There’s no reason for anyone outside publishing circles to know you’re working with a ghostwriter, unless you don’t mind.
J.R. Moehringer, who ghosted Prince Harry’s Spare (and Andre Aggasi’s Open), came out as his ghost in an explosive and controversial piece in The New Yorker about his experience (see my post “A Ghost is a Ghost” below).
Another high-profile example of a ghost pulling back the curtain is David Goggins’s Can’t Hurt Me, one of Amazon’s best-selling books of the last 20 years. Goggins is open about Adam Skolnick ghosting his memoir. He even let Skolnick narrate the audiobook.
For the most part, however, anonymity is still the coin of the realm for a ghostwriter. A good ghost should be perfectly fine working behind the curtain.
NDAs are standard and permanent. With most of my authors, especially those with publishing contracts, I always sign non-disclosure agreements. NDAs last in perpetuity and cover all personal details shared during our collaboration, including anything that doesn’t make it into the final book.
NDAs are the smart way to go even if you don’t care that people know you hired a ghostwriter.
