Zack Williamson, Ph.D., posted a truly apropos analogy for ghostwriting that, with his permission, I am using:
Does it bother you not having your name on it?”
That’s the question I get most often when people find out I’m a ghostwriter.
And it doesn’t. Not even a little.
If they add your name to the cover or acknowledge it in the back, sure, it feels good.
But you never expect it—and you never need it.
The deal is: someone brings the vision. I bring the time, the structure, the language to make it real.
Sometimes they have the skill but not the time. Sometimes the time but not the skill.
Either way, it’s a better use of their money than their time.
It’s like hiring a tattoo artist.
You explain what you want.
They execute—sometimes exactly how you pictured, sometimes in a way that’s better than you imagined, but still undeniably yours.
And they don’t insist on stamping their name on your arm.
That’s what this work is. And it’s a beautiful thing
Years ago, my first writing mentor told me:
“Give away your best ideas, and trust that more will come.”
I’ve seen the truth of that line again and again.
You let go of the instinct to hoard. You give your best work to someone else’s vision. And more ideas show up. They always do.
And yeah—sometimes it feels personal, letting go of a line you’re proud of.
But when you care about the person you’re writing for, it starts to feel less like loss and more like a gift.
Some of the work I’m proudest of doesn’t have my name on it.
And I wouldn’t change a thing.
So, to answer the question often posed, no, ghostwriting isn’t cheating. It isn’t stealing. It’s using a professional to use your idea and develop it and, quite likely, improve upon it.
But it’s still your idea.