A professional writer who writes material (books, articles, speeches) that someone else publicly takes credit for and publishes under their own name.
Agent noun formed from 'ghostwrite' (ghost + write + -er suffix). The term became common in the 20th century as publishing and entertainment industries expanded, creating demand for behind-the-scenes writers.
Top ghostwriters can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars but remain completely anonymous—they've shaped everything from political memoirs to bestselling novels, yet most readers never know their names or that the 'author' didn't write their own book.
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