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Ghost in the fame machine By Andrew Crofts

Tony Schwartz did a brilliant job for Donald Trump. A number-one bestseller for weeks, the book brought the man’s name before a far wider public than would ever have heard of him when he was just another New York property developer. The book did all the things a ghosted autobiography is meant to do for the author, raising his profile to such a level that he was offered a role in a major reality television show. At that stage, Schwartz would have been pleased to know that his book had helped his client’s career. When Trump entered the race for president, however, Schwartz panicked and spoke up to say that in his opinion, having spent eighteen months in the man’s company, this was not a good idea. (I have never felt the need to spend more than a few days with any client. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Trump had such a short attention span when being interviewed that it took Schwartz that long to get enough material to make up a full-length book.) It is quite possible that without Schwartz’s help, Trump would not have got to the Oval Office, and I can see why he may find that thought troubling in the small hours of the morning.
Trump appears to believe that he actually wrote every word himself. Some clients do end up believing that they wrote their own books, but many say how grateful they are to be spared having to write 80,000 words themselves: they nearly always have far more interesting things to do, like running countries or corporations, starring in Hollywood movies or playing their songs to arenas full of adoring fans.