Overview
My name first became known among publishers for the stories I brought them by the otherwise disenfranchised. Travelling all over the world I worked with victims of enforced marriages in North Africa and the Middle East, sex workers in the Far East, orphans in war-torn areas like Croatia and dictatorships like Romania, victims of crimes and abused children everywhere.The success of these books brought many very different people to my door; first came the celebrities from the worlds of film, music, television and sport, and then the real elite in the form of world leaders and the mysterious, powerful people who finance them, arm them and, in some cases, control them.As well as using traditional publishers to reach readers, I have also published my own fiction, most recently “Secrets of the Italian Gardener”, which draws on my experience among the powerful and wealthy, and "Pretty Little Packages", a thriller set in the world of people trafficking and sex slavery. Both novels have ghostwriters as their narrators.My books on writing include “Ghostwriting”, (A&C Black) and “The Freelance Writer’s Handbook”, (Piatkus), which has been reprinted eight times over twenty years and a memoir, “Confessions of a Ghostwriter” (Friday Project).Throughout his bestseller, “The Ghost”, Robert Harris quotes my book, “Ghostwriting”. Harris’s book went on to become a major movie by the same name, directed by Roman Polanski and starring Ewan McGregor as the eponymous ghost. The opening lines in Robert Harris’s book sum up my philosophy:“Of all the advantages ghosting offers, one of the greatest must be the opportunity that you get to meet people of interest”.I was on the Management Committee of the Society of Authors from 2012 to 2015. I lecture on the subject of making a living from writing at Kingston University and frequently guest at writing workshops, such as the Guardian Masterclasses, literary festivals and in the media.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Management
Entertainment
Political Science & Current Affairs
Travel
Writing & Publishing
Languages
English (AUS)
English (CAN)
English (NZ)
English (SA)
English (UK)
English (US)
Work experience
Self Employed
Dec, 1975 —
Present
Freelance writer, author and ghostwriter for 40 years.
Portfolio
Based on a true story, The Princess and the Villain tells of how one of Britain's most wanted men, came to become personal bodyguard to Princess Jarmina, a Middle-Eastern princess and one of the wealthiest and most heavily protected women of the world. It also... read more
This rags-to-riches life story of Countess Bienvenida Sokolow is the tale of the rise of a contemporary courtesan, who emerged triumphant from the poverty of the backstreets of Valencia to enjoy the five-star lifestyle of the upper echelons of British and Amer... read more
Sometimes a family’s love can achieve the impossible.On 12th October 1995, Mavis Marsh was waken to the news every parent dreads most. ‘It’s your son,’ the policeman told her. ‘He’s been in an accident.’Only hours earlier Matthew had been set for a dazzling fu... read more
At just six years old Tom Wilson fell prey to a predator of the worst sort. David Murphy was supposed to be his carer, instead he endured years of abuse in the dead of night.Over forty years later, a newspaper article unlocks terrible memories and the painful ... read more
London published Civil Aircraft
For the first few years of her life, Sarah Harris was a normal, happy, popular little girl. But from the age of six she was targeted by a vicious, manipulative but invisible enemy — and her life became a living hell.Before long she was suspended from school, a... read more
An inspirational true story of a 4 year old girl who fell into the power of a man whose evil knew no bounds. She encountered terrifying mental and physical torture from her psychopathic stepfather for a period of 17 years until she managed to break free, her s... read more
Showbusiness personality Basil Brush tells the story of his rise to fame and his struggle to survive in the heartless world of television. He tells of the Swinging Sixties, how television changed his life and how after finding success with a number of comic pa... read more
Fifteen year-old Maggie arrives in London on the run from her humdrum suburban life, determined to make it big in show business. For more than thirty years she is exploited by both men and the media. She struggles against endless set-backs and disappointments,... read more
A man wrongly imprisoned in a foreign country for drug smuggling and the girlfriend who led the fight to free him tell this extraordinary account of prison horror and endurance, laced with romance and adventure. John Packwood and Jane Amestoy alternate chapter... read more
Helen-Alice Dear was only 15 when she left London to visit Bulgaria on a family holiday in 1937. Just weeks after her arrival, she found herself unable to leave and struggling to survive in an increasingly hostile and terrifying environment. Her marriage to a ... read more
