Andrew Crofts (author)
Encyclopedia
For the Wales international footballer see Andrew Crofts (footballer)
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 best-seller charts of United Kingdom 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.
, 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 syndrome
in Pete-My Story (Harper Collins).
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 input Crofts might have had in their creation.
Andrew Crofts (footballer)
Andrew Lawrence Crofts is a Wales international footballer who plays for Norwich City as a midfielder.He started his career with Gillingham, for whom he made his Football League debut at the age of 16, and made over 190 appearances for the Kent-based club...
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 best-seller charts of United Kingdom 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.
Early days and development of his career
Born in 1953 in England, Crofts was educated at Lancing CollegeLancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...
, a school renowned for producing writers, (Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
, Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe is an English satirical author, best known for his Wilt series of novels.Sharpe was born in London and moved to South Africa in 1951, where he worked as a social worker and a teacher, before being deported for sedition in 1961...
, Jan Morris
Jan Morris
Jan Morris CBE is a Welsh nationalist, historian, author and travel writer. She is known particularly for the Pax Britannica trilogy, a history of the British Empire, and for portraits of cities, notably Oxford, Venice, Trieste, Hong Kong, and New York City.With an English mother and Welsh father,...
, David Hare
David Hare (dramatist)
Sir David Hare is an English playwright and theatre and film director.-Early life:Hare was born in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex, the son of Agnes and Clifford Hare, a sailor. He was educated at Lancing, an independent school in West Sussex, and at Jesus College, Cambridge...
, Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...
and Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
).
Moving to London at 17, Crofts took a variety of jobs as he struggled to establish himself as a freelance writer, (including a stint
Stint
A stint is one of several very small waders in the paraphyletic "Calidris" assemblage - often separated in Erolia -, which in North America are known as peeps...
running a modelling agency in London's Bond Street
Bond Street
Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London that runs north-south through Mayfair between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th century and is currently the home of many high price fashion shops...
), 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
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
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
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
, Pete Bennett
Pete Bennett
Peter "Pete" Alexander Bennett is an English singer, author and media personality, who won the reality television series Big Brother 7 in 2006. He has Tourette's syndrome...
, who wrote movingly about his childhood and the problems of having Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane...
in Pete-My Story (Harper Collins).
Known ghosted titles
- Sold by Zana MuhsenZana MuhsenZana Muhsen is a British author who has written about the experiences that she and her sister, Nadia , went through when they were sent from their birthplace in Birmingham, England to Yemen in 1980 on a purported holiday to meet the paternal side of their family, but sold unaware into marriage in...
, (Time WarnerTime WarnerTime Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
), 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 worldwide. - 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 (PenguinPenguin BooksPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
), (topped The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
charts), - Just a Boy by Richard McCann (Ebury), (topped The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The 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 ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
and ex-pat life in BruneiBruneiBrunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, - 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, (Gollancz), who was Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's girlfriend, - Kathy and Me for actress and soap star Gillian TaylforthGillian TaylforthGillian Taylforth is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Kathy Mitchell on the BBC soap opera, EastEnders and as Jackie Pascoe-Webb on ITV's Footballers Wives , but more recently as Sgt. Nikki Wright in ITV's The Bill...
, - 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 CurtainIron CurtainThe concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
for 50 years. - A promise to Nadia by Zana MuhsenZana MuhsenZana Muhsen is a British author who has written about the experiences that she and her sister, Nadia , went through when they were sent from their birthplace in Birmingham, England to Yemen in 1980 on a purported holiday to meet the paternal side of their family, but sold unaware into marriage in...
, the follow-up of Sold, in which is told how Zana struggles to get her sister free.
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).
Controversy
Pete Bennett caused some controversy at the time of publication by cheerfully admitting to a GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
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 input Crofts might have had in their creation.