A business book writing service for executives, founders, and thought leaders.

Tommy Baker, who runs The Book Development Service

You will never find the time
to write your book.

You don't need to.

Up to three hours of your time. Your complete book architecture in one week.

The whole picture, in two minutes →

The conversation is where your book begins.

Why most business books never get written

It is not a lack of ideas, or expertise, or things worth saying. The reason is simpler: every path to getting a book done demands the one thing a successful business leader will never surrender. Months of time. Writing it yourself means carving out hours you will never find. Hiring a ghostwriter changes the shape of the problem but not its weight: dozens of hours of interviews, months of review cycles, a significant fee, and at the end of it, another person's interpretation of your voice.

A book is not a collection of ideas. It is an argument. And finding the shape of that argument is where the time disappears.

What if the hardest part...
took a week?

One conversation lasting up to three hours. Seven days of production. And you are holding a complete blueprint for your book: the architecture, the voice, the chapter structure, the roadmap. The idea that has been sitting in the back of your mind for years becomes a structured, achievable project.

Not in twelve months. Not after months of interviews. This month. From a single conversation.

1 conversation
8 Blueprint sections
7 days to delivery

The Book Blueprint

A comprehensive document that includes everything needed to turn your idea into a structured, achievable project.

What a Book Blueprint contains See example Blueprints

Delivery is accompanied by a Blueprint Review Session: a walkthrough of the Blueprint together, where we answer any questions and refine anything that needs adjusting. Included in the Blueprint fee.

The Blueprint stands on its own. It represents the hardest part of the journey, done. The idea is out of your head, structured into a form that makes sense, and ready to act on. There is no obligation to proceed with this service beyond that.

From there, the choice is yours: write the book yourself from the Blueprint's architecture, with every door open including a literary agent, or continue into the Writing Partnership and finish with your book on sale.

The Blueprint is a fixed fee for a single book: less than most businesses spend on a single morning of external consultancy.

Client Perspective

One Blueprint Session. Three books architected in parallel.

Tommy is a Trojan. His dedication and work rate are exemplary. I write quickly and easily, the master scribe if you like, while Tommy has applied sophisticated tools as super-fast accelerants. Writing three books in parallel would not be possible without the application of these services.

Dr Stephen Rhys Thomas

PhD Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
Former Senior Partner, Accenture · Founder, NeuroForm Ltd

See Stephen's Book Blueprint →
Tommy Baker, founder of The Book Development Service

About

Tommy Baker

My background is not what most people expect behind a book development service. I spent years as a sports entertainer: meeting and connecting with people from all walks of life, negotiating contracts, coordinating events, reading the room with corporate clients and venue partners. Then keynote speaking. The route was unconventional, but it left me comfortable doing the thing this service depends on: sitting across from someone, asking the right questions, and following where the conversation goes.

There is a longer story, if you are curious →

The best time to write your book was five years ago.

Thesecondbesttimeisnow.

Get Started

Your book is closer than you think.

No commitment. No pressure. Just a conversation about whether this is the right fit for your project.

If you have been carrying a book idea, the first step is the simplest one. Tell me a little about what you have in mind and I will get back to you within the next business day.

What happens next: I respond within one business day. We have a free 30-minute Discovery Call. If we are both ready, we lock in your Blueprint Session.

Your material remains yours: full intellectual property ownership, strict confidentiality, no exceptions.

Thank you.

Your enquiry has been received. I will be in touch within the next business day to continue the conversation about your book.

Prefer to book directly?

Book a free Discovery Call →

Your Book Blueprint

These questions help me prepare, so that our session starts from what you already know rather than from scratch.

There are no right or wrong answers. Write as you would talk. You do not need polished paragraphs.

Thirteen questions, about 30 to 40 minutes. Nothing to prepare and nothing to look up. Answer in one sitting, and take as long on any question as you want to.

Before we begin, one question:

Do you have a clear idea for your book, or are you still discovering what book is in you?

Whichever you choose, the process begins in the same place. The Blueprint Session assesses everything you have, whether that is a blank page, a drawer full of notes, or a draft you are unsure about, and gives you an honest architectural picture of where your book stands and what it needs.

Question 1 of 13
Your name, current role, and the organisation you work with.
Question 2 of 13
Walk me through your career in a few sentences. What two or three experiences most shaped how you think about your work today?
Not a CV. The moments that changed how you see things. The pivots, the surprises, the decisions that look obvious in hindsight.
Question 3 of 13
In a few sentences, what is this book about?
Don't overthink this. Tell me as if I had asked you at dinner. The rough version is more useful to me than the polished version.
Question 4 of 13
How long have you been thinking about writing this?
Question 5 of 13
What has stopped you from writing it until now?
Be honest. The most common answers are time, not knowing where to start, and not being a "writer." Understanding this helps me design the process around you.
Question 6 of 13
If the book existed tomorrow, fully written and published, what would it do for you and your career?
Think about the doors it would open, the conversations it would start...
Question 7 of 13
Who is the reader? Who picks this book up, and what problem are they trying to solve?
If you can picture a specific person, describe them. What level are they? What are they struggling with?
Question 8 of 13
Is there something you know or believe that most people in your field get wrong? What would you say if there were no consequences?
This is often where the book's real argument lives. Don't soften it here.
Question 9 of 13
Do you have any models, frameworks, or processes you have developed? Even informal ones that do not have names yet.
How do you teach what you know? Is there a structure, a sequence, a set of principles you come back to? Draw it on a whiteboard when you explain it?
Question 10 of 13
Do you have any existing material that could feed into the book?
Presentation decks, articles, blog posts, notes, draft chapters, recorded talks, workshop handouts. Even rough notes or voice memos count.

