The Book Blueprint
Is there a book worth writing inside what you already know?
A free conversation with Bob Graham about the expertise you have accumulated, the people who need it, and what a book would actually have to accomplish inside your business.
- Five questions first, so the conversation starts somewhere useful.
- Then you pick a time. No waiting to hear back.
- No pitch. If the answer is that you should not write a book, Bob will say so.
- And it might not be a book. A keynote, a podcast, a curriculum or a client education system can carry an idea better, depending on the job it has to do.
What this actually is
A working conversation, not a sales call.
Most people arrive at this question from one of two directions. Either clients have been telling them for years that they should write a book, or they can feel that their best thinking is not travelling and a book seems like the obvious fix.
Both are worth taking seriously. Neither is proof that a book is the right answer.
The Blueprint exists to find out. The goal is not to convince you to write a book. The goal is to work out whether there is a strong enough idea, a real reader need and a business reason to justify one.
If there is, you leave with a clearer view of the central idea and where the project could go. If there is not, that is useful information too, and it is cheaper to learn it now than in Chapter Seven.
It is also worth saying plainly that the answer is not always a book. A book is one form an Authority Asset can take, and often the strongest one, because a book has room for argument, stories and nuance. But some ideas belong in a keynote. Some belong in a podcast, a curriculum, a client education system or a connected body of content. The form should follow the job the asset has to do in the business, and part of this conversation is working out which form that is.
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Answer five questions
Short, and worth thinking about. They give Bob something real to work from before you speak.
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Pick a time
The calendar opens as soon as you submit. No gatekeeping, no waiting for a reply.
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Have the conversation
You leave knowing whether there is a book here, what it would be about, and what it would need to do for the business.
Start here
Five questions, then the calendar.
These are the questions Bob would ask in the first ten minutes anyway. Answering them in advance means the conversation starts at minute eleven.
There are no wrong answers, and "not sure yet" is a real answer to several of them.
What do you do, and who do you do it for?A sentence or two is plenty.
What do you find yourself explaining over and over?The thing you have said so many times you no longer hear how unusual it is.
What would a book need to accomplish inside the business?Referrals, speaking, client education, sales conversations, recruiting, or something else.
How much of your thinking already exists in written or recorded form?Published work, talks and posts, or mostly still in your head.
Where are you with timing?Ready to start, sometime this year, or still exploring.
Answer them here
Nothing is sent anywhere. Your answers stay in this browser, and the booking calendar opens underneath when you are done.
Your answers
Paste them into the booking notes so Bob has them before the call.
Honest fit
Who this conversation helps, and who it does not.
Bob works with financial advisors, consultants, professional speakers, business coaches, CEOs, founders and other experienced professionals. The common thread is not an ambition to become an author.
It is years of accumulated judgment, and a business reason for making that judgment easier to understand and pass along.
This is probably worth your time if
- You have been doing this long enough to have patterns, not just opinions.
- Clients or referral partners keep asking you to explain the same things.
- You can name a business reason a book would serve, even roughly.
- You suspect your best thinking is not reaching people who need it.
This is probably not the right moment if
- You want a book primarily so you can say you wrote one.
- You are looking for someone to publish and market a finished manuscript.
- The expertise is still being built. A book too early locks in thinking you have not finished having.
- You need leads next month. A book is infrastructure, not a campaign.
From people who have done the work
What tends to happen in these conversations.
The most common reaction is not excitement about writing a book. It is recognising an idea you have been carrying for years and had stopped noticing.
"He shows you that this one-dimensional thing is actually three-dimensional."
Dr. Danielle A. Vaziri, PA-C, Body By Barker
"When he replied with his suggestions, it was like a light bulb went off. It brought so much clarity, vision, and a renewed passion."
Christopher Moore, Owner, Biz Strategists
Client experiences vary. Testimonials describe individual experiences and do not promise similar business or financial results. Watch the full video testimonials.
Before you book
Reasonable questions
Is this really free?
Yes. There is no charge and no obligation. Bob does this because the conversation tells him as much as it tells you, and because a project that starts from a weak idea is bad for both of us.
What if I do not know what my book is about yet?
That is the normal starting point, and it is what the conversation is for. Many projects begin before the premise is settled. The stories, client patterns and recurring distinctions usually reveal the central idea more reliably than trying to name it in advance.
How long does the conversation take?
Long enough to get somewhere useful and short enough to fit in a normal week. The five questions take a few minutes. The call length shows on the booking calendar when you pick a time.
What happens if we decide a book is not right?
Then you have saved yourself a year and a significant amount of money. Sometimes the better answer is a keynote, a curriculum, a client education system or a connected body of content. Sometimes the answer is that the business has a distribution problem rather than a source problem, which a book will not fix.
What actually happens if we go ahead?
Ghostwriting engagements run four to six months from the date the contract is signed and ask about 10 to 12 hours of your time in total, spread across interviews and review. Book coaching works the other way around, with Bob on structure and editorial judgment while you write.
See Services & Investment for what each path costs.
Your expertise already exists.
The question is whether enough of it survives when you are not there to explain it.