The straight answer
A book coach for founders keeps your book moving when your calendar won’t. You write every word. Your coach brings the chapter map, the weekly deadline and the honest notes, so the book gets finished in months instead of drifting for years. My book coaching is $10,000 USD for 12 private 60-minute sessions over 90 days, or $15,000 USD with a Createcation™ to lay the foundations first.
You’ve talked investors off ledges. You’ve hired, fired, pivoted and survived at least 1 quarter you still don’t talk about at dinner. You can run a board meeting in your sleep (and probably have).
The book is the only project on your list that has never had a deadline. That’s why it’s still on the list.
Why do founders get stuck on their book?
You’re short on time, sure. The bigger problem is that you have too much material. Years of lessons, a few near-misses, the keynote that always gets a laugh in the same spot, the client story you’ve told 40 times. A book needs 1 throughline, and a founder’s brain wants to put everything in it.
Then there’s accountability. Your team doesn’t ask how chapter 3 is going. Your board doesn’t either. So the book waits for a free weekend, and you already know how that ends.
What does a book coach actually do for a founder?
- A chapter map in the first sessions. What’s in, what’s out and the order it goes in, so you stop rewriting the introduction.
- A deadline every week. Lovingly enforced. I notice when the pages don’t show up, and I ask about it.
- Honest notes on your pages, while there’s still time to fix them. I’ll tell you when a chapter isn’t working, including your favourite one.
- A publishing decision you make once. Traditional, hybrid or self-published, picked for what you want the book to do for you.
Your hands stay on the keyboard the whole time. Your voice, your stories, your name on the cover.
How much time does it take?
Plan on 3 to 5 hours a week of writing, plus 1 hour with me. 12 sessions over 90 days. Most of my coaching clients finish a first draft inside the 90 days. A book gets written in 60-minute blocks on an ordinary Tuesday, with a plan and someone expecting pages. That’s the whole trick.
Book coach or ghostwriter: which one does a founder need?
If you want to write it yourself and you can protect a few hours a week, book coaching is your fit. If you have a finished messy draft, co-writing turns it into the book it’s been trying to be ($35,000 USD). If you’d rather hand the whole thing over, ghostwriting starts at $75,000 USD and I write it from interviews with you, in your voice. The full comparison is in The Difference Between a Book Coach and a Ghostwriter.
What does the book do for the business?
Royalties pay for dinner. The talks, the clients and the invitations your book brings in pay for a lot more than dinner. A book is the key that unlocks doors you didn’t even know existed: the stage, the client who read chapter 4 on a plane, the podcast host who finally says yes. I wrote more about why a book wins business.
You’ve built a company out of nothing. A book is easier than that. It just needs a deadline and someone in your corner.
Your Next Fave Read
- How to Turn Your Business Into a Book
- How to Write a Book When You Already Have a Full-Time Business
- The Difference Between a Book Coach and a Ghostwriter
Ready to get your wisdom into the world, however you write it? Book a free validation call and I’ll help you pick the right approach for your book and your goals: coaching, co-writing or ghostwriting. Book your free validation call
