Publishing, Professional or Elite? Three questions settle it.
The three packages differ on who writes the book and what it has to stand beside. Here are the three questions we ask on every call, the real monthly prices with their totals, and the two smaller steps if you are not ready to choose.
Publishing if the manuscript is written, Professional if a Scribe writer should write it, Elite if the book must compete with major-house titles.
Three questions decide it, in this order: is the manuscript written, who should write it, and what will the book have to compete with.
Is the manuscript written? If yes, you do not need a ghostwriter and should not pay for one. Scribe Publishing is $4,833 a month for six months, $29,000 in total: editing, cover and interior design, audiobook, ISBNs and copyright registration, worldwide distribution and launch support. If the draft exists but you are unsure it is ready, a Manuscript Evaluation is $2,000 for a professional read with a written assessment.
Who should write it? If the book is in your head and time is the constraint, choose Scribe Professional: $4,667 a month for twelve months, $56,000 in total. A Scribe writer turns about twenty hours of recorded interviews into the book in your voice, about 50 hours of your time. Gui Costin, CEO of Dakota, did it twice, two books written with Scribe; the return, he says, is authority.
What must the book compete with? If it will sit beside major-house books, or your name already carries a platform, choose Elite: $9,000 a month for fifteen months, $135,000 in total. Elite is a specification: a premier ghostwriter, twenty in-depth interviews, twenty hours of research, ten revision calls, up to three days in person, and a $25,000 launch budget. Elite is built to the standard of a major-house book.
When Scribe is the wrong choice. Every author here had a business to feed: Mark Baird has doubled assets under management since Rules to Riches, his figure. If you want to sell copies as the business, if this is personal money with nothing to feed the book into, or if you need it in under nine months, none of the three fits, and we will say so.
What do the three price tags not tell you?
Professional and Elite are both ghostwritten. The difference is who writes and how deep the work goes: Elite adds twenty hours of research, ten revision calls and up to three days in person with your writer.
Michael Erath used a ghostwriter for two books and wrote the third himself because the material was technical. It took longer. Writing and publishing alone runs 300 hours or more; the interview method takes about 50.
Compass is $5,000 for five coaching calls over four to six weeks that produce your North Star, table of contents and chapter roadmap. You keep all of it, and the full $5,000 is credited toward Professional or Elite.
Shaan Patel on what his book returned relative to what the project cost.
What did the book do for the business behind it?
Every number below comes from a published success story on scribemedia.com, and each one links to the page it came from.
These are the best documented results among authors who told us. Every one of them had a business or a stage the book could feed. Most authors do not track a number, and a book without a business behind it should not be bought for a financial return.
Michael Erath spent two decades running a manufacturing business before he became a business coach. His firm, Next Level Growth, now mails 75 to 100 copies of his book to targeted prospects every month, at about $16 all-in per book placed, his figures. He calls it the best lead magnet the firm has.
Fifteen years of sales and leadership principles became two thin books; he says the return is authority, not book sales.
Read the story →He wrote the book to help his community and his practice; speaking invitations followed, his figure.
Read the story →New clients came from five regions worldwide after Stress-Free Money, by his account, and the book paid back within ten months.
Read the story →Speaker bureaus asked to represent him after the books, and the fee doubled, his figure.
Read the story →One prospect read the book on a flight and became a six-figure client, by his account.
Read the story →You would be in good company
From first-time authors to number-one bestsellers, these are books our teams helped create.
Questions people ask before choosing
You can, and if price or speed is the priority there are cheaper ways to publish a book. What you pay Scribe for is the whole project under one roof: the writer, a publishing manager, an executive editor, design, audiobook, distribution and launch, one price paid monthly, $4,667 a month over twelve months for Professional, $56,000 in total. If the book only needs to exist, a cheaper route may be right. If it has to stand for your practice or company for years, the difference shows up on the page.
One price, paid monthly, with a $1,000 deposit at signing that comes off the first payment. A few things in the agreement can change the number, and we would rather show you the document than paraphrase it: ask us what could cost more and what happens if you stop, and we will show you the agreement before you sign. Nothing about payments or cancellation should be a surprise after the first call.
