Tim Cooke – Ghostwriter

I was an elite ghostwriter working with dozens of high profile and potentially challenging authors.

I ran a large department creating school and library reference books and encyclopaedias, primarily for the US market, specialising in history, culture and the arts. My role involved planning encyclopedias and reference sets and overseeing the editorial process to bring them to completion. This involved commissioning hundreds of authors and working to help them fulfil the specific brief for the project.

Oversaw a team producing reference books and partworks on a range of subjects.

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.

I worked in the copy room at Time-Life Books, gaining a solid grounding in subediting skills.