Ghostwriting and Lies

I've been thinking about the fuss about The Salt Path.

(TL/DR A British author wrote a book about she and her husband walking around part of the British coast after they lost their home and he was diagnosed with a fatal disease. It was a bestseller. Now the veracity of parts of the book are questioned – and many readers feel betrayed and dismayed.)

Some people say the publisher should have fact-checked the story. Others say that's unrealistic. How does any publisher have the time to check details of someone's personal story?

"Can you send me a copy of the doctor's diagnosis of your husband's condition?"

Publishers usually ask nonfiction authors to sign a statement that what they've written is true.

That seems fair. Sooner or later, the author has to take responsibility for what they write.

But what about a ghostwriter?

I write other people's stories, but I have to trust that what they tell me is accurate. (I don't say true, because we all know that everyone has their own truth.)

I can't contact everyone an author mentions: "Is it true that you and Mark founded an entertainment empire when you met by chance on a chair lift in Utah?"

Have I ever thought an author was stretching the truth? Not really.

Exaggerating for effect?

Maybe. But that's just as likely to be me as the author.

A ghostwriter develops quite a sensitive BS detector … but most of all we love to tell stories in the most effective way.

What does it all mean?

• There's no such thing as an objective story.

• It's down to the reader to choose whether to trust the author.

• But it's down to the author to make sure they deserve the reader's trust.