Traditionally, ghostwriters have been and are still today hired by celebrities to write autobiographies when the celebrities are not talented writers. Ghostwriters also sometimes create works for well-known authors, such as Tom Clancy. This practice is done for business reasons, because the author's name alone will sell the books, no matter who actually wrote them.
Ghostwriters may also write for book series' that don't actually have a real-person author. An example of a series written this way is the Hardy Boys series you may remember from your youth. The Hardy Boys cover author, Franklin W. Dixon, does not actually exist. Many romance novel series' have also been created in this way, where the author name on the cover represents any number or variety of commissioned writers.
With the advent of the Internet and e-books, today, ghostwriters also write e-books. When you outsource your e-book to a ghostwriter, you are giving them the job of creating the words in your e-book in exchange for a fee. You still get to put your own author name on the finished product. Ultimately you will own the copyright, and you can sell the e-book as many times as you like. If it sounds like a pretty nice arrangement, it is. It's all completely legal and commonly done. And you do not have to be a celebrity or Tom Clancy to hire one.
Great things about ghostwriters
Just because a ghostwriter does the writing does not mean that you do not deserve to be the credited author. You will be the originator of the idea, and provide direction to the ghostwriter, so that the written material reflects what you want it to say. You may also create a pen name for yourself if you wish your real name to remain anonymous to casual readers.
Once you hand off the reins to a ghostwriter to prepare an e-book for you, you may never go back and try to write one yourself ever again. A ghostwriter can do so many things for you, from researching to editing. And any writer knows that the process of writing and polishing a book or an e-book takes a significant amount of time. Much more than most readers will ever know.
What they can do
You can outsource more than just rote writing to a ghostwriter. In fact, ghostwriters can be hired to research your topic fully on the Internet or elsewhere. They can then translate your or their research into organized sections and create palatable, conversational paragraphs for your readers. They can interview people that you designate or that they seek out for the e-book.
They can separate the e-book-worthy material from non-e-book-worthy material for inclusion with an eye on what readers are interested in and what you have hired them to write about. In other words, good ghostwriters will stay on the topic as they write and not veer off into irrelevant tangents. It's actually an art form in itself to be able to insert quips and images that are designed to hold a reader's interest while quickly and smoothly getting back on track to deliver the information promised by the title and table of contents.
