solid qualifications and asking questions.  Hire a pro with a professional background.  Don't get ripped off.

~ William Hammett

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