Overview
I'm an experienced nonfiction ghostwriter, book coach and editor who makes authors sound as good on the page as they do in their head.
I've ghosted around 25 books for higher-profile, higher-value authors, using either a call-based process or a full face-to-face service with international travel where appropriate. I have also edited dozens of books written by authors for self-or hybrid-publishing. I’m equally at home with practical business and memoir, and have written on subjects ranging from management and thought leadership to culture change, technological development, contemporary history, and personal finance. In addition to ghostwriting and book coaching, I have nearly 30 years' experience in nonfiction publishing for both adults and children in the UK and US markets.
Authors love working with me because I have the experience and confidence to earn their trust, because I’m highly perceptive as an interviewer, and because I’m happy to adapt to the best way to help them unlock the knowledge they possess—even if they don't know they possess it.
Services
Non-Fiction
Languages
Work experience
Self-employed
I was an elite ghostwriter working with dozens of high profile and potentially challenging authors.
Brown Reference Group/Windmill Books
I ran a large department creating school and library reference books and encyclopaedias, primarily for the US market, on a wide range of subjects but specialising in history, culture and the arts. These books were published by leading US educational publishers, including Marshall Cavendish, Grolier, Scholastic, Gareth Stevens, Crabtree, Rosen, Cavendish Square, World Book, National Geographic and Routledge. My role involved planning encyclopaedias and reference sets and overseeing the editorial process to bring them to completion. This involved commissioning authors and working to help them fulfil the specific brief for the project, so that their contributions slotted into the overall work and that the work of dozens of contributors had a similar tone.
Marshall Cavendish
Oversaw a team producing reference books and partworks on a range of subjects.
Self-employed
I have written more than 250 nonfiction books listed in the Library of Congress catalogue on a wide range of subjects under my own name and various pen names (Charlie Samuels, Enzo George, Ellis Roxburgh). Most are relatively short, as they are aimed at school libraries, but they're well written, accurate, and accessible, and the vast majority of the words are spelled correctly. I have also helped name authors by ghostwriting or effectively rewriting longer books and articles. It's difficult to get any of them to say so publicly, of course, but I'm sure I can get at least one to write a testimonial. I've also written TV and radio documentaries on various subjects.
I think that even the best authors find themselves struggling with specific projects for a variety of reasons – and that authors who are far from being the best may find that the struggle to get their words out overwhelms the story they have to tell or the wisdom they have to share. I believe that it's for those of us who find story telling and fluency relatively easy to help others find their authentic voices.
Essentially I'm a history, culture, and visual arts specialist, and I've either written or rewritten texts on a whole range of subjects. I can master most subjects quickly, pick out the important parts of a story, spin sentences in an entertaining but informative way, and adapt easily to an author's own voice.
Time Life
I worked in the copy room at Time-Life Books, gaining a solid grounding in subediting skills.
Portfolio
