For many people, writing a book is a lifelong ambition. It is up there as one of the great successes individuals strive for in their lives, alongside marriage, children, running the marathon, becoming a pop star, climbing Mount Everest and travelling the world. But writing a book is tricky and time consuming and for many just isn't a practical way to spend months of free time. So more and more individuals are now turning to ghost writers to help them achieve that lifelong goal of seeing their name and ideas in print.

Ghost writers are people or companies who write books on behalf of others. The end product belongs to the individual who commissioned the ghost writer in the first place and it is their name that appears on the cover of the book and all royalties made through the book being sold are payable to the individual who commissioned the ghost writer. Thus a ghost writer is an instrument through which you can turn your story idea into a real, well-written, methodical and gripping book. And once they have done that for you, it is your name that appears on the book and your pocket that is lined with the profit made through book sales. As ghost writing is a service however, you are required to pay your chosen ghost writer upfront or on an ongoing basis as they write the book for you. So employing a ghost writer is an investment, and one that you hope will reap the desired rewards for you once the book is available for purchase in local and online book stores.

There are hundreds of ghost writers out there. Some operate single-handedly, working on one or two books at a time. Others form a company or are a service offered through a writing and editorial company. There are pros and cons to both.

Independent ghost writers are likely to only be able to work on one or two books at any one time, so if you choose to use an independent ghost writer you will be more assured that they are concentrating heavily on your book without being distracted by other clients. For this reason you may also find that an independent ghost writer is more accessible on a day to day basis.

However, writing companies that offer a ghost writing service will have a team of experienced ghost writers working for them:

• individuals who are highly qualified and will have been exposed to a great number of ghost writing projects before. As writing companies often use ghost writers who work from home, or from different office locations, you are more likely to find that they can visit you in your home or in a location that is convenient to you.

Regardless of whether you choose an independent ghost writer or a ghost writer supplied through a writing company, there are some key things to bear in mind:

• Meet with or speak to the individual who is going to be your ghost writer before you sign any contracts with them. You need to be sure that you will be able to build a strong relationship with them.

• Ask them to provide you with a writing contract once you have decided to sue their services. This should be there to protect your work and copyright as well as protecting their payment rights.

• Ensure that you are happy with the terms of the contract, particularly around payment of their charges, speed in which the book will be completed, final publication support and royalty arrangements.

• Get your first few ghost writing meetings in the diary early on, so that you feel as if you can see real progress moving quickly.

So go ahead, why procrastinate, achieve your ambition right now ...