What percentage of books are written by ghostwriters each year?
What well-known have been written by ghostwriters?

Hi maheshg --

Thanks for a great question! 

Ghostwriting statistics are hard to pin down because many people don't
want to admit that their books are ghostwritten. They want the reader
to think that they've done the work themselves. Also, ghostwriters are
sometimes legally bound not to reveal that they've ghosted certain
books.  Finally, the ghostwriter is often contracted by the "author"
of the book, before the book goes to a publisher, so the publisher
and/or publishing organizations will not have firm statistics on the
numbers of ghostwritten books.

Ghostwriting covers a wide range of services -- everything from
rewriting a chapter of a novel to penning an "autobiography" to
writing speeches, magazine articles, and even movies for other people.

Your question indicates to me that you're interested in books that are
written purely by a person other than the "author" indicated on the
cover.  Here is the information I found on that.


STATISTICS

"Book industry insiders estimate that 50% or more of all traditionally
published books in today's market are worked on by one or more
ghost/book doctor/line editor. In the self-publishing world, the
percentage is probably even higher - and all indications point to the
situation just becoming more and more favorable for the ghost."

http://www.writersweekly.com/articles/100301-01.html


""On any given week," writes Hitt, "up to half of any nonfiction
best-seller list is written by someone other than the name on the
book. Add those authors to feel enough latent uneasiness to bury the
writer's name in the acknowledgments and the percentage, according to
one agent, reaches as high as 80. And ghostwriters are increasingly
working the other side of the street--on the fiction list.""

http://www.teleread.org/update9.htm


BIOGRAPHIES / MEMOIRS ------------


Most books by famous personalities are actually written by
ghostwriters.  You can almost assume that if an actor, politician, or
other famous personality turns out a biography or memoir, it has been
written at least partially, if not entirely, by a ghostwriter.  Again,
these are not easy to pin down because these personalities are
reticent to admit that they did not write their own books.

Here are some example I found online. Below each "author" and book is
the name of the ghostwriter if it was mentioned ---

Lee Iacocca, "Iacocca" 
William Novak

Bill Gates - "Road Ahead" 
Two collaborators 

http://www.teleread.org/update9.htm


Doris Day and Sophia Loren's "autobiographies"
A.E. Hotchner 

http://www.pw.org/mag/articles/a8204-1.htm


Cheryl Tiegs: The Way to Natural Beauty
Vicki Lindner

http://www.pw.org/mag/articles/a8204-1.htm


Jerry Falwell - "Strength for the Journey"
Billy Graham -  "The Approaching Hoofbeats"
Pat Robertson -"America's Dates With Destiny" 
Mel White 

http://maranathaprophecypage.com/Prophetic_Signs/Great%20Apostasy/Ghostwriting.htm


John F. Kennedy - "Profiles in Courage"

http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/lunch/archives/week_2002_03_31.html



SERIES BOOKS --------

Many series of books are continued by ghostwriters after the death of
the original authors. Here are a few examples --

Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew
http://www.trussel.com/books/strat.htm

VC Andrews series 
http://www.drooartz.com/vca/art_asset.htm


Other series are ghostwritten to provide a consistent but quickly
produced formula

Ellery Queen
http://www.the-efa.org/news/ghostwriting.html



HOW-TO BOOKS

Portions of how-to books are ghostwritten when the "author" needs
someone with particular expertise.   Entire how-to books are
ghostwritten when the publisher wants the series to appear to be by
one author. Chapters from these books were ghostwritten by one
ghostwriter

The Macintosh Bible, 8th Edition (one chapter)
The PC Bible, 3rd Edition (one chapter
Quicken 6 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide (one chapter)
The Macintosh Bible, 6th Edition (three chapters)
Dvorak's Inside Track to the Mac (four chapters

http://www.marialanger.com/books.html


So, that's a brief summary of ghostwriters, their prevalence, and some
samplings of their work. If anything I've said is not clear, feel free
to ask for clarification.

Thank -- K~

Search terms:

ghostwriter statistics
ghostwriter percentage
"ghostwritten books" number

This is great work. Not only were the suggested links great, but in
one case "publishers Marketplace" there was a link to a story with
more famous names as ghostwriters.  PS I would love to know how you
came to this work.