Andrew Crofts (author)
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| Andrew Crofts | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953 |
| Occupation | Author |
Andrew Crofts (born 1953) based in England, is a known name in the world of ghostwriting. Many of his subjects have been international and have topped the bestseller charts of UK and other countries. Because of the secrecy surrounding the business of ghostwriting it is never known exactly how many books that have been credited to other people were actually written by him, but in recent years more and more publishers seem to be insisting on placing his name alongside the “author’s” in order to boost sales.
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[edit] Early days and development of his career
Born in 1953 in England, Crofts was educated at Lancing College, a school renowned for producing writers, (Evelyn Waugh, Tom Sharpe, Jan Morris, David Hare, Christopher Hampton and Tim Rice).
Moving to London at 17, Crofts took a variety of jobs as he struggled to establish himself as a freelance writer, (including a stint running a modelling agency in London’s Bond Street), while submitting work to every kind of magazine and publisher. For a number of years he worked as a freelance business journalist and then a travel writer, spending a great deal of his time in the Far East, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. His career as a ghostwriter seems to have started seriously in the early 1990s.
In 2006 his name was openly linked to a book by the popular winner of Big Brother, Pete Bennett, who wrote movingly about his childhood and the problems of having Tourette’s Syndromein Pete-My Story (Harper Collins).
[edit] Known ghosted titles
- Sold by Zana Muhsen, (Time Warner), about two sisters sold as child brides in the Yemen and was France’s best selling non-fiction book of the year at the time of publication, with close to four million copies now sold world-wide;
- The Little Prisoner by Jane Elliott, (Harper Collins), a tale of child abuse which went to number one in the Sunday Times charts both as a hardback and a paperback, selling half a million copies within a few months;
- Betrayed by Lyndsey Harris, (Arrow), the story of a little girl who was cruelly framed for crimes she never committed by the person she trusted the most. winner of the Richard and Judy “True” competition.
- The Kid by Kevin Lewis (Penguin), (topped Sunday Times charts),
- Just a Boy by Richard McCann (Ebury), (topped Sunday Times charts),
- For a House Made of Stone for Gina French (Vision), a girl who started life in the Philippine mountains and ended up on trial for murder in England via the bars of Manila and ex-pat life in Brunei,
- Heroine of the Desert by Donya Al-Nahi, (Metro), who fought to reunite mothers with their children in international tug-of-love wars
- Through Gypsy Eyes for Kathy Etchingham, (Gollanz), who was Jimi Hendrix’s girlfriend,
- Kathy and Me for actress and soap star Gillian Taylforth,
- Please Daddy No for Stuart Howarth, (Harper Collins),
- My Family is All I Have for Helen-Alice Dear (Ebury Press), an English woman who was trapped behind the Iron Curtain for 50 years.
- A promise to Nadia by Zana Muhsen, the follow-up of Sold, in which is told how Zana struggles to get her sister free.
[edit] Authored books
- The Little Hero (Vision), which tells the story of Iqbal Masih, a child slave who escaped and became a campaigner for the abolition of bonded labour in Pakistan before being assassinated at the age of 13
- Maisie's Amazing Maids (Stratus) - a light hearted novel about a ghostwriter,
- The Freelance Writer’s Handbook, (Piatkus Books)
- Ghostwriting (A&C Black).
[edit] Controversy
Pete caused some controversy at the time of publication by cheerfully admitting to a Guardian journalist that he hadn’t even read the book he was supposed to have written. Rumours have circulated about other controversial titles and how much or little in-put Crofts might have had in their creation.
