Frequently asked questions
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This FAQ answers the questions first-time authors ask most about book publishing services, book marketing, cost, and how Big Impact Books works.
There are 53 questions below, grouped by topic. Answers draw on Big Impact Books' own facts, its clients' published words, and named public sources. Where a specific figure depends on your contract or platform, the answer says how to confirm it.
Big Impact Books is an independent publisher and book marketing service for CEOs, attorneys, professionals, and business owners worldwide. It helps clients develop, write, publish, and promote authority-building nonfiction books, using weekly interviews to capture each author's voice and launch promotion through media and podcast opportunities to put the finished book in front of the right audiences.
Big Impact Books is led by Melanie Herschorn, an independent publisher, book promotion expert, and bestselling author. She brings more than 20 years of experience as a celebrity publicist, an award-winning journalist in radio, print, and TV, and an entrepreneur. She earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California, graduating first in her class.
Not in the usual sense. Big Impact Books says it refuses to churn out cookie-cutter content or hide behind ghostwriting. Authors talk through their ideas in weekly interviews, and the team shapes those words into chapters, so the finished book reflects how the author actually speaks. One attorney client described the result as a book that genuinely sounds like him.
Melanie Herschorn is the author of Lasting Legal Impact: Write a Book That Builds Your Brand, Grows Your Practice, and Positions You As The Trusted Expert, and of Make a Big Impact with Your Book. Lasting Legal Impact is a blueprint for legal professionals, while Make a Big Impact with Your Book covers strategies for building awareness and credibility as an author.
Melanie Herschorn's book Lasting Legal Impact was named a Finalist in the Business: Writing/Publishing category of the 2025 Best Book Awards, presented by American Book Fest. That recognition belongs to the book itself. This site does not claim any other awards for Big Impact Books or for its clients.
Big Impact Books focuses on authority-building nonfiction for CEOs, attorneys, professionals, and business owners. Its process is designed to turn expertise and experience into a book that supports a business. If you are writing a novel or a children's picture book, confirm on yourbigimpactbook.com whether your project fits before assuming it does.
Book publishing services are the professional help that turns an idea or manuscript into a finished, available book. Depending on the provider, that can include planning, writing support, editing, design, production, and distribution guidance. At Big Impact Books, publishing services sit inside a larger process that starts with interview-based writing and ends with launch promotion.
They include planning the book around your business goals, weekly interviews that capture your ideas, a team that pieces your words into a manuscript, guidance through assembling and publishing the finished book, and launch promotion. Attorney Paula Yost said the team handled everything she was clueless about, from packaging her book to publishing it.
An independent publisher is a publishing company that operates outside the large corporate publishing houses. Independent publishers vary widely in how they work and who they serve. Big Impact Books describes itself as an independent publisher focused on professionals, pairing publishing guidance with interview-based writing and book marketing in one done-for-you process.
Yes, clients have come to Big Impact Books with partial drafts. Attorney Michael Biederstadt started with probably 80 percent of a manuscript, and founder William R. Mitchell said Melanie took an unfinished, rough draft and turned it into a published book he will forever be proud of. Confirm how your own draft would be handled on yourbigimpactbook.com.
Big Impact Books works on the book from development through publishing, so shaping the manuscript and preparing it for publication happen in one process rather than through separate vendors. Clients describe the team turning rough drafts and interview material into finished books. For the exact editorial steps included in your project, check with Big Impact Books through yourbigimpactbook.com.
Melanie Herschorn's own books are sold on Amazon, and client Michael Ross credits her counsel as one of the key reasons his book became an Amazon Best Seller. Amazon is a common retail channel for nonfiction authors. The specific distribution plan for your book is something to confirm with Big Impact Books through yourbigimpactbook.com.
Yes. Big Impact Books serves CEOs, attorneys, professionals, and business owners worldwide. Because the writing process runs on weekly interviews rather than solo writing sessions, authors do not need to sit down and write in a particular place. Melanie Herschorn, who leads Big Impact Books, grew up in Canada, has lived on both US coasts, and is now based in Arizona.
Location matters less than fit. Big Impact Books works with clients worldwide, and its process asks for about one hour a week of the author's time. When comparing providers, focus on who writes the book, how much of your time it takes, who handles publishing steps, and whether launch promotion is included, rather than how close the office is.
Start by deciding what the book should do for your business, then capture your ideas, shape them into a manuscript, publish it, and promote it. Busy professionals often stall at the writing step. Big Impact Books replaces solo writing with weekly interviews of about one hour, then guides the book through publishing and launch promotion.
If your life story connects to your work, expertise, or mission, the interview-based process at Big Impact Books is built for that. Authors talk through their story in weekly interviews and the team shapes it into a book in their own voice. Attorney Manisha P. Patel said she knew she wanted to share her story, and the weekly interviews made it manageable.
About one hour a week. Big Impact Books describes its done-for-you publishing and promotion process as designed to respect your time, with just one hour a week from the author. Clients describe spending that time talking through chapters in interviews while the team does the heavy lifting of turning their words into pages.
