14/08/2014 Meet the Author

unfamiliar, it makes people think, it is not word. But they always use.

That is the key. It is time for Meet The Author. Andrew Crofts is a

hugely successful author. He has sold millions of books, but you may

never have heard of him, but most of them were written under someone

else's name. In Confessions of a Ghostwriter, he reflects on his

career as a literary gun for hire. Andrew Crofts, let's start with the

obvious question. Most writers are in it at least in part for the

kudos, they want their name on the cover. You rarely get it. The fact

that you? No, actually. It is a matter of expectations. If I wrote a

book assuming it was going to come out and cover in glory, but if you

are hired like that from the beginning, and the speech got a

standing over `` `` ovation, you would not get hurt. You would just

think job well done. You are not doing it for a

very fast. Not having to do all the marketing that comes with all of

this. I still covered in glory this! Thank you Nick. But you do all the

interesting bits. Whether it is a palace, or a brothel, or a private

eye somewhere, you get absolute access. Then you can go back to your

little garret and do what writers do, and Hideaway writing the actual

story. With most writers of any kind, you are uncommonly business

life. You are much more in control of the project. I found that I have

done every type of writing in my career, life down the lack of

control very ill of dictating. This is the same in all creative

professions. We have to wake to the phone to ring, though you don't like

that. I wanted to find a way that where stories would come to me. I

started by putting a little ad in a trade magazine, ghost writer for

hire. I thought that I would have the adventure and then come back

home and write the book. Now the Internet does it. They come to you.

But you do not take on all the projects that comes you. What are

you looking for? Makes a good potential ghost project? I get two

or three people a day, so I could not take them all on. What you are

looking for is something that will make a book shape. A lot of people

have exciting stories, but they are good for an article, good for a film

script. They do not fit a narrative arc. You need some thing that is

going to come out at 60,000 to 100,000 words. You need to keep

people turning the page. Is there enough to fill a book? That is the

first thing. The second thing is is it interesting to spend two or three

of my life in southern else's head? If it is something that I know

nothing about, it is likely to attract my attention. Ultimately,

can it be made to work as a business venture? Can we sell it to a

publisher, or is this going to self publish? You have written an

extraordinary range of books for an extraordinary range of people. Your

bestseller is a book around. Marriage. That was about 20 years

ago, and I still get e`mails today from people who say they have just

read it, and it is their favourite book of all time, and what happened

to the characters? That is a sign of a strong story. It was sold by Zane

Musson. `` Zane Musson. but it is a story that really

appeals to young women. How do you as a middle`aged posh bloke get

inside the head of someone like her? Allen I was not quite as aged then

but still posh! It is like a plate. If you have three or four

characters, one who is slave trading and one who is Agarkar, you know a

narrative. You know words that would be used. Things that they would or

would not be interested in. It is like writing an extended monologue.

You have the voice in their head. You know it great when it sounds

wrong. You have written biographies Ling autobiographies for

businessmen. One of the charges that must be laid

at you from time to time is that you are an apologist bought some not

very nice people. How do you justify that? How do you square that with

your constant? I think I probably have the same defence as a

barrister. I have no defence that I find every one really interesting,

whether they are at dictators or enslaved child brides. It is really

interesting. It is nice to go to both ends. I honestly think I

believed that everyone should be allowed the right to express their

views. Free speech. If you cannot write a book yourself, and you want

someone to help you, I think that's OK, just like ring Abe barrister to

plead your case in court. There is going to be another barrister on the

other side putting their case. You are not in that situation. Gayle but

once the book is out, everyone person the discreet is going to say

it firmly. As you know. The book is out there, and then people are free

to say what they like about it. They can say in this lives just that they

can say it is lies and rubbish, or that they do not like the person. I

think we should listen to everybody. Thank you very much.

Good evening. First they started relatively quietly, but