Colin Salter - non-fiction writer
History and Biography
I love history! I'm fascinated by how we got where we are now. I've been commissioned to write on a broad range of subjects from light entertainment to hard science, from pioneers of the past to modern superstars.
My fascination with the past has resulted in weekly posts to my blog Tall Tales from the Trees - now 200+ articles of historical context using my ancestors as a starting point. Have a look: we may be related.
Click on the images to read more about my contributions to each book, with links to further information.
Instinctive Product Development, 2013 Co-author with Helen Akitt and Michael Heatley. Bookazine, including biography of Neil Armstrong, and a history and timeline of the space race. 5000 of 12000 words.
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Pavilion Books, due January 2017 Co-author, automotive history. 29 articles, 42,000 words. Commissioning editor Frank Hopkinson.
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Thunder Bay Press, 2013. Contributing author, 2nd ed. Extended captions about Washington architecture and US history for 59 of 71 then/now spreads. 15000 words. Commissioning editor Frank Hopkinson, Anova Books.
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Author, work in progress The Hare With Amber Eyes for books: the story of a 250-year old library passed from generation to generation of a bookish, literate and eventually literary family, told through the messages they wrote in the flyleaves.
November 2013 Author, DVD booklet - WH Smith exclusive. Detailed timeline of the causes, campaigns and consqequences of the First World War to accompany anniversary DVD. 3000 words. Commissioning editor Michael Heatley, Northdown Publishing.
Omnibus Press, 2012. Contributing author. Chapters on Early R'n'R & R'n'B, British Invasion, Stadium Rock, late 20th and early 21st century design. 18000 words, 260 captions. Commissioning editor Laura Ward, Elephant Book Company.
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Flame Tree Publishing, 2006. Contributing author. 1960s US soul music section. 56 articles, 9750 words. Commissioning editor Michael Heatley, Northdown Publishing.
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Instinctive Product Development, 2013 Contributing author. Biography of the Hollywood heart-throb. 7500 of 12000 words. Commissioning editor Michael Heatley, Northdown Publishing.
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Anova Books, 2012 Co-author with Michael Heatley. Potted histories of key inventions of the past 65000 years from the bow to the iPad. 64 of 96 articles, 19000 words. Commissioning editor David Salmo.
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Igloo Books, 2010 Contributing author. Important moments in history from thelast 250 years, from the invention of the spinning jenny to the federal takeover of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. 32 of 100 articles, 12800 words. Commissioning editor Michael Heatley, Northdown Publishing.
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Weekly blog since 2009 Author. Weekly blog articles giving historical context to characters and episodes in my family tree, from the Battle of Hastings to the Siege of Tobruk. 200th article posted July 2013; 110000 page views to September 2013, 3000 a month (peak 4607 November 2012).
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Park Lane Books, due March 2014 Author. Biography of the first great American writer, with a detailed review of his major works, a discussion of his place in the 21st century and a summary of sources of further information. 12000 words. Commissioning editor Michael Heatley, Northdown Publishing.
Work in progress. Author. Popular history of pioneering role in education of radical non-conformists in the 19th century, illustrated by the lives of the Baptist Rev W.A. Salter (who founded schools) and his circle.
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