Book a call

Merlin Manrold

The process

Behind the scenes.

Four months, start to finish. Here is every week of it, and exactly what I need from you.

Your four months

Sixteen weeks, from the first call to the finished book.

12Calls with me. Nobody else is on them.

1 to 2 hrsEach call. Twice a week, for six weeks.

1Person who reads your story. Me, under NDA.

Six weeks of talking

The writing

Your book

Two calls a week. Twelve in total, plus your outline by week four.

A few chapters reach you every ten days.

Handed over.

Weeks

Before

We talk onceThen the portfolio, then the NDA.

Weeks 1 to 6

Twelve conversationsTwo calls a week. Questions sent ahead.

By week 4

Your outlineEvery chapter, before a word is written.

Weeks 7 to 14

The first draftChapters reach you every ten days.

Weeks 15 to 16

Handed overA clean draft. Your name on it.

BEFORE WEEK ONE

We talk once, and I may say no.

The first call is not a pitch. I want to know who you are and why you want this book. If there is no real reason behind it, I will tell you, and I will turn the project down.

If we both want to go on, I send you my portfolio. Several kinds of writing, so you can hear me change voice. Then we sign an NDA before anything else starts.

The first call

01Why this book, and why now?

02Who do you want to have read it?

03What would make it a waste of your time?

NDA signed. You own every word of it. Nothing leaves it unless you say so.

WEEKS 1 TO 6

Twelve conversations.

Two calls a week, for six weeks. Booked for an hour, often running to two. I send the questions a few days ahead, so you are never put on the spot. If you have had no time to prepare, we just talk.

I am not collecting your CV. I ask about childhood, your family, who was beside you when it was hard, the ventures that did not work, and what your work cost you at home.

The failures are usually where the book actually is.

Call 04 · recording

01Who did you call the night it nearly collapsed?

02What did your father do for a living?

03Name a decision you would take back.

Questions go out before every call. These are illustrative, not a client's.

ALONGSIDE, WEEKS 1 TO 6

I read your field, then ask where you stand.

While we are talking, I go and research your subject properly. Then I bring it back to you and ask what you actually think. I do not assume it.

One client's book argued for AI on almost every page. When we got to decision making, he was firmly against it. I would have written that chapter wrong if I had not asked.

Research note · your standpoint

The chapter assumes ~~the same is true of judgement calls~~ the opposite. He draws a hard line at judgement calls. Checked on call 07 before drafting.

BY WEEK 4

You see the whole shape before I write a word.

You get the outline. Every chapter, in order, and what goes in each one. Nothing is written until you have looked at it. We change it as we go if the book wants to go somewhere else.

Outline · v1

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Chapter titles withheld.

WEEKS 7 TO 14

I write. Chapters reach you every ten days.

The first draft takes about two months. You do not wait until the end to see it. A few chapters land every ten days or so, and you read them in your own time and mark them up.

That is how the voice becomes yours. Every round of your notes moves it closer, until it stops sounding like a writer and starts sounding like you.

Chapter three · your notes

We had eighteen months of runway and ~~a robust strategic framework~~ no idea what we were doing. I have told this story at conferences for years. This is the first time I have written down ~~what transpired~~ what it felt like.

An illustration of how a line changes, not a client's page.

WEEKS 15 TO 16

A clean draft, and it is yours.

I hand over a finished manuscript. Your name is on it. Mine is nowhere. Nobody will know I was there. That is the job.

Title withheldName withheld

On confidentiality

Everything we talk about is covered by the NDA we sign before we start. You own every word of the book. Nothing leaves it unless you say so. Not a line of the book, and not even the fact that we worked together.

I once flew to another city just to sit in a client's office and watch how she worked.

Book the first call

No pitch. I want to hear why you want the book.