Prince Harry's autobiography is in the works, but is he writing it?

"Not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become," Prince Harry said this week when he announced he was writing a memoir.

However, Pulitzer Prize winner JR Moehringer, who collaborated on tennis great Andre Agassi's controversial memoir Open (published in 2009), is responsible for crafting each word of the biography of the British royal.

Moehringer is the second most famous ghostwriter in the news right now. Ghostwriter Barry Coleman recently spoke to The Guardian about his "awful" experience working with Rolling Stones leader Mick Jagger on his memoir in the early 1980s. The autobiography is one of the most sought-after works of fiction because it was never published.

This author has, in full openness, done some ghostwriting throughout her career, and the candid conversation offered a rare peek into the shadowy world of ghostwriting.

However, there is also the risk of exploitation, irritation, and the sense that one's creative abilities are being compromised to tell someone else's story.

The Association of American Publishers estimates that in 2018 US publishers sold over 1.8 billion print books, making book publishing a $25.9 billion industry.

This has led many readers to ponder, as the summer book publishing partner season continues and large money is placed into surefire successes and famous people debut memoirs, fiction, or thought leadership tomes, what exactly is the function of fiction ghostwriters for hire and why do so many famous people rely on them? And why do celebrities even bother in this media-centric era when a global stage is as close as a tweet?

"I think the proliferation of content platforms has made the book a substantially more valuable and differentiating platform for thought leaders," said Dan Gerstein, head of Gotham Ghostwriters. This ghostwriting service pairs thought leaders with ghostwriters in an interview with Al Jazeera. Millions of people can quickly vent their frustrations on Twitter or write short blog pieces that attract only fleeting interest. A thought leader's profile can benefit from a book, but it takes genuine insight, originality, and hard work to write a book that attracts and retains a substantial readership.

Many successful mainstream authors have used it as a springboard, and top fiction ghostwriters for hire might charge tens of thousands of dollars or more, depending on the scope of the assignment.

Some authors find that hiring a ghostwriter frees them to focus on meeting deadlines and developing their readership.

James Patterson has been open about working with good ghostwriters. Story writers for hire, telling The Washington Post that he provides them with detailed blueprints (often as long as 80 pages) that cover the novel's characters, storyline, and resolution. Once a writer has taken the outline and written a draft, they will send it to Patterson for revisions.