I write, edit and design books and magazine articles for a living. Some examples of my work:

Books

• I’m the editor/co-author of Actors’ Handbook 2009-10 (Casting Call Pro) and the previous edition
• Previous authorship includes The A-Z of Genealogy Websites and 101 Family History Tips (both Future Publishing, 2006) and The Monster Guide to Jobhunting (Pearson Education, 2001)
• I made sizeable contributions to Human: the Definitive Guide to Our Species (Dorling Kindersley, 2004) and 1001 Inventions that Changed the World (Cassell, 2009)
• I’m the English language editor of the international arts/science journal Pars
• I have edited (and designed) more than two dozen books for Hawker Publications
• In a brief stint as a publisher, I also edited (and designed) all the titles produced by Reverb Books
• I’m also one of The Oxford Editors – we provide manuscript assessment and synopsis services (I also do these independently)

Magazines and online

• I’m the editor of the annual print bookazine Discover Your Ancestors (launched 2011) and its monthly digital edition, Discover Your Ancestors Periodical (launched 2013)
• I write news, reviews and features about genealogy and related issues for every issue of Your Family Tree magazine (Future Publishing) (since 2005)
• Related to that, here’s a page of links to catalogues and data held by County Record Offices across England, Wales and Scotland
• Read my A-Z of Saints series of articles for Christian Aid’s Surefish site
• And the newer Dictionary of Dissent: Intro A B1 B2 C DE F GHI L
• I’ve previously been the editor of a computer magazine for consumers, and various trade magazines, plus deputy editor of a national weekly newspaper; and used to write technology articles for Virgin.net.

Other writing

(Here’s a selection of the unpaid stuff done for fun:)

• I’ve made various contributions in the past to The Modern Antiquarian on megalithic/ancient sites
• If you’re interested in London’s lost rivers, here are two walking guides to tracing the routes of the Falcon Brook and the River Effra
• Here are PDFs of Oxford Orbital (255K), a cycle route round the city’s satellite villages (and pubs), and a walk along the river Glyme (290K) from Chipping Norton to Woodstock
• OFFLINE: am rewriting this soon! Read my report on helping websites to go viral, based on a talk given at Oxford Geek Night
• Here’s the UK Starbucks Comfortable Living Index
• The history of Omai connects Dr Johnson, the Earl of Sandwich, Sir Joshua Reynolds and the murder of Martha Ray