Dear Pete, As author of the book English for Ticking Boxes, we’d appreciate your input regarding the image choice for the front cover. You’ll be familiar with our earlier range of front cover images for books such as… English for… Read More ›
materials writing
Pitching ideas to publishers
You want to approach a publisher with an idea for an ELT resource. How do you write a proposal/plan/pitch? Some publishers have proposal forms. Myself and my co-author pitched a book to a publisher last year using an in-house proposal… Read More ›
11 Great ELT Editors
I’ve worked with some awesome editors as an ELT materials writer. I don’t praise them enough or acknowledge the support they’ve given me. So, here are 11 people who have been AWESOME to work with and that I’d easily recommend… Read More ›
Materials Writing Conversations #16: ‘Undermatter’
Workbook Unit 1, Draft 1 – Feedback Editor: Thanks for the great content. However, there is some undermatter in Unit 1. I know we said to have two grammar practice activities. Can you add one more in which the grammar… Read More ›
Crusader of ELT Materials Writing: Part 5
Geoff was ready to change coursebooks for the better. He just didn’t know exactly where to start. He sought advice from Siri. ‘Hey Siri’ ‘Mmmm hmmm’ ‘Find a list of the most common criticisms of ELT coursebooks’ ‘You’ll have to… Read More ›
My first experience as a Lead Author
I’ve just finished my work as Lead Author of the new Pearson-Edexcel IGCSE ESL Student Book. This was my first ‘Lead Author’ role, and it involved a few duties on top of general writing. Here are some examples of those… Read More ›
Crusader of ELT Materials Writing: Part 4
Geoff felt guilty about using ChatGPT to create his first drafts. It was the start of the project and he should be full of his own ideas. ‘I can fall back on AI tools once the publisher has stifled my… Read More ›
Crusader of ELT Materials Writing: Part 3
Geoff was about halfway to the Tower of Hidden Commitments when he came across the commissioning editor again. He was tending to a vegetable patch in an allotment opposite his detached house in suburbia. ‘Hello there, Geoff! How are your… Read More ›
Crusader of ELT Materials Writing: Part 2
Geoff walked through the woods in search of the Tentacles of Target Markets. ‘This is a lot of effort’, Geoff muttered to himself, ‘an updated brief from the publisher would have sufficed.’ Then he remembered the first rule of brief… Read More ›
Crusader of ELT Materials Writing: Part 1
‘Right,’ exclaimed Geoff, ‘it’s time for another project with the Big Four’. He gave his kids a big hug – he was unlikely to spend quality time with them for a while. He apologized in advance to his wife for… Read More ›
ELT Planning 