What People Say

“Deborah has been amazing. Patient, totally engaged, insightful and diplomatic, she made a profound contribution to the book, and I couldn’t recommend her more highly.”
Drummond Muir, editor

“Deborah Crewe is a marvel. She helped me with a complex project involving multiple authors. It was wonderful to see how she’s able to get into the minds and hearts of the people she’s working with to help them put exactly what they want on the page. And she’s not just a literary ventriloquist but also a marvellous writer in her own voice. Deborah is a consummate professional; she made every deadline, never lost her cool, and even pitched in to help craft the promotional copy. I would recommend her glowingly to anyone looking for any kind of help with a book or other writing project.”
Will Schwalbe, editor

“Deborah is the reason our book got written, at a time when we wanted to record our contribution to vaccine development while we were still very busy doing it. She took the raw outpourings of text from us and crafted them into a book, respecting our wish to be scientifically correct at all times whilst still being accessible, and conveying our different voices. A consummate professional!”
Sarah Gilbert and Cath Green, authors

“Writing with Deborah is like playing football with Zlatan. Except Deborah is always nice.”
Ola Rosling, author

“Thank you so much for your fabulous hard work for me. You are excellent at your job. The work you did for me was truly amazing.”
Michael Caine, author

“While working with Deborah, not a day went by that I didn’t thank my lucky stars for her involvement in the project. Deborah was unfailingly meticulous, organised, punctual and flexible. She was always thoughtful, full of creative solutions and able to put herself in both the author’s and editor’s shoes to make sure everyone was happy and the book was of the highest quality. Even on a project where there were multiple authors, a borderline insane schedule, very complex and demanding material, and a story that was constantly evolving and full of sensitivities, Deborah kept everything under perfect and total control. She made something that could have been extremely stressful into an entirely smooth ride, not only delivering brilliant material but often delivering it early and going above and beyond to dot every i and cross every t. I honestly did have a ’Thank God for Deborah’ moment every day.”
Anna Baty, editor

“It’s been an absolute pleasure working alongside Deborah on Michael Caine’s Blowing the Bloody Doors Off. Deborah has been immensely supportive during the writing process. Professional, meticulous, timely, skilful, and a really wonderful collaborator in every respect. I hope we’ll have many other opportunities to work together.”
Rowena Webb, editor

“Deborah has all the qualities of a brilliant ghost-writer. She has great intelligence of the emotional as well as the conventional kind. She is hard working, assiduous and has a reassuring, calming influence on the authors she works with. Having first encountered her when she worked independently with another author I represent, I was so impressed that I signed her as a client myself. I cannot recommend her highly enough to authors and editors alike.”
Natasha Fairweather, literary agent

“Deborah is one of the rare people in my profession who makes my life easier. She’s professional, engaged and a very good writer. I would love to work with her again.”
Alexis Kirschbaum, editor

“Thank God for having Deborah by my side for this (my first) book. I am going to miss my Sunday night buddy with her rigorous discipline. She is almost as anal as me … and that is saying something!”
Anya Hindmarch, author

“I’ve now worked with Deborah on three books: Jack Straw’s Last Man Standing, Baroness Trumpington’s Coming Up Trumps and Ken Clarke’s Kind of Blue. Whether as a ghostwriter or a meticulous editor/researcher, she helps authors – and their acquiring editors – arrive at the best book possible. And she does it with quiet efficiency, meeting often impossible deadlines with enormous charm and grace.”
George Morley, editor

“I greatly enjoyed working with Deborah, who ably faced the daunting task of editing the thousands of words I had produced in a stream of consciousness, dictating into a dictaphone. She persuaded me to shorten this in a sensible way and tidied up the parts that needed tidying. We were able to work as a team together in settling and re-ordering the chapters and tightening up both the anecdotes and checking the political facts. She even managed to bully me into delivering to my deadline!

It was a great pleasure to work with her.”
Ken Clarke

“If you found this book readable, it is thanks to Deborah Crewe. She was brave to take on three authors with way too much material. She listened hard to what we wanted, and then worked patiently and with great skill, speed, and humor, turning our eccentric Swenglish into what you have just read. Even more important, she was able to absorb our thousands of fact snippets, anecdotes, and rules of thumb, and help us to mold them into one coherent epic. We are so grateful to our new dear friend.”
Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund, authors

“[This ] is the first time I feel the absolute need to thank someone for the literary, stylistic, narrative, architectural perfection of the book I translated.”