Drag files here, or click to browse

PDFs, Word docs, slide decks, notes... anything relevant. Files chosen here are held in this page only, so send the questionnaire in the same sitting.

Max 8 MB total. For larger files, share them via Google Drive or WeTransfer and describe them in the text field above.

    Question 11 of 13
    Share something you have written that sounds like you.
    A LinkedIn post, a blog article, a letter, an email you spent time on, a report you are proud of. It does not need to be about the book. I use this to understand your natural writing voice so that everything I produce sounds like you, not like someone else.
    Question 12 of 13
    Is there an existing book in a similar space that you admire? What do you like about it?
    This helps me understand the kind of book you have in your head. Not to copy it, but to calibrate the style and ambition.
    Question 13 of 13
    Do you speak publicly or run workshops? And what does success look like for this book: commercially, professionally, or personally?
    Success means different things to different people. A bestseller? A business card? A legacy? Knowing this shapes every decision about how the book is built.
    Optional: but helpful
    Your public profiles
    If you have a LinkedIn profile, website, or YouTube channel, paste the links below. I review these before our session so I can ask better questions and avoid covering ground the internet can already tell me. Nothing here is required.

    Before we send this

    A few things to confirm about how our session works.

    Recording

    Our session will be audio recorded solely for the production of your Book Blueprint and any subsequent manuscript work. The recording will not be shared with third parties.

    Confidentiality

    All material you share (questionnaire responses, session content, documents, and recordings) is treated as confidential and used only for the development of your book.

    Intellectual Property

    All intellectual property in the finished manuscript belongs to you. The use of AI tools in the production process does not affect your ownership.

    Data Retention

    Session recordings and working materials will be retained for the duration of the project and deleted upon completion, unless you request otherwise in writing.

    Sending your responses...

    Thank you.

    Your responses have been received. I will review everything before our session so we can hit the ground running.

    I look forward to our conversation.

    The Book Development Service

    thebookdevelopmentservice.com

    Your Session Materials

    Thank you for a brilliant session. The materials you share here feed directly into your Book Blueprint.

    You can upload files, paste links, or describe what you have. Everything is saved automatically as you go.

    Most people take about 10 minutes.

    A note about file sizes

    This page accepts files up to 8 MB total per submission. That works well for documents, PDFs, articles, photos, and short recordings.

    For larger files like presentation decks, video recordings, or lengthy audio files, please share them via Google Drive, WeTransfer, or AirDrop and paste the sharing link into the notes field on the relevant step.

    When in doubt, paste a link. You can always send files separately by email or WhatsApp if that is easier.

    1 of 5
    Presentation decks and slides
    Keynote, PowerPoint, PDF, or Google Slides exports. These often contain 80% of a business book in disguised form. If you have multiple versions of the same talk, send them all. Presentations are often too large to upload here. Paste a Google Drive or WeTransfer link in the notes field below instead.

    Tap to select files, or drag and drop here

    Max 8 MB total. For larger files, paste a sharing link in the notes field.

      Your uploads are saved automatically as you go.

      2 of 5
      Draft chapters, notes, or outlines
      Anything you have already written: draft chapters, rough notes, bullet-point outlines, voice memos you have transcribed, even napkin sketches photographed. No quality bar. Rough is valuable.

      Tap to select files, or drag and drop here

      Max 8 MB total. For larger files, paste a sharing link in the notes field.

        Your uploads are saved automatically as you go.

        3 of 5
        Published content
        Articles, blog posts, LinkedIn posts, or anything else you have published. Paste links below, or upload PDFs and screenshots. These help calibrate voice direction and identify material that is already close to book-ready.

        Or upload small files here

        Max 8 MB total. Links above are preferred for larger content.

          Your uploads are saved automatically as you go.

          4 of 5
          Recorded talks, podcasts, or videos
          If you have recordings of yourself presenting, being interviewed, or running workshops, paste the links below. YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other platform. Audio and video files are typically too large to upload here. Please share them via Google Drive, WeTransfer, or paste the platform link below.

          Or upload small files here

          Max 8 MB total. Links above are preferred for larger content.

            Your uploads are saved automatically as you go.

            5 of 5
            Anything else
            Photographs, research papers, workshop handouts, data, or anything else you think might be relevant. If you are not sure whether something is useful, send it. I would rather have too much material than too little.

            Tap to select files, or drag and drop here

            Max 8 MB total. For larger files, paste a sharing link in the notes field.

              Your uploads are saved automatically as you go.

              Sending your materials...

              Thank you.

              Your materials have been received. I will review everything as part of the Blueprint production process.

              If you think of anything else after today, just send it by email or WhatsApp. Nothing is too rough to be useful.