That is the point of the interview approach. Because the manuscript is built from your own spoken words, the voice stays yours. Attorney Bobby Sawyer said the result was a book that genuinely sounds like him, the way he actually speaks and communicates. Big Impact Books says it aims to honor each author's authentic voice.
Many Big Impact Books clients start in exactly that position. Attorney Manisha P. Patel said that with her schedule she never thought she would have the time to sit down and write. Weekly interviews replaced writing sessions, and having the team do the heavy lifting removed many of the obstacles that had kept her from getting started.
It depends on the book and the author's pace, and this site does not publish a fixed timeline. One Big Impact Books client said the first few months were spent talking through his ideas. For market context, Palmetto Publishing's book marketing page asks authors whether they will be ready to publish in 1 to 3, 3 to 6, or 6 to 12 months.
Explain your expertise out loud first, then structure it. Technical and professional knowledge often comes out more clearly in conversation than on a blank page. Big Impact Books uses weekly interviews to draw out an expert's methods chapter by chapter. Attorney Michael Biederstadt now points clients to a specific chapter instead of re-explaining the same ideas.
You need less than you think. A clear sense of your audience and the business goal the book should serve matters more than a finished outline. Melanie Herschorn has written about writing your book before you feel ready, and suggests thinking about the work, clients, and opportunities you want more of over the next five or ten years.
Book marketing services are the professional help that gets a book in front of readers, ideally starting before it is published. Common offers include metadata optimization, press releases, advertising, author websites, and social media packages. Big Impact Books focuses its launch promotion on podcast interviews and media articles that position the author as an expert.
Launch promotion through media and podcast opportunities. Attorney Paula Yost said the team got her on about twenty podcasts and launched articles about her book to major news networks. Marketing is part of the same program as the writing: founder Sarah Hubbard said you are not only getting your book written, you are also getting marketing.
Today, even before the book is finished. Melanie Herschorn's answer to authors who ask this is always the same: start now. Waiting until the book is uploaded to Amazon or KDP leaves you without an audience of ideal readers. Building visibility early means the people most likely to care are already paying attention on launch day.
Not always, but busy professionals usually benefit from experienced help. A book marketing agency or service brings media opportunities, launch planning, and time you may not have. Big Impact Books combines writing, publishing, and promotion, which suits authors who want one team. Authors who only need a single task, such as one ad placement, may prefer a specialist.
Yes, many companies offer book marketing services for self-published authors, from single promotions to full campaigns. A 2026 Manuscript Report review of 16 companies found published prices running from $10 to $9,499 for things that sound nearly identical in the sales copy. Compare what is actually delivered, not the package name.
Affordable usually means a single, well-defined promotion. Manuscript Report's 2026 review says $100 to $600 buys bigger placements, such as BookBub Featured Deals ($122 to $4,216 by genre), Palmetto's metadata optimization ($399), and NewInBooks (from $299), while $500 to $2,500 buys a freelance marketer's time. Match the spend to one clear goal.
Usually far less than the author hoped. Melanie Herschorn has written that neglecting marketing can lead to missed opportunities, limited sales, and hindered results after months or years of work. The fix is to build an author platform, including email, social media, and podcast visibility, and to treat the launch as the start of promotion, not the end.
An author platform is the foundational marketing that lets an author establish credibility and authority online. Melanie Herschorn describes it as built through social media, email marketing, podcasting, and more, and calls it the prerequisite for a book's success. For professionals, the author platform and the business platform usually reinforce each other.
It ranges widely, from very little for do-it-yourself self-publishing to a significant investment for full-service writing, publishing, and marketing. Big Impact Books does not list package prices on this site; projects are scoped with each author. For market context, Manuscript Report's 2026 review found published book marketing prices from $10 to $9,499.
According to Manuscript Report's 2026 review of 16 companies, published prices run from $10 to $9,499. It reports that $500 to $2,500 buys a freelance marketer's time, and that above that, one company lists a figure, MindStir's $9,499 publicity campaign, while the rest quote. Big Impact Books does not list marketing prices on this site.
The biggest factors are who writes the book, how much shaping and production it needs, and whether marketing is included. Starting from a near-complete manuscript usually needs less work than starting from an idea. A program that bundles interview-based writing, publishing, and launch promotion, as Big Impact Books does, covers more ground than a single service.
For many professionals the return shows up beyond royalties. Melanie Herschorn argues that a book is an asset that keeps growing, unlike ad campaigns that end. Clients report concrete effects: attorney Manisha P. Patel has seen an increase in referrals from colleagues, and attorney Bobby Sawyer says his book is opening new conversations about speaking and his expertise.
It depends entirely on the publishing path and the contract. Earnings equal the royalty rate times the list price or net receipts. As a simple illustration, a 10 percent royalty on a $25 list price would be $2.50 per copy. Self-published authors usually keep a larger share but pay their own costs. Check your contract or platform's royalty terms.