Shortly after the fourth Duke of Portland died in 1854, the fifth duke began construction of a fantastic underground palace beneath the family's estate. Was it a physical representation of a secret underground life he was living as a London businessman with tw... read more
Iqbal Masih was gunned down by an assassin in cold blood. He was just 13 years old. Andrew Crofts, the bestselling ghostwriter of "The Little Prisoner and The Kid", tells the heart-wrenching story of this courageous child martyr, who died trying to end child s... read more
By the age of 21 Mervyn was running his own drinking club in Soho's Gerrard Street, frequented by a young crowd of soon to be pop stars, actors, business tycoons and criminals. After joining forces with the legendary agent, Joe Collins, (father of Joan and Jac... read more
What if your first love was your soulmate and perfect sexual partner but you made the mistake of letting them go? Chances is the true story of the most erotic of love affairs, of the most intense and rewarding relationship possible between a man and a woman - ... read more
Married to an Iraqi and a resident of Baghdad for 30 years, Susan Francis endured Allied bombs, then fled to the mountains with other refugees to escape Saddam Hussein's retribution. Now living in England, she tells of people terrorized by bombs and poisoned b... read more
The latest ghosted memoir from Andrew Crofts, the bestselling ghost writer of The Little Prisoner, The Kid and Just A Boy. This is the extraordinary true story of a young woman from the Philippine mountains who wanted to help her family and ended up on trial f... read more
Kathy Etchingham ran away from home, not for the first time, when she was sixteen. Escaping from a miserable and disturbed childhood, she landed in London in the centre of the swinging sixties and among a clique of musicians who were in the process of changing... read more
W**kers! Cheese! Eeezamanna! Pete Bennett, the 24-year-old Tourette's sufferer who shot to fame as winner of Big Brother 7, stole the nation's heart with his outrageous, loveable nature. Pete's incredible autobiography reveals what the tabloids didn't see. His... read more
The shocking true story of a young boy hidden away from his family and the world in a Catholic home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin.Born an 'unfortunate' onto the rough streets of 1950s Dublin, this is the incredible true story of a young boy, a secret c... read more
It had been 20 years since Andrew Crofts had last seen Jim Martin when I read in the press that he had donated $100-million to Oxford University to found The James Martin 21st Century School. Jim's latest book, The Meaning of the 21st Century, was the most bor... read more
When Steffi McBride is plucked from obscurity and lands a starring role in the country’s most popular soap opera, it seems as if all her dreams have come true. Little does she realize the far-reaching effects her newfound fame will have. The whole country fall... read more
A newly updated edition of a young girls' account of her terrifying experiences with being sold by her father as a modern day sex slave in YemenZana Muhsen, born and bred in Birmingham, is of Yemeni origin. When her father told her she was to spend a holiday w... read more
Ghostwriting is a thriving, secretive industry. As a ghostwriter you can create best-selling books for film stars, footballers, pop singers, presidents, business tycoons, gangsters, gurus, spies, mercenaries, courtesans, four-star generals, royals and anyone e... read more
When a girl called Doris informs ghostwriter, Joe Tye, that someone has “stolen her beautiful new breasts” and asks for his help, he is plunged into the dark and dangerous worlds of people-trafficking and modern slavery. At the same time as dealing with the am... read more
HE’S WRITTEN MORE THAN 80 BOOKS. HE’S SOLD MILLIONS OF COPIES ACROSS THE WORLD. HE IS THE MAN BEHIND A DOZEN SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 HITS, SPENDING OVER 120 WEEKS IN THE BESTSELLER CHARTS.BUT YOU PROBABLY HAVEN’T HEARD OF HIM.Andrew Crofts is a ghostwriter, an aut... read more
Mo, the wealthy dictator of a volatile Middle Eastern country, enlists a ghostwriter to tell his story to the world and enshrine him in history as a glorious ruler. Inside Mo s besieged palace the ghost forms an unlikely friendship with a wise and seemingly in... read more
Most recent contributions
How can authors protect their rights when publishing, especially in the age of AI?
I don't think anyone can fully protect themselves. If you act in good faith you will find that most other people will do the same. There will always be rogues, but selling books is hard enough if you are the real author, even harder if you have stolen it.
Can you share your process for balancing creativity with an author's asks?
I write as creatively as I can, and then change anything that the author doesn't like. I might put up an initial defense if I think they are damaging the book in any way, but if they insist on changes they always get their way - they are, after all, the boss.
How do you handle pricing for long-term or repeat clients versus new ones?
Each one is a new negotiation.
