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How it works

From a rough idea to a book that keeps selling

Six stages. Here is what happens in each one, what we do, and what you have to do.

Every stage names both halves of the work. The right hand column is the one most publishers leave out of the brochure.

Start at stage oneWhat each stage costs

The six stages

  1. Stage 1

    Idea

    2 to 3 weeks

    You talk, we take notes. You end up with a written outline, a clear reader in mind, and an honest read on whether the book will sell.

    What we do

    • A ninety minute concept call, recorded and transcribed

    • A market check on the twelve closest competing books

    • A chapter by chapter outline you can read in ten minutes

    • A positioning statement: who the book is for

    What you do

    • Turn up to one call and talk about what you know

    • Read the outline and tell us what is wrong with it

    • Approve the outline in writing

  2. Stage 2

    Manuscript

    3 to 5 months for a ghostwritten book, 4 to 6 weeks if your draft is already finished

    The book gets written. A ghostwriter interviews you, writes in your voice, and you review every chapter as it lands.

    What we do

    • Weekly recorded interviews of sixty to ninety minutes

    • A named writer who stays on the project to the end

    • Chapters delivered in batches, never a whole book at once

    • Two full revision rounds included

    What you do

    • One interview a week for twelve to twenty weeks

    • Read each batch within a week and mark what does not sound like you

    • Supply the specifics only you have: names, dates, documents, stories

  3. Stage 3

    Production

    6 to 9 weeks

    The manuscript becomes a book object: editing, proofreading, cover design, and the interior layout that decides how the printed page looks.

    What we do

    • Three passes: structure, then sentences, then errors

    • Two cover concepts and three revision rounds, tested at thumbnail size

    • Interior layout set for print and reflowed for ebook

    • ISBN registration in your name, the number every store and library uses

    What you do

    • Approve the edit, cover and interior at three sign off points

    • Read the proof once, carefully. Last chance to catch a wrong date

    • Approve the back cover text and the author biography

  4. Stage 4

    Publishing

    3 to 5 weeks

    Your book goes on sale. We open the accounts in your name, upload the files, set the price, and check every listing before it goes live.

    What we do

    • Amazon KDP and IngramSpark accounts opened in your name

    • Paperback, hardback and ebook files uploaded, priced and proofed

    • Distribution to Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play, and the library and bookshop channels

    • Listing copy, categories and keywords written and tested

    What you do

    • Provide identity and tax details. The accounts and the money are yours

    • Approve the final price and the listing text

    • Hold the first printed copy and confirm it is right

  5. Stage 5

    Launch

    4 to 6 weeks of active launch

    A book merely on sale is invisible. Launch is the weeks where we put it in front of readers who already buy books like yours.

    What we do

    • A launch plan with dates, categories and a target for the first thirty days

    • Amazon advertising managed, with spend and return reported weekly

    • A press release, plus outreach to podcasts your readers already follow

    • Category strategy aimed at rankings your book can honestly win

    What you do

    • Send one email to your own contacts. This matters more than anything we do

    • Sit for three to eight podcast interviews we book

    • Approve the advertising budget and the launch date

  6. Stage 6

    Ongoing

    Included on the Enterprise package, available monthly on the others

    Launch ends and the book either keeps selling or it does not. This stage is the difference, and it is the part most companies stop doing.

    What we do

    • A monthly royalty and sales report in plain language

    • Review generation through legitimate reader programmes, never paid reviews

    • Backlist promotion: price runs, refreshed keywords, new categories

    • Second edition planning, and whether a follow up is worth writing

    What you do

    • Read one report a month, which takes about five minutes

    • Tell us when something changes that the book should reflect

    • Decide, once a year, whether to keep going

What actually changes the timeline

Two things decide which end of each range you land on, and only one of them is ours.

What makes it faster

  • Reading each batch of chapters within a week. This alone finishes books months earlier.

  • Having your material in one place before stage one: talks, notes, half written posts, the stories you already tell.

  • Deciding once. A cover reopened in week nine costs more than the revision itself.

What makes it slower

  • A manuscript needing a structural rewrite rather than an edit. We say so at the outline stage, not at the end.

  • Interviews rescheduled repeatedly. The writing runs on them, so a missed week is a missed week of drafting.

  • Adding scope mid project. All possible, all quoted in writing before the work starts.

Start at stage oneSee books that went through it