Jonathan Gifford – Ghostwriter

I write books and op ed articles for businesspeople and life stories for anyone with a story to tell.

In recent years I have ghostwritten, among other projects, a major autobiography of a leading UK businessman and adventurer, which won the award in the 2024 Business Book Awards "Business Journey" category; a successful self-published guide to managing personal finances by a financial consultant; an ex-Olympics sports coach and leadership consultant’s account of how he helps clients develop their personal leadership model; and a thought-leading book on the use of AI in data analytics by a partner for a leading firm of management consultants.

I have five books published under my own name by Marshall Cavendish International: History Lessons (2010), 100 Great Leadership Ideas (2010), Blindsided (2012), 100 More Great Leadership Ideas (2013) and 100 Great Business Leaders (2013). These books have been translated into Chinese, Thai, Indonesian and Korean. History Lessons is in its second edition; 100 Great Leadership Ideas is in its third edition. Ideas from my Great Leadership Ideas books feature in Marshall Cavendish’s An Idea a Day and More Ideas a Day. I have also co-authored four books with senior management consultant Dr Mark Powell: My Steam Engine is Broken (2016), Perform to Win (2016), Machiavellian Intelligence (2017) and The Five Principles of Performance Thinking (2019), all published by LID Publishing.

My own op ed pieces have been published in The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Culture University, London’s Metro newspaper, History News Network and various HR and management journals. I happily produce 500-2000-word op eds at short notice when an issue is topical and there is an opportunity to place articles with interested media outlets.

As a ghostwriter, I like to make life for the author as easy as possible. Written notes or early drafts are not essential, though always welcome. I talk at length with authors (typically virtually) before beginning to assemble core ideas into a proposed framework. Once this is agreed, I carry out any desk research needed to flesh out and support the ideas and interview any third parties the author directs me to. Then I start writing.

As the project begins to take shape, we revisit each element to reassure ourselves that it tells a compelling story and hooks the reader in at every stage. I pride myself on my versality and on delivering the right tone of voice for every author. I write quickly: once I know what needs to be said, I write several thousand words a day.

I am based in Oxford, UK, but I have worked with authors from all over the USA, from Africa and from the United Arab Emirates.

And I'm a nice guy and fun to work with!