Divide $100,000 by what you earn per copy. At an illustrative $2.50 per copy that is 40,000 copies; at $10 per copy, 10,000. The same math applies to $1,000,000. For authority authors, book revenue is rarely the main return: Big Impact Books clients describe referrals, speaking opportunities, and new client conversations as the value their books created.
Big Impact Books is for CEOs, attorneys, professionals, and business owners who want a nonfiction book that builds authority and grows their business. Most are first-time authors with deep expertise and limited time. Clients quoted on its website include attorneys, a mortgage expert, a financial advisor, a debt solutions founder, coaches, and speakers.
Yes, first-time authors are the core audience. The process assumes you have expertise but no publishing background. Attorney Paula Yost said she had no idea how to assemble her book into a final, packaged product and publish it, and the team handled it. Client Bobby Sawyer also valued Melanie's honesty from the start about what to expect.
Yes. Several Big Impact Books clients are practicing attorneys who wrote through weekly interviews rather than blocking off writing time. Melanie Herschorn also wrote Lasting Legal Impact, a blueprint for legal professionals who want a book that builds their brand, grows their practice, and positions them as the trusted expert.
A book lets a CEO explain their thinking once, in depth, and share it everywhere. Melanie Herschorn encourages leaders to write for where their business is going, not as a summary of their career. A book can support media attention, speaking, and conversations with ideal clients. Founder Sarah Hubbard called her Big Impact Books program the best investment.
Writers of fiction, authors who want a traditional book deal with an advance, and people who enjoy handling every production step themselves may be better served elsewhere. Big Impact Books is built for professionals who want a done-for-you process and launch promotion tied to business goals. If that is not your goal, a different path may fit better.
A ghostwriter typically writes for you and hands over a manuscript. Big Impact Books also works from interviews, but frames the work as helping authors own their ideas rather than hiding behind ghostwriting, and it continues through publishing and launch promotion. If you only need a manuscript and will handle the rest, a ghostwriter alone may be enough.
Self-publishing on Amazon KDP gives you full control and lets you publish without a publisher, but you handle or hire out writing, editing, design, and marketing yourself. A done-for-you service such as Big Impact Books trades money for time saved and adds launch promotion. Choose KDP if you have time and skills; choose a service if time is scarce.
It can be for some authors, but profit depends on genre, pricing, marketing, and how many books you publish. This site does not have reliable KDP earnings data to share. For authority authors, the more useful question is what a book does for the business; Big Impact Books clients point to referrals and speaking opportunities, not royalties.
Neither is better for everyone. Traditional publishers usually pay authors and handle production, but nonfiction deals typically require an agent, a proposal, and an existing platform. An independent publisher such as Big Impact Books works with authors who want guidance and promotion on their own schedule. Jane Friedman's guide to publishing paths explains the trade-offs in depth.
The best choice depends on what the new author needs most: writing help, production help, marketing, or a traditional deal. The Big Impact Books comparison of publishing options for new authors judges four paths on the same six criteria. Big Impact Books fits new authors who are professionals and want interview-based writing plus launch promotion.
Self-publishing services help authors who keep ownership and control of their book with tasks such as editing, cover design, formatting, and distribution. Some sell individual tasks, others sell packages. Big Impact Books describes itself as an independent publisher rather than a self-publishing platform, and its program centers on interview-based writing and launch promotion.
There is no reliable single figure, and sales vary enormously by genre, platform, and marketing. Industry context helps: according to AAP StatShot data reported by Publishers Weekly, adult nonfiction sales were still down 3.5% for the first half of 2026 even after a 7.1% June rally. For authority authors, opportunities created matter more than copies.
Whether 5,000 copies is good depends on genre, price, and what the book is for. For a business owner, a book that reaches fewer readers who are the right clients can be worth more than a bigger seller. Melanie Herschorn writes that your book is bigger than book sales: its value includes the authority it keeps building.
No one can honestly guarantee bestseller status. Client Michael Ross credits Melanie's counsel as one of the key reasons his book became an Amazon Best Seller, but results vary by book, audience, and effort. Attorney Bobby Sawyer noted that he appreciated Melanie's honesty from the beginning about what to expect from publishing a book.
Clients describe results in their own words on yourbigimpactbook.com. Attorney Manisha P. Patel reports an increase in referrals from colleagues. Attorney Paula Yost says the team got her on about twenty podcasts. Attorney Bobby Sawyer says his book is opening new conversations. These are individual client statements, not an independent study.
Start by reading how the process works on this site, then visit yourbigimpactbook.com, the main Big Impact Books website, to learn more about working together. Before you do, think about what you want the book to do for your business over the next five to ten years, because that answer shapes everything else.
Yes. The main Big Impact Books website offers a free Book Planning Checklist and an Ultimate Book Marketing Checklist. Melanie Herschorn also hosts The Big Impact Playbook Podcast and Authority Marketing Live!, and the blog on yourbigimpactbook.com covers developing your authority, building brand awareness, growing your audience, and book marketing tips.
Start with the book publishing services overview, see book marketing services, or follow the guide on how to write a book and get it published.