Aaron Crowe

I don’t want to turn this blog into a daily list of how writers are getting screwed on pay, but here’s another example of someone trying to pull a fast one on writers. I think it shows how the unemployed, or underemployed, are being preyed upon to write.

It was forwarded to me by my former Contra Costa Times colleague Sara Steffens and can be found on Craigslist. The “publisher” is looking for ghost writers to write a sample for his novel, and he makes work submissions into a sort of contest. The person who wins and will be hired will be paid $1,000 and the four runner ups will each get $250.

The work becomes his property, and since he’s paying for it, that makes some sense. But asking job candidates to write for what is essentially a contest seems like another publisher trying to get job applicants to write his book for him without getting the job.

Here’s the ad:

Ghost Writer Wanted (san rafael)

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Date: 2010-04-20, 11:57AM PDT
Reply to: job-2f5xq-1701569929@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

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The Project
A novel in progress, that tells the story of a trial in Virginia. The tale explores the forces of religion and politics as they battle against those of Truth.

Job Description
Candidate should be a free-thinking southerner, an experienced writer, with some legal knowledge, adept at dialog, and have the expertise in research skills to accurately portray courtroom procedure. He or she should be able to incorporate the style of the original author, and work closely with him on development. For examples of his writing go to his website (not current, due to illness): http://tralalapublishing.com/

Compensation is liberal – but negotiable, of course.

To Apply
Please submit a résumé and sample of your writing in the form of a character study of no less than 1000 words depicting an honest agnostic senator in conflict with his conscience over his public declaration of faith to achieve his reelection. $1,000 will be awarded to the hired candidate for this study, and $250 to the four runners-up.

Caveat: Any and all work performed by the winning candidate and the runners-up, either in the course of application or for inclusion in the final work, is considered “for hire” work. Any and all intellectual property rights to this “for hire” work, including, but not limited to, copyrights or trademarks, shall become the property of the person or publishing company hiring the writer. Should the writer’s submissions be included in the final work confidentiality as to that contribution shall be required of the writer as a term of employment (thus the term “ghost writer”).