Everyone is talking about Prince Harryโs memoir, โSpare.โ Even here at The Root, weโve found ourselves caught up in the hype around the rebel princeโs tell-all about life inside the royal family. The audio book is perfection, said one of our editors and โthe words fly off the page,โโ she added. And that brings us to one thing people arenโt talking about is that while Harryโs face and name are plastered all over the cover, thereโs actually a man behind the curtain of Harryโs book.
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Pultizer prize-winning writer J.R. Moehringer is the highest paid ghostwriter in the business and has written bestselling memoirs for other celebrities, including โOpenโ for tennis star Andre Agassi and โShoe Dogโ for Nike founder Phil Knight.
Page Six reported that Moehringer, who has experience at the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, earned a $1 million advance for Harryโs book even though you wonโt see his name anywhere on the cover.
But Harry isnโt the only star whoโs called on a little help to get their story out there. Former First Lady Michelle Obama credits several writers, including Chris Haugh, a writer who was a fellow at the Obama White House, with collaborating with her on her bestselling memoir, โBecoming.โ And ghostwriter Dan Paisner has written books for well-known stars, including Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg and Serena Williams.
And while it may not surprise you that these celebs arenโt writing their stories by themselves, you may be blown away with how much theyโre getting paid to do it. For a ghostwriter, telling someone elseโs life story can often earn them more than their own. The New York Post reports that the average celebrity ghostwriting project can pay between $75,000 and $100,000 for around six months of work. Not a bad payday to spill someone elseโs tea, huh?
But that payment usually comes with a lot of work. Ghostwriter David Fisher told NPR that his process involves listening to hours of conversations with his subjects, studying their speech patterns to help organize their thoughts into a page-turner that readers wonโt want to put down.
And the writers are bound by strict confidentiality clauses that keep them from using the information they get from their clients for evil. As New York Literary agent Madeleine Morel told the New York Post, โAnything the author may have told the writer which doesnโt go into the book is confidential and canโt be rumored about, disseminated or shared.โ
So the next time you read a juicy celebrity memoir, remember that they probably had a little help making it happen.
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