I’ve had this conversation more times than I want to count. Somebody tells me they’ll write the book someday, when things calm down. Things don’t calm down, and some of those books never get written.
A potential client contacted me about ghostwriting a memoir of his father’s life. His father was 85 years old, and the story would have been incredible: a lifetime of adventures traveling around the world just before World War II. After six months of delay, the client decided to move forward.
On that day, his father had a heart attack. He survived, but the client shelved the book forever. A story of the incredible adventures of a phenomenal man will now never be written.
I tell that story because the commonest thing I hear is “I’ll get to it eventually.” Eventually has no date attached, and a book without a date doesn’t get written. That’s how a man’s eighty-five years of stories went unrecorded, and it still seems wrong to me.
I’ve completed 54+ ghostwriting projects and published 113+ books. The clients who moved forward changed their careers, their businesses, and their legacies. The ones who waited are still waiting.
What Does a Book Do for Your Business?
| Client | What the book did |
|---|---|
| Fortune 50 executive in Europe | Raised venture capital, paid keynotes every year, pivot from manager to founder. |
| Canadian tech entrepreneur | Secured a TEDx talk, speaking opportunities and business expansion. |
| Financial strategist | Became the tool he hands prospects so they arrive ready to hire. |
| One of my earliest clients | CEO wrote the foreword; regular speaking; textbook in several universities. |
| Keynote client | Became a paid keynote speaker. |
| Exit strategy client | Book is the centerpiece of his exit, positioning him as a thought leader. |
| Business coach I visited | His signed book turned me into a new customer. |
A book intended to support your business starts producing returns the moment it’s published.Share on X
People who call a business book a vanity project haven’t watched one work. A well-used book is the most powerful credibility tool available to a professional, and every client outcome I’ve seen confirms this.
A Fortune 50 executive in Europe was stuck.
Senior management position, deep expertise in digital transformation, but no visibility and no path forward. We spent twelve months building a book that positioned him as a visionary in his field. The result: $30 million in venture capital raised, four or more paid keynotes per year, university recognition, and a complete career pivot from overlooked manager to founder. For more, see why doctors need a book and how to write a social media bio that gets results.
That was my first ghostwriting project under The Writing King brand.
People who call a business book a vanity project haven’t watched one work.
A Canadian tech entrepreneur needed more than a resume. His book secured a TEDx talk, speaking opportunities, and opened doors for business expansion. The book documented what he knew and then did the harder job of making him the person other people wanted to hear from.
A financial strategist turned his methodology into a client-facing book called Paycheck to Prosperity. It became the tool he hands to new prospects. Instead of explaining his approach in every meeting, he gives them the book. They read it, they understand his value, and they come back ready to hire him.
One of my earliest clients wrote a book to get noticed by his CEO and land a few speaking engagements. He got far more than he expected. The CEO wrote the foreword. He gets booked to speak all the time now, and the press finally knows his name. His book became a textbook in several universities.
I’d call these ordinary outcomes for a professional who puts their expertise into a well-crafted book and then puts the book to work. The ones who stack the boxes in the garage and wait for the phone to ring get nothing, and then they blame the book.
How does a book work as a sales tool?
I walked into the office of a business coach once, looking for help defining my image. As he led me into his office, I noticed a shelf filled with books, each with his name and picture on the cover. He saw my glance, smiled, and handed me a copy. My impression of him changed immediately.
As we talked, he used the book to illustrate his points. He made a show of signing a copy and presenting it as a gift. I walked out a new customer. That book defined his brand. It included a few chapters of his life story, a description of his philosophy, and the rest was about his services and why they were relevant and helpful.
A book gives you a platform to communicate exactly what you want people to understand about your expertise, your values, and your approach. It’s your message, delivered on your terms, without the compression of a website or the noise of social media. When a prospect reads your book, they spend hours with your ideas. No other marketing tool produces that level of engagement.
Why Write Your Book Now and Not Later?
The 85-year-old father’s heart attack is the extreme case, but the principle applies everywhere. Businesses evolve. Markets shift. The window for a particular book to have maximum impact doesn’t stay open forever.
A book intended to support your business starts producing returns the moment it’s published. Another client became a keynote speaker earning $25,000 a speech. For a third, the book is the centerpiece of an exit strategy, because it positions him as a thought leader in his space.
Every month you delay is a month without that credibility tool working for you. The executive who raised $30 million couldn’t have raised it without the book. The financial strategist would still be explaining his methodology in every meeting instead of handing prospects a book that does it for him.
If you’ve been thinking about writing a book for your business, start now. Every quarter you spend thinking about it is a quarter a competitor with a weaker idea and a finished book spends in front of your prospects, and you’d be handing them a gift.
How do you get your book written when you’re busy?
If you want to write it yourself, my handbooks at The Writing King cover every aspect of the craft, and book coaching gives you professional guidance with every session recorded for review.
If you want it written for you, ghostwriting with milestone-based payments produces a professional manuscript built around your voice, your expertise, and your goals. Fifty-four projects and counting.
Either way, start with a conversation. We’ll figure out which path fits your project, your timeline, and your budget. You can also explore my case studies to see the full range of outcomes.
My take
Stop waiting for a better quarter to write your book. A client nearly lost his father’s memoir because he delayed six months, and the heart attack came the day he decided to go ahead. Business books run on the same clock, only slower. Every quarter you spend thinking about it, a competitor with a weaker idea and a finished book is in front of your prospects. Decide whether you’ll write it yourself with coaching or hire a ghostwriter, and put a start date on the calendar this week.
Why Write a Book FAQ
The stories you’re carrying won’t wait, and neither will the people in them. I’d rather see you start this year with a messy outline than lose a book the way that father’s story was lost.
People who keep putting the book off can read The Ghostwriting Advantage. I wrote it to show how to get your book written for you while the stories are still there to tell.
