How a project actually runs
Seven steps. Fortnightly deliverables. No black boxes.
Most agencies in this category send a deposit invoice, then go silent for six weeks. We do not. The schedule below is what every engagement looks like — same shape for ghostwriting, editing, design, or marketing.
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30 minutes
Discovery call
A senior editor (not a sales rep) reads your brief and gets on Zoom. They ask harder questions than you might expect: why this book, why now, what is it for, what does it do for you a year after launch.
- Zoom or phone
- Mutual NDA signed before the call if you want one
- No follow-up call if it is not a fit
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Day 2
Written quote, in 48 hours
A scoped quote arrives by email. Fixed price. Itemized deliverables. Written timeline. Payment schedule. The quote is good for 30 days and we will not chase you.
- Fixed-price, not hourly
- Named writer or editor by name
- Payment schedule of 3 or 4 installments
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Day 3–10
Contract signed
Two-page contract. Plain language. You own copyright from day one. We work on the manuscript only after the 33% deposit lands.
- Two-page contract, not 20
- Mutual NDA built in for ghostwriting
- Copyright assignment to you on payment of the first invoice
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Week 1–2
Team match & voice sample
Your writer or editor is named. For ghostwriting, a 1,500-word voice sample lands in week 2 from a real section of the outline. If the voice is not right, we re-cast at no charge.
- Writer or editor named
- 1,500-word voice sample for ghost projects
- Re-cast option at no cost
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Weeks 2–18
Work in fortnightly chunks
Drafts, edits, designs, layouts — delivered every two weeks. You review each chunk before the next starts. No silent six-week stretches.
- Drafts in 8,000–12,000 word chunks for writing
- Tracked-changes for editing
- Concept reviews at thumbnail size for design
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Weeks 19–20
Structural revision rounds
Two full rounds where you can ask for sections to be cut, moved, merged, or expanded. After these rounds, the shape is locked and we move into final polish.
- Two full structural rounds
- Unlimited line-level revisions inside timeline
- Hard lock on structure before line edit
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Weeks 21–22
Final delivery or launch
Final files, the style guide, and the rights assignment. For projects that include publishing, we upload to KDP and IngramSpark; for projects that include marketing, the launch operates for 30 days post-release.
- Final files in your format
- Style guide for future writing
- 30-day post-delivery support included
The numbers behind the process
Why we run it this way.
- 94%
- projects ship within 2 weeks of their written timeline
- 88%
- final quotes within 15% of the starting-from price
- 1 in 9
- ghost projects re-cast at the voice sample stage — and we mean it
- <24h
- response time to client emails during business hours
The voice sample
The most important week of a ghostwriting project is week two.
One in nine of our ghost projects gets re-cast at the voice sample stage. That number sounds high. It is the point. Voice mismatches at week two cost no money to fix. The same mismatch at week twelve costs a month of work.
- 1,500 words, written from a real section of your outline
- Reviewed against your existing writing (texts, emails, journal pages)
- If voice isn't right, we re-cast the writer at no charge
- Real decision point — not theatre
Process FAQ
How it works, day by day.
What happens between the deposit and the first deliverable?
Week 1: writer or editor matched, kick-off call scheduled, outline brief in your inbox. Week 2 for ghostwriting: voice sample delivered. For editing, the sample edit chapter comes back. For design, the brief call happens and the designer studies the category. You are not in a black box. You will hear from the team weekly.
Do I get a single point of contact?
Yes. A project lead — usually the senior editor or designer on the file, not an account manager — is your one contact. They forward writer questions to you and your questions to the writer. One inbox, not five.
What if my timeline changes?
Push or pull, both work. We need 14 days notice for major pushes (more than 4 weeks). For pulls, we will tell you honestly whether the work can be accelerated, and at what premium (typically 25–35%) if it can.
Will you sign my NDA, or do you use yours?
Either. We will review and sign your NDA on the first call if you have one. If you do not, we use ours. Either way, it is mutual.
What does 'post-delivery support' actually include?
30 days of free fixes for typos, small inconsistencies, file format issues, and Amazon listing problems. After that, hourly billing in 15-minute increments at $90/hr. Most authors use 1–3 hours of post-delivery support.
Ready when you are
Talk to a real person about your book.
A 30-minute discovery call with a senior editor — no sales script, no pressure. We'll tell you whether we're the right fit for your project, what it would cost, and how long it would take.