Pierre Vesperini, translator and philosopher

“Until I started working with Deborah Crewe I did not understand what an editor did. Now I do. Every word I wrote passed beneath her beady eye always watchful for mistakes of grammar, lack of clarity, repetition and all the other pitfalls to which I was subject. But more than that she helped me shape the book and frame the arguments coherently. On a more practical level she also made sure that I kept to the tight timetable the publishers required. She is a superb editor and I was very fortunate that she was willing to help me.”
David Dimbleby

“I wrote every word of my book, but the task would have been far more difficult without the extraordinary effort of two people who have worked alongside me throughout – Deborah Crewe and Dan Sleat. Deborah was a fast-stream civil servant who served in the Cabinet Office (with my wife Alice), and in the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, and who (happily for me) decided on a career change.

Exceptionally bright, well-organised (and tidy), with great command of English, she has worked tirelessly, co-ordinating the many comments on sections, knocking them into shape, doing the first edits – and so keeping me to my deadlines that she earned the title of ‘Ms S D’ (Slave Driver)…. We three have enjoyed each other’s good humour too.”
Jack Straw, author

“Having written my first book and several articles with Deborah Crewe I would not hesitate to recommend her accomplished ghost-writing and editing talent. Deborah is a natural galvaniser. She made my book happen from conception to final, polished product. And on time – we happily met all deadlines for Deborah is remarkably diligent and the master of gentle reminders, with fun and cake to keep one on the literary road. For anyone unfamiliar with the publishing industry, as I was, Deborah will clearly explain each step.

A self-confessed townie with minimal veterinary knowledge Deborah willingly threw herself into the task of researching a rural vet’s life. She walked in with pristine wellies on her first visit and left, skipping, with dirty boots and an idea for a story. A story she crafted skilfully with my voice. She made the funny bits more funny and the sad parts full of pathos.

It was delightful working with Deborah: she is an upfront, smart and very talented writer with a refreshingly straight-forward approach. Not least Deborah is a thoroughly nice person with whom I would hope to work again.”
Anna Birch, author

“Deborah was an unflappable, endlessly cheery presence in my mother’s life through a difficult summer. She coaxed memories out of my mother that otherwise might have been lost forever. Most impressively, in asking all her questions, and raking up the past, she never once got herself thrown out. From a load of random interviews, she weaved a coherent story that makes you feel that my mother is talking to you.”
Adam Barker, Lady Trumpington’s son

“I have always had incredible good luck in my life, and I was very lucky to have Deborah as my ghostwriter. I didn’t want my book to be boring, but also I didn’t want to be too rude. I wanted to say what I thought, but also I didn’t want to upset anyone. Deborah understood all of that, and she got the thing just right. We got on jolly well, we had a lot of fun, and she wrote a beautiful book and made delicious home made soup! I am very grateful to her.”
Baroness Trumpington, author

“My book would not have seen the light of day without Deborah, who has been a delight to work with and who turned my scratchings into something eminently readable and kept me to a well-considered timetable. I cannot thank her enough.”
Sir Hugh Sykes, author

“Deborah is a hard-working, accomplished and extremely versatile writer, equally adept at handling comedy and pathos and at capturing a variety of authors’ voices, no matter what their background or story. Her strong relationship with the author of Call the Vet was clear to see, to the book’s undoubted benefit. She is reliable and intelligent, and especially brilliant at taking on editorial feedback; I enjoyed working with her and would definitely do so again.”
Kate Moore, editor

“Deborah is a brilliant ghostwriter. The best. She said exactly what I wanted to say, the way I wanted to say it. I love my book.”
Tracy Mackness, author

“Deborah is a class act. Those lucky enough to work with her soon discover there is a big brain behind the big smile. She has an uncanny ability to find an author’s voice, is unfailingly reliable and utterly discreet. It’s a good package.”
Andrew Lownie, literary agent

“Deborah is simply the best. The combination of her background in politics/Civil Service and her unswerving determination to get the most out of the material available means publishers and authors can sleep at night when she’s on the case.”
Rupert Lancaster, editor