If you know the draft is finished and you want it edited, designed, recorded and distributed, go straight to Publishing at $4,833 a month for six months, $29,000 in total. If you are not sure the draft is ready, or whether it should be rebuilt with a writer, start with a Manuscript Evaluation: $2,000 for a professional read of the manuscript with a written assessment. Ask about how the fee applies if you continue.
Only if the book has to compete on a shelf where the bar is a major-house book. Elite is a specification: a premier ghostwriter, twenty in-depth interviews, twenty hours of research, ten revision calls, up to three days in person, and a $25,000 launch budget, at $9,000 a month for fifteen months, $135,000 in total. If the book's job is to bring clients and credibility to a business, Professional does that job, and we will say so if that is you.
Publishing asks for your decisions on title, cover and proofs, since the writing is done. Professional takes about 50 hours in total: roughly twenty in ten recorded interviews of two hours each, the rest in roadmapping, voice checks and revisions, one to two hours a week over nine to twelve months. Elite adds up to three days in person with your writer and ten revision calls. Writing and publishing alone runs 300 hours or more.
That is what the process is built for. You interview three hand-selected senior writers and choose one. After the first interviews you see preview pages, and there is a second voice check at the midpoint; nothing proceeds until you approve the voice. The full draft comes back to you in four sections for line-by-line revision until every line is approved, and if the writer is not the right fit, we will re-pair you.
When Scribe is the wrong choice
We would rather say this here than on a call.
- You want to sell copies as the business. The return on these packages is clients, speaking, authority and legacy, not royalties.
- You have no business, practice or platform to feed the book into, and this is personal money. A $56,000 book needs somewhere to work.
- You need the book in under nine months. Professional runs nine to twelve months from first call to launch, and every step has a purpose.
The real numbers, before you talk to anyone
Every package is one price, paid monthly, with a $1,000 deposit at signing that comes off the first payment. You own every right and every dollar of royalties. The monthly figure and the total are both here, before any call.
You have written the manuscript. Editing, cover, interior, audiobook and global distribution are handled for you.
You talk, a Scribe writer turns about twenty hours of interviews into your book (about 50 hours of your time in total), and it is published under your name.
A premier ghostwriter and a dedicated team, built to the standard of a major-house book: twenty in-depth interviews, research, ten revision calls, and a $25,000 launch budget.
Five coaching calls over four to six weeks produce your North Star, table of contents and chapter roadmap. You keep all of it. If you continue into Professional or Elite, the entire $5,000 comes off your book.
Find your package on a 15-minute call
It is a sales conversation, and we say so. We tell you the price, Publishing at $4,833 a month ($29,000), Professional at $4,667 a month ($56,000) or Elite at $9,000 a month ($135,000), and whether you fit, and we will say so if you do not. We reply during business hours, usually the same day.
The longer answer on choosing a package
The people who choose well start with the book's job, not the price list. An executive who built a real company and has no public profile needs the book to be the introduction, so people say "I read your book" before the meeting starts. A lawyer, advisor or coach who sells hours needs the book to work while they are home with their family. A speaker with a platform needs the book to hold up beside the books already on their audience's shelf. Those are three different jobs, and the three questions on this page sort them: is it written, who writes it, and what does it compete with.
Price matters. Professional is $4,667 a month for twelve months, $56,000 in total; that is personal income for a solo practitioner and a line in the marketing budget for a larger firm. The honest way to judge it is against what one new client, one engagement or one keynote is worth to you. Gui Costin will not give a dollar figure and calls the return authority. Michael Mogill puts his at $5 million in new business over two years, his estimate. Most authors do not track a number, and a book without a business behind it should not be bought for a financial return.
If you already know your answers to the three questions, book the 15-minute call. It is a sales conversation, and we say so: we tell you the price and whether you fit, and we will say so if you do not. If you are not sure, take the smaller step. Compass is $5,000 for five coaching calls that produce your North Star, table of contents and chapter roadmap, all of which you keep, with the full $5,000 credited toward Professional or Elite. A Manuscript Evaluation is $2,000 for a finished draft. Either one leaves you holding something useful whether or not you continue.