Author Mindset

A book coach and a ghostwriter are not interchangeable. Here's the clear, honest guide to what each actually does — and the questions that will tell you exactly which one your book and situation calls for.

The Difference Between a Book Coach and a Ghostwriter — And How to Know Which One You Need

This is one of the most common questions I get — and it deserves a cleaner answer than most people give it. A book coach and a ghostwriter do genuinely different things. The right choice depends not on preference or budget alone, but on a specific set of questions about your goals, your timeline, your existing writing capacity, and what you want your relationship with the finished book to feel like. Here's the framework I use with every prospective client before we ever discuss working together.
AI has entered every corner of publishing — from editing workflows to metadata optimisation to audiobook narration. Here's an honest guide to what it's changing, what it isn't, and how smart authors are using it strategically in 2026.

How AI Is Changing Publishing — And What It Means for Your Book

AI has entered every corner of publishing, and the conversations around it range from breathless enthusiasm to outright panic. After thirty years in this industry, my view is more measured than either. AI is changing some things significantly and leaving others entirely untouched — and knowing the difference is one of the most useful strategic advantages a 2026 author can have. Here's what's actually happening, what it means for your book, and where the irreplaceable human element sits.
The audiobook market hit $2.22 billion in 2024 — growing 13% year over year. Here's why every nonfiction author in 2026 needs an audio strategy, and how to think about it from the moment you start writing.

The Audiobook Opportunity Most Authors Are Leaving on the Table

The audiobook market reached $2.22 billion in 2024 and is growing at a rate that has left print and ebooks well behind. More than half of all Americans have now listened to an audiobook — and the fastest-growing segment is nonfiction. If you're writing a business book, a memoir, or an expert methodology and you haven't thought about the audio version yet, this is the conversation you need to have before you finish the manuscript.
Publishing a book is not a vanity project. The data on speaking fees, consulting revenues, and thought leadership ROI makes the business case undeniable. Here's what the research actually says.

Your Book Is a Business Asset — Here’s the Data to Prove It

Most people think of a book as a passion project — something you do when you have time, when the business is established, when the conditions are right. The research disagrees. A published book is one of the highest-ROI business assets a founder, executive, or expert can own. Here's the data — and what it means for whether your book should be next year's goal or this year's.
You have the story. You have the expertise. You've started three times. Here's the honest diagnosis of what's actually stopping you — and the one change that fixes it.

Why Your Book Isn’t Getting Written (And What to Do About It)

You've started the book. More than once, probably. You have notes in four different places, a half-finished introduction somewhere in your downloads folder, and a running list of chapter ideas that felt brilliant at 2am and slightly less brilliant in the morning. The book isn't getting written — and deep down you suspect the problem isn't time, or discipline, or talent. You're right. Here's what the problem actually is.
Most authors spend years writing their book and three weeks thinking about the launch. Here's the launch strategy that actually works — and why it needs to start before the manuscript is finished.

What Happens After You Write Your Book? The Launch Strategy Most Authors Miss

Most authors spend years writing a book and three weeks thinking about how to launch it. The book arrives quietly. A few hundred copies sell. The speaking enquiries don't materialise. The business doesn't shift. And the author is left wondering what went wrong — not realising that the launch strategy needed to start before the last chapter was written. Here's what actually works.
Publishers want it. Speakers bureaus want it. Your readers need it. Here's how to build your author platform before the book is finished — and why starting now changes everything.

How to Build Your Author Platform Before Your Book Is Written

The single most common reason traditionally published books get rejected isn't the writing. It isn't the idea. It's the platform — or the absence of one. Publishers in 2026 expect authors to arrive with an audience already built. But platform building doesn't have to wait for a publishing deal, and it doesn't require a massive following. It requires the right strategy, started at the right time. That time is now.
Ethical Ghostwriting

Is Ghostwriting Ethical? The Truth About Who Actually Writes Bestsellers

Ghostwriting is one of publishing's worst-kept secrets and most misunderstood practices. The moral panic around it resurfaces every few years — usually when a public figure's book gets attributed to a ghost. Here's what thirty years inside the industry has taught me about the ethics, the reality, and why the question itself is based on a misunderstanding of what authorship actually is.
I've helped create four New York Times bestsellers. Here's what the list actually measures, what it doesn't, and the honest answer to whether hitting it should be your goal.

What Makes a New York Times Bestseller — And Does It Actually Matter?

I've helped create four New York Times bestselling books. I can tell you exactly what it takes to hit the list — and I can also tell you that for most business authors, thought leaders, and experts, the NYT list is the wrong goal. Not because it doesn't matter. Because there's something that matters more, and confusing the two is one of the most expensive mistakes in publishing.
A business book that reads like an annual report will be forgotten by Thursday. Here's how to take thirty years of hard-won business experience and turn it into a book people actually want to read.

How to Turn Your Business Into a Book (Without It Reading Like a Case Study)

The most common mistake I see business leaders make when writing a book is trying to document their business instead of telling their story. Documentation produces case studies. Story produces books that change things. Here's the difference — and how to write a business book that captures your expertise without losing the human being behind it.
Not every author needs a book proposal. Some need one desperately and don't know it. Here's the definitive guide to what a proposal is, who needs it, and exactly what goes inside.

The Storykeeper’s Book Proposal: Do You Need One — And What Goes In It?

The book proposal is one of the most misunderstood documents in publishing. Some authors spend months writing one they never needed. Others query agents for years without one and wonder why no one bites. If you are a nonfiction author — a founder, a leader, a coach, a consultant, a person with a story and a methodology — the question of whether you need a proposal, and what should be in it, is one of the most important questions you will answer before your book reaches readers. This is the guide.
A Createcation is a destination writing retreat designed for the humans who think best when they leave their ordinary life behind. Here's what it is, how it works, and why some books only get written when you go somewhere to write them.

What Is a Createcation — And Could One Change Your Book?

Some books don't get written at your desk. They get written somewhere the light is different, the pace is slower, and the noise of ordinary life is far enough away that the real story can finally surface. A Createcation is a destination writing retreat designed for exactly that — the point in your book journey where immersion unlocks what structure alone can't. Here's how it works and why it might be the thing your book has been waiting for.
Copywriting blog topics

More topics you’ll love: