My career in journalism began with a junior reporter's job on a local newspaper - a fairly traditional route into the writing profession. I moved onto the launch of Future Publishing's Amiga Shopper as production editor, then onto the launch of PC Format and was soon made editor of the Amiga Format special editions.

Rather than give you a blow-by-blow account of all I have done since then, here are the key points, plus a selection of downloadables by which you can judge my work. If you decide that my experience and ability is right for your publishing project, please get in touch.

---

Future Music
Associate editor on the launch of Future Music, then full-time editor for two years. Issue four saw the first CD on the cover of a musician's magazine. It featured audio samples for readers to use in their compositions.

Total Guitar
Devised, proposed and launched Total Guitar. The magazine is consistently the biggest-selling guitarists' magazine in Europe was and the first to carry a cover disc for those who prefer to learn by ear.

FutureNet.co.uk
Group editor of Future Publishing's corporate website, overseeing the team grow from three staff to more than 20 as the company sought to create online revenue streams and exploit marketing opportunities.

Digital Music Maker
While editor of two internet magazines at Paragon Publishing, I was associate editor on the launch of DMM. It was canned after the first issue, but two years down the line I re-launched it. Sadly, the adsales story finally saw the magazine's demise, but it was fun while it lasted.

Made Easy
Paragon had a number of Made Easy magazines, aimed at explaning popular home-computing activities to an audience of novices. I suggested interest in digital photography could support a magazine, hence I was asked to launch Digital Photography Made Easy, which soon became the biggest-selling digital photography magazine in the UK. I also devised and launched Digital Video Made Easy which immediately became market leader.

Digital Photographer
I proposed and launched DP as group editor. This high-quality glossy was the first to be aimed at professional photographers using digital imaging technology and it still has a unique place in the market.

Freelance
After spending years in the high-pressure environment of magazine launches, I decided to return to what I most enjoy: writing. At right, there's a list of articles I have submitted to various publishers in the last 12 months. Naturally, I'm always up for more.

---

Work samples

Raw copy
Here's a selection of articles as submitted to various clients before the subs laid a hand on them. It's to give you an idea of what you can expect to receive from me and demonstrate, I hope, how little re-writng is necessary. Supporting images are available on request. And for American clients, I can change the spelling to suit...

Digital Creative Arts: Wired for Sound
How to add audio to your website

Web Designer: It's the Law
Essential law for those publishing on the net

Web Developer: News
Copy for the issue's news pages

Digital Photographer: Flash Memory
A technical article on flash storage technology

Practical Web Projects: Photos for the Web
How to optimise photos for publishing online

Advanced Photoshop interview: Charles Darby
An in-depth interview with a world-leading matte painter

 

Video tutorials
Videos created for Digital Photographer magazine demonstrating various techniques in Photoshop. Right-click to download.

	Custom menus How to customise Photoshop CS2's menus
	Complex selections Extract foreground from sky with these selection smarts