Short answers, pulled from the story.
A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. They are expected to closely replicate the writing style and voice of the credited author while producing new content, and they typically sign confidentiality agreements that prevent them from revealing their role.
In 2013, literary agent Madeleine Morel stated that the average ghostwriter's advance for work with major book publishers was between $40,000 and $70,000. At the high end, The New York Times reported in 2001 that the ghostwriter for Hillary Clinton's memoirs would likely receive about $500,000 from her $8 million advance. Shorter digital-format projects in the 30,000-42,000 word range start at around $15,000.
One of John F. Kennedy's books, Profiles in Courage, is almost entirely credited to ghostwriters. Donald Trump's autobiography Trump: The Art of the Deal was produced by a ghostwriter, as were several of Hillary Clinton's books and Nelson Mandela's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.
The credited authors Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon are pseudonyms for a succession of ghostwriters. Each writer works from a template covering the characters' names, dates, speech patterns, and the expected tone and style of the series, and is also given copies of previous books to help match the established voice.
Frank Ocean began his career as a ghostwriter for artists including Justin Bieber, John Legend, and Brandy before establishing his own name as a recording artist.
Medical ghostwriting occurs when pharmaceutical companies pay professional writers to produce research papers and then pay other scientists or physicians to attach their names before publication in medical or scientific journals. It has been criticized by professional organizations and may violate American laws prohibiting off-label drug promotion and anti-kickback provisions within Medicare statutes.