Rob Petersen

As I grew, I became one of those kids whose parents used to chastise them for staying up late, reading under the bed covers. Compulsory texts at school, and even university, were a distraction from exploring the world through the stories and perspectives that particularly sparked my curiosity.

Nonetheless, I managed to secure a BA in English literature (minor in creative writing) and an MA in culture and communication from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. Unsure what to do with that, I embarked on an itinerant decade exploring Asia, picking up bits-and-pieces employment, and getting way too into yoga.

My ghostwriting apprenticeship began in 2016, when I was hired to freelance for Scribe Media (originally Book in a Box). Despite the poor management that eventually torpedoed the company, in its early years Scribe provided an impeccable education in the crucial skills that make up a ghostwriter's toolbox.

I honed my interviewing abilities by spending hours on the phone with authors, drawing out their best stories and guiding them as we pieced those stories together into a coherent narrative structure.

I learned how to coach nervous authors through moments of doubt, and talk hard-charging executives out of hurtling down paths that would have damaged their book and their credibility.

Most of all, I wrote. Hundreds of thousands of words, in a broad range of different tones and styles.

Over the course of more than seven and a half years in the industry, I've supported dozens of authors to turn their dreams of writing their own book into a reality, working on manuscripts across subjects as varied as affiliate marketing, aviation in Africa, and the evolution of e-sports.

In one particularly satisfying recent project, I joined forces with Jack Delosa and Tim Morris of Australia’s The Entourage, to compile Elevate: How to Accelerate Growth and Scale Your Business Beyond You. Elevate is the definitive tome on taking a business from the chaotic start-up stage to becoming a fully-functioning ‘scale-up’ organization. This is a challenge every fledgling business encounters, but there’s hardly any literature aimed at founders attempting to make the transition.

I’ve also worked on memoirs, most memorably Chris Duffin’s The Eagle and The Dragon: A Story of Strength and Reinvention. Chris emerged from an extraordinary childhood, living almost wild in Oregon and California, to become one of the strongest people in the world and a co-founder of Kabuki Strength, an innovative purveyor of specialty gym equipment.

Over the past few years, I’ve settled in Bali, Indonesia. Bali, the only Hindu-majority island in Indonesia, is rich in culture and mythology—ideal for a writer. The nature is also spectacular. I never get tired of the glorious sunsets, and I’ve developed a soft spot for the monitor lizards that can be found in most of the island’s many rice fields (although I’ve never managed to transfer that affection to the ubiquitous mosquitoes).

I mostly live a simple life: reading, writing, training in the gym, sitting for meditation, enjoying the incredible culinary scene, and becoming slightly obsessed with the sport of padel. If you’re not yet aware of it, you will be soon; it’s a cross between tennis and squash, always played in pairs, and it’s taking over the world. My family still lives in the UK, where I aim to visit them most years. When I succeed, I have the tremendous privilege of playing uncle to my brother’s three young children.