I ain't afraid of no ghost...

No, we are not going to be watching the movie or talking about Ghost Busters.

What is ghostwriting? A ghostwriter is a writer who writes books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written material.

Well, OK this is a start to understanding what a ghostwriter is.

What are Ghost Writers and What Do Ghost Writers Do?

Ghost writers are writers for hire who take money but none of the credit for the work they produce. The original writer, or author, is hiring the ghost as a freelance writer to produce copy writer work for a fee. The author takes all the credit for all the original work produced, including all the original writing produced by the ghost writer. The ghost, gets the money as a "work for hire" job and assumes none of the credit for the ghost writing work.

Sound odd? Sure does to me, but it's a common practice. A ghost is hired primarily as a freelance writer, in order to produce high quality writing so that the writing reads smoothly. A paid writer is often the only source in which to turn to in order to get a well written writing copy. And a ghost is hired to bring this about, either as an on staff writer or as a freelance writer who is paid specifically for the job at hand.

Not only is a ghost writer used for a book they are also well-known for writing lyrics for signers.

Many of the bestseller book lists have been written by ghostwriters, one in mind would be a non-fiction selection – Tom Clancy – ring a bell? He works with ghostwriters. How about James Patterson, really six books in one year – of course he used one. Last but not least the COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandburg, her book Lean In had been wrote by a ghostwriter too. But why?

Artists, presidents, prime ministers, and movie stars all use ghostwriters because they can’t write, don’t want to or plainly have no time.

A ghost writer does not get credit for writing just money. However, a ghostwriter could be called a co-author if their name is mentioned.

Startling enough, the majority of books by celebrity authors have been written by ghostwriters – close to 98%. I wonder if that is ethical. It would depend on how you view the situation. A ghostwriter is sharing someone else’s original thought and not their own but also, ghostwriting is paid for. It’s just like getting up for work and coming home.

I feel that on the flip-side, ghostwriting could appear unethical is when the author doesn't give any input to the article, book or song writing.