Paul Martinovic – Ghostwriter

I've been lucky enough to work with some of the biggest names in literature - John le Carre, Zadie Smith, Antony Beevor, Adam Kay, Nick Hornby, David Olusoga, Ali Smith, Hanya Yanigahara, and Bret Easton Ellis, to name more than a few - in a long and varied publishing career, where I've been at different times an award-winning marketer (for The Secret Barrister and Adam Kay), an award-winning copywriter (for my work on the Penguin social media accounts and newsletter), a very successful publicist (ensuring top ten on the bestseller list for authors as diverse as Olivia Laing and the England rugby coach Eddie Jones), and a commissioning editor, overseeing the relaunch of the modern classics list The Picador Collection and publishing authors such as Jamaica Kincaid, Helen Fielding, Nick de Semlyen and Harriet Gibsone.

As such I have read and assessed hundreds of book proposals, and know instinctively exactly what publishers are looking for. I love the creative, collaborative process of working with authors, shaping a manuscript and watching it develop over the course of working together. I see the job of a book proposal as simply bringing the author's vision to the page, in as painless and as accurate a manner as possible. Think of me as a lexical midwife. Or, if you think that's weird: don't.

Prior to working in publishing I worked extensively as a journalist, writing about books, sport, film and TV. My writing has appeared in the BBC, Guardian, Vice, BFI, Digital Spy and Den of Geek.

My favourite authors include Don DeLillo, James Ellroy, Patrick Radden Keefe, Ali Smith, Thomas Pynchon, Jamaica Kincaid, Michael Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Tim Winton, Larry McMurtry, Sue Townsend, and many more.