( CNN ) -- When all is said and done , Wendy Leigh is just a name on a book cover . Sometimes her name is accompanied by the word `` with , '' or , in the case of one juicy memoir , the phrase `` assisted by , edited by , and put into proper English by ... '' Leigh is a celebrity ghostwriter -- as crucial to the publishing process as paper and ink . `` Clearly I am not sitting there holding a pen with the [ celebrity ] , '' said Leigh , who has co-written autobiographies with Zsa Zsa Gabor and Madonna 's brother Christopher Ciccone . `` It 's a very delicate relationship , '' she said . `` I 'm not there as an interrogator . ... Nothing will go in that book that they do n't want . But that 's not to say you 're not going to do quite a bit of coaxing and convincing . '' Leigh 's latest , Barbara Eden 's `` Jeannie Out of the Bottle '' is due out in 2011 . Dan Strone , the CEO of Trident Media Group , a New York-based literary agency , said the reason celebrity memoirs are taking over bookshelves is simple : People buy them . More than 80 celebrity autobiographies have already been published this year . `` When certain books do well , publishers want more of those books . These books have been doing really well : The Toris [ Tori Spelling ] and the Kendras [ Kendra Wilkinson ] and the Jon Stewarts , '' he said . And with the increased interest in celebrity memoirs comes a need for people who can help get the celebrity 's words down on paper . Enter Leigh , and a small circle of Hollywood ghostwriters . `` Sometimes celebrities will try to write a book themselves . ... But because everything in their life seems important , you get to page 200 and they 're only 12 years old , '' Strone said . `` It 's difficult to sit there by yourself and remember your life because you 're in the center of it . '' And not every star has the skill set or even the time to sit down and write an autobiography , said Stone . And it 's not just memoirs . Some celebrities employ ghostwriters to help bring their novels to life . But according to ghostwriter Jon Warech , there is little appeal to co-writing someone 's novel . `` The argument could be made that more people are going to read it or see it that way , but you 're just handing over the credit to someone else , '' said Warech , who has co-authored memoirs with Kendra Wilkinson and Jodie Sweetin . `` But a memoir is their life . They deserve the credit because they lived it . All I 'm doing is helping them put it on paper . '' Warech said , despite being responsible to tell someone else 's life story , there 's little pressure involved . `` It 's all about staying realistic , '' he said . `` If someone knows who they are ... and what their fan base is looking for , that 's really helpful . '' But even with the most accommodating , self-aware subject , ghostwriting is not for everyone , Strone said . `` You have to be sort of a shrink -- taking someone through their life , you need patience and put your own ego away because you 're not the boss . '' As a ghostwriter , `` you 're part psychoanalyst , part best friend , part lion tamer , part interviewer and part nanny , '' Leigh said . `` You have to crack the whip now and again . '' Leigh recalls working with Gabor , who went through co-authors like she went through husbands . Leigh , the fifth and final writer to attempt Gabor 's memoir , ended up uncovering a long list of lovers Gabor had previously chosen to keep under wraps -- simply by asking -- including a secret affair with Frank Sinatra . `` I thought , 'Well , she 's met all these people . ... If I had met those people , who would I have had affairs with ? ' `` Leigh used the same techniques when helping Madonna 's younger brother Christopher Ciccone write his best-selling memoir , `` Life With My Sister Madonna . '' `` I knew this was the most amazing topic . ... You could feel Madonna 's breath on your face when he talked . '' `` We live in an age where there 's so much out there , '' Leigh said . `` You 're very lucky if you have a scoop . '' Even so , there 's no guarantee that the scoop will end up in finished product , hence the aforementioned coaxing . `` It 's the celebrity 's book , '' Strone said . `` You ca n't make someone put something in a book that they do n't want to put in it . They 're not on the witness stand . I 'm not saying they do n't tell the truth , but , sometimes , stories are told up to a certain point . '' But Leigh and Warech agree : It usually does n't take much to convince subjects to include salacious information . `` They [ usually ] know it 's important and they just want to hear someone else remind them , '' Warech said . Leigh agreed : `` It 's like an impressionist painting : little brush strokes . You do n't want to tread on any sensitivities , yet you do n't want to leave stones unturned . ''
Celebrity memoirs fill bookshelves before the holiday season . Many celebrities might not have the time or skill set to write their own books , expert says . Five ghostwriters worked with Zsa Zsa Gabor before her memoirs were finally finished .