Author from Graz:

“I’m the ghostwriter of celebrities”

Eric Sebach (center) has also turned Krankl and Prohaska into bestsellers

(Bild: Andreas Tischler / Vienna Press)

Musicians and professional athletes do it, actors do it too. Celebrities hire a ghostwriter for their books. Graz-based author Eric Sebach recently turned Krankl and Prohaska into bestsellers.

This gateway to heaven comes unexpectedly for the two national heroes Hans Krankl and Herbert Prohaska. The soccer legends have been awarded the "Golden Book" for their joint book of anecdotes "About Life". For selling 25,000 copies, Krankl and Prohaska, who can do many things but not write books, will soon be awarded "platinum".

Most celebrity books, from the Pope to DJ Ötzi, are written for hire.

Ghostwriter Eric Sebach

Ghostwriter Eric Sebach has taken on this job. The long-time journalist also had the idea for the book, sports presenter Rainer Pariasek brought the cult footballers together in Jesolo for a literary "Wuchtel-Drucken", and the author from Graz wrote down the profound to hilarious double conference. In this case, no secret is made of the fact that Krankl and Prohaska brought a writing expert on board in order to reach the top of the bestseller list. "Very few celebrities admit that they don't write their own books," says the 60-year-old shadow author. "Most celebrity books, from the Pope to DJ Ötzi, are written for hire."

Celebrities fail to write a book that everyone wants to read
Ideally, the celebrity brings their colorful life story to the table and the ghostwriter brings the craft of writing. "Even if the personalities are excellent storytellers and tell exciting as well as amusing stories, they fail to write a polished book that everyone enjoys reading," says Eric Sebach, promoting the age-old guild of ghostwriters. "Moses, with his 10 commandments, was nothing other than God's ghostwriter."

Sebach (right) has also written on behalf of the Stoanis

(Bild: Photoreport Helmut Lunghammer)

The Graz-based author has written biographies about the Stoakogler, pastor Franz Brei and state opera ballerina Karina Sarkissova, among others. Money also has great persuasive power when it comes to baiting high-quality celebrities who are guaranteed to sell well. "The more prominent, the more valuable the YES".

"My many years of work as a journalist open the doors to celebrities who look closely at who I am and what I can do. Because nobody wants to lose their good reputation, but wants to shine as a bestseller". His most prominent interview partners have included Prince Albert of Monaco, Placido Domingo, Donna Leon, Franz Beckenbauer, Thomas Gottschalk and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Popular people sell better
As a rule, Eric Sebach selects his celebrities according to promising criteria. They should be well-known, respected and popular across all generations, hardly polarize, but instead chat openly about their colourful lives. "The art is to portray the stars as authentically as possible, to find characteristics and sides that the reader doesn't yet know."

In the case of Krankl and Prohaska, these are everyday topics, such as the great fear of dying, fidelity and sexuality, which have never been discussed in public before. "It is of course a tightrope walk when I rummage too deeply in the private coffers," admits the commissioned writer, who had to pay a lot of "learning money" with the biography of ballet dancer Karina Sarkissova. "The egocentric lady and her escapades gave me a lot of gray hairs and, incidentally, cost me 20,000 euros. Since then, I've taken a much closer look at the people I write about".

Many celebrities on the list
The order list for this year shines and shimmers with a second Krankl-Prohaska book. A motivational book about the disabled cyclist Thomas Frühwirth and a "history book" with Teddy Podgorski have already been negotiated. The "tough nuts" to crack are Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Rainhard Fendrich. "I would also like to elicit pages and pages of previously unknown information from the Pope." You can dream, can't you?