A book deserves a clear conversation before it deserves a commitment. You should know what the work will cost, how it will fit into your life, and what you can expect from the people helping you create it. Here are answers to the questions we hear most often.
What is the investment?
Our nonfiction book engagement is $49,700, taking you from your first meeting through publication, with the specific services and deliverables defined in your proposal.
We’ve built TRUE48 around a focused collaboration, with a clear schedule and an investment you understand before we begin.
How can you offer this level of work at that price?
We bring our experience to a focused, efficient collaboration.
This requires asking better questions early, organizing your material around what is most potent and useful, establishing your voice before drafting, and working through chapters with you as they develop. Each stage gives the next one a stronger starting point.
Your time goes toward the parts that need you: sharing your experience, clarifying your thinking, and responding to the work. We take responsibility for shaping and writing your book while you continue doing what you do best.
What does the engagement include?
The work begins with discovering and defining your book. From there, we gather your source material, develop the chapter structure, establish your voice, and write and revise your manuscript with you.
We also organize the stories, ideas, interviews, and supporting material gathered along the way into a source archive that can inform future content.
Your proposal spells out the publishing services included in your engagement, the formats we’ll produce, and any additional costs. You’ll know how your book will move from an approved manuscript to a published work before we start.
How long will it take?
We establish a project-specific schedule in your proposal, with milestones for discovery, writing, review, production, and publication.
The schedule depends on the scope, source material, your availability for review, and the formats and publishing path we agree on.
The purpose of that focused schedule is to get your book into readers’ hands while the ideas and opportunities behind it are still timely. That gives you an earlier opportunity to put it to work through sales, speaking, client relationships, podcast growth, and other ways of reaching people.
How much of my time will this require?
You’ll need time for discovery conversations, interviews, and thoughtful review of your chapters. You’ll also help us access relevant material and answer follow-up questions.
We plan that involvement with you at the outset. Ultimately, the amount of time depends on your book and the material already available, but the process is designed to make efficient use of every conversation.
You bring the experience and ongoing feedback. We manage the writing and keep the work moving. Timely conversations and decisions from you help us stay on schedule.
Will the book sound like me?
That is one of the central standards of the work.
We listen for how you think, explain, question, and tell a story. Before drafting the full manuscript, we develop a representative passage and work through it with you until the direction feels right.
As you review chapters, you continue helping us refine that voice. Your book should feel like a natural extension of your presence, whether someone knows you through your work, your conversations, or the audience you’ve already built.
How do revisions work?
We revise chapter by chapter, so you help shape the manuscript as it develops. That allows us to resolve questions about voice, meaning, and direction throughout the writing process.
Your proposal defines the revision process, review periods, and how changes to the agreed scope are handled. Once the full manuscript is ready, we work with you through the agreed final-edit period before approval.
The aim is to arrive at the full manuscript with the substantial editorial decisions already made and give you a final opportunity to consider your book as a whole.
Is our work together confidential?
Confidentiality and permitted use of your material are defined in your written agreement before work begins.
Any permission to discuss your book or our involvement is addressed in that agreement, so you understand what may be shared and in what setting. Your name or book does not automatically become part of our public marketing.
Who owns the book?
Your agreement defines manuscript ownership, copyright, and any rights required for publication, including the terms of the transfer to you. TRUE48’s book engagement is fee-based, with no continuing royalty or revenue share payable to TRUE48.
If you choose to work with us on additional content, that is a separate engagement with its own scope and fee.
Can I spread out the payments?
Yes. You can pay in one, two, or three payments. The first payment is required before work begins, and the remaining payment dates are agreed upon in advance.
Can you help with content beyond the book?
Yes. Creating your book gives us a deep working understanding of your voice, your experience, and the ideas you want to share.
At your direction, we can draw on that understanding and your source archive to develop articles, speeches, newsletters, podcast and video content, or other work. You can give us a specific assignment without having to introduce yourself all over again.
These engagements are priced individually, based on what you want to create and the work involved.
How do we begin?
Start with a private book assessment. Tell us what you’ve lived, what you’ve learned, and what you hope your book will make possible.
We’ll help you consider the material, the reader, and the fit. If we move forward together, you’ll receive a clear proposal outlining the work, the investment, and the path ahead.
Request a private book assessment.