About me

'Knowledge - light, ignorance - darkness'

John Seely

I have been a freelance author and editor for over 35 years. I have worked with some of the biggest publishing houses in the UK. As well as continuing to write and edit books about language and communication skills, I now publish and package eBooks.

These are exciting times for writers who publish their own work. eBooks have already overtaken print books on Amazon. But a lot of the eBooks that are published for the Kindle and other devices are poorly written, edited and formatted. There is a big gap in the market for well-produced non-fiction eBooks published by independents at sensible prices.

I offer information, expertise, and advice about writing, editing, formatting, and publishing high quality eBooks.

Writer

From the late 1970s to the early 1990s I wrote English textbooks and books for teachers. Oxford Secondary English was the bestselling English series in the 1980s, followed by The Oxford English Programme and the Heinemann English Programme.

I now write and edit trade books for adults. The most recent titles include The Oxford Guide to Effective Writing and Speaking and another bestseller The Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation. I am about to start work on the 3rd Edition of the Guide.

In addition, I now publish my own books. Grammar for Teachers is proving very popular with teachers, especially those preparing to teach at primary and secondary level. I have just published a book about words, Lexis: an introduction to English words.

Editor

I have worked as editor and lead author on a number of educational and trade series. These include One Step Ahead, a series of fourteen books about communication skills published by Oxford University Press. I am currently Series Editor of the Heinemann Shakespeare, published by Pearson. So I know a lot about working with writers of all types – from experienced veterans to complete beginners.

ePublisher

School textbooks are highly designed. If you’re going to succeed as a writer you don’t just write the words; you need to plan how they will appear on the page. I cut my teeth on page layout on Oxford Secondary English, working directly with the design team at Oxford University Press. Later I worked on books using Adobe PageMaker, QuarkExpress, and, more recently, Adobe InDesign. My first self-published books were published in the 1990s. Since then I have published a successful teachers’ guide, Grammar for Teachers as a print-on-demand title. It is available here as a PDF download and will shortly be appearing as an eBook. My latest eBook is Lexis: An introduction to English Words.

Career

I have a first degree in Modern History from Oxford University and a Masters in Shakespeare and Theatre from the University of Birmingham. The first part of my working life was spent teaching English and Drama in Britain and overseas. Then, in 1987, I gave up teaching to become a full-time writer and editor. I live with my wife and business partner, Elizabeth, in Cheltenham, in the West of England, a cultural centre famous for arts festivals and national hunt racing.