My process

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When I begin working with a new client, we talk through the entire book from beginning to end. That process could take a handful of meetings to really pin down. If you don't do this early foundational work, you're going to inevitably waste time and effort and energy. It’s the difference between driving with or without directions. If you don’t follow a roadmap, you might reach your destination eventually—but you could also make a wrong turn or get stuck in traffic along the way.

Why leave it to chance?

With a project as sprawling and big as a book, it stands to reason that you would want regular check-ins and meetings with your ghostwriter. There should be consistency and accountability baked into the system.

I find that the most successful projects have a rhythm to them—a cadence of meetings, typically on the same time and date each week, and a synchronicity of deliveries.

I enjoy meeting every week or every other week—it gives a chance to go over new chapters, review the work completed and discuss areas of focus that will be covered in upcoming chapters. Basically, the meetings and deliveries of new material are happening on these parallel tracks.

Under this system, the progress is consistent. Whatever text is written will be included in the next delivery, but there’s no big worry about scrambling to get everything done on deadline.

And there's a consistent pace to the material being discussed.