Talk:Mike D'Orso

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Mdorsonic (talk · contribs) This user has contributed to the article.

Ghostwriter or Coauthor?

Hello User:Mdorsonic. Thank you for explaining your edit with the summary:

The first sentence should read Mike D'Orso (born October 12, 1953) is an American author and journalist based in Norfolk, Virginia. While I have co-written (not "ghost"-written -- the distinction is explained in the first footnote, "The Happy Ghost," by Bill Morris) 11 books, I have written 5 books of my own. To refer to me as a "ghost-writer" is inaccurate and misleading.

I have reread that footnote, and I agree that it makes makes clear that "ghost-writer" is not your primary job, so I am okay with leaving the first sentence. However, the source still describes you as "The Happy Ghost," suggesting you do ghost-write books. Furthermore, I have looked up the term "co-author," and it seems to refer specifically to research texts. Thus I suggest that as a compromise we leave the first sentence as you have changed it but say ghost-wrote rather than co-authored when referring to specific books. I hope this is okay with you.

Finally, I suggest that you read Wikipedia:Plain and simple conflict of interest guide and publicly disclose your conflict of interest regarding this article on your user page at User:Mdorsonic. Thank you for clearly explaining your edit. GreyGreenWhy (talk) 14:51, 17 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your reasoned clarification. Much appreciated. Mdorsonic (talk) 16:48, 2 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]