Contact Me

Ghosted and Co-written

 

 

I have worked with a number of clients, helping them to tell their stories, mostly in the non-fiction area. It is work that I enjoy immensely. In some cases I conduct interviews, or get a person to record their stories on tape, then help them to shape the material into a coherent narrative. I call that ghost-writing. With others, it may be a case of taking their own draft manuscript, or chapter-by-chapter account, and improving, editing, polishing it. That’s more like co-writing.

 

Among the most enjoyable projects have been several books for retired country copper Mike Pannett for Hodder, Constable & Robinson and Dalesman Publishing.

 

I have ghosted too for former county cricketer, now CEO at Leicestershire CCC, Wasim Khan. 'Brim Full of Passion'

 

More recently, I have worked with Robert Stone on his thrilling account of a life lived on the edge of legality, Chasing Black Gold. 

 

The 2017 history of York Brewery (P*** Up in a Brewery) was my most recent collaboration.

 

 

I offer a range of editorial and mentoring services based on skills acquired over many years as a teacher in creative writing.

Since 2001 I have read and appraised manuscripts for The Literary Consultancy [link], the first and probably the best editorial service in the U.K. 


I have been privileged to read some remarkable scripts. On the TLC website you can find several testimonials by people whose books were published after I had read the early drafts and reported back to them.

 

‘Narrow Dog to Carcassonne, with which TLC gave me excellent editorial help, sold 30,000 copies to the consumer in hardback. Your fine and necessary service made it possible for me as a novice to write a bestseller.’                                                  

(Terry Darlington, Narrow Dog to Carcassonne, Transworld)

‘I owe a huge thanks to The Literary Consultancy. This book would not have been completed without Alan Wilkinson whose guidance, re-writing and all round incomparable brilliance turned my words from a muddled mishmash into something publishable.’                                                                                

(Barbara Want, Why Not Me? A Story of Love and Loss, Orion)

‘I am convinced my book’s success is due to the down to earth, practical advice The Literary Consultancy gave me.’

(Tony Booth, Cox’s Navy, Pen and Sword)

‘Just about the best money I ever spent. The quality of advice I received from The Literary Consultancy was outstanding.’

(Leaf Fielding, To Live Outside the Law, Serpent’s Tail)

‘The guidance I received from TLC at this early stage of my writing career has proved invaluable.’                                                                                                

(Catherine Pearson, E. J. Rudsdale’s Journals of Wartime Colchester, The History Press)

‘The feedback I had from Alan Wilkinson about structure and presentation came at a time I was uncertain about how to proceed in the writing of a quite complicated book. The final structure owed much to your reader’s comments.’

(Ronald Ram, The Thread of Identity, Amberly)

‘As I read the advice from Alan Wilkinson it was quickly apparent that he got what I was trying to say. He was clear and perceptive with his comments and honest in his rejection of what did not work. This helped me tune my own editorial sense, and the result, according to the reviews, was a book worth writing.’

(Peter Webb, Ice Bears and Kotick, Seafarer Books)

If you would like to discuss my critical, editorial or appraisal services, click here to contact me.