Ghostwriter
A writer who creates material credited to another person, often working confidentially and without public acknowledgment.
Voice (writing): The distinctive style and personality conveyed through a piece of writing. Ghostwriters adapt sentence rhythms, vocabulary, and tone to make prose sound like its credited author.
Autobiography: A person’s account of their own life, written by that person or with another writer’s assistance. Public figures often collaborate with ghostwriters to turn recollections into a sustained life narrative.
Collaborative writing: The production of a written work through substantial contributions from multiple people. Collaborators may openly share authorship rather than leave one contributor uncredited.
Authorship: The status and practices through which a work is attributed to its creator or creators. Ghostwriting separates the work’s actual production from the person publicly recognized as its author.
Interview: A structured conversation in which one person asks questions to elicit information from another. Interviews let ghostwriters gather stories, views, and language from people whose names will appear on the work.
Celebrity memoir: A memoir presenting a notable person’s experiences and reflections, often produced with a professional writer. The credited subject supplies the life story while a ghostwriter may shape its narrative and prose.
Co-author: A person who shares authorship of a work with one or more other people. A co-author receives public credit, unlike a ghostwriter whose contribution is omitted or concealed.
Literary agent: A representative who negotiates publishing opportunities and contracts for authors. Agents may assemble author–ghostwriter teams and negotiate the terms of a collaborative book.
Book proposal: A document presenting a nonfiction book’s subject, audience, structure, and market case. A proposal can establish a project’s scope and secure a publisher before the full manuscript exists.
Political speechwriting: The practice of composing speeches for political figures to deliver under their own names. Speechwriters create language that a public figure presents as their own spoken message.