Your voice stays yours
Melanie Herschorn says she refuses to churn out cookie cutter content or hide behind ghostwriting. Building the book from your own answers keeps your voice intact.
The guided interview process
How guided interviews become your business book
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Guided interviews turn your spoken expertise into a written manuscript: you talk through each chapter in a weekly session, and the Big Impact Books team pieces your answers together in your own voice. It is how busy experts finish a book in about one hour a week, without drafting chapters alone.
What is a guided interview book writing process?
A guided interview process is a way of writing a book in which a structured series of conversations, rather than solo drafting, produces the manuscript. At Big Impact Books, each interview focuses on part of the book, and the team turns what you say into organized chapters.
It works because most experts explain ideas far more easily than they write them. You already teach clients, brief teams, and answer hard questions every day. The interview captures that natural explanation, including the stories and examples that make a business book worth reading.
Step by step
The guided interview process, step by step
Plan the book
Clarify your ideal reader, the transformation the book offers, and the business goal behind it. The free book planning checklist helps here.
Map the chapters
Break the book into chapters so each interview has a clear focus. This turns a huge project into a weekly rhythm.
Talk through one chapter at a time
In each guided interview you explain your ideas, stories, client examples, and methods in your own words.
The team pieces it together
Your answers are organized into a manuscript, keeping your phrasing and point of view so the book sounds like you.
Review and refine
You read the manuscript and confirm it says what you mean, so the finished book reflects your real expertise.
Publish and promote
Big Impact Books publishes the book and supports promotion such as podcast placements and media coverage.
Why it works
Why talking beats typing for most experts
Progress you can schedule
One recurring hour a week is easier to protect than vague plans to write. Steady sessions add up to a finished manuscript.
Less intimidation
A blank page magnifies the size of the project. A focused conversation about one chapter makes it feel manageable, week after week.
FAQ
Questions about the guided interview process
How do guided interviews turn into a manuscript?
You talk through your book chapter by chapter in scheduled interviews, and the team pieces your answers together into a manuscript. Attorney and author Manisha P. Patel said the weekly interviews made the process manageable because she could talk through each chapter in an organized way instead of sitting down to write.
Do I have to write anything myself?
You do not need to draft chapters from scratch. The guided interview process is built for people who know their subject but lack time to write. You share ideas out loud, and the team organizes them into a manuscript. You will still review the work so the book says what you mean.
Will the book sound like me?
That is the point of the interview method. Because the manuscript is built from your own spoken answers, your phrasing, stories, and opinions carry into the book. Big Impact Books says its process honors your authentic voice and lets clients own their brilliance rather than reading like generic content.
What is the difference between a ghostwriter and guided interviews?
A ghostwriter writes the book for you, often from notes and interviews, and the result can vary in how closely it matches your voice. Big Impact Books uses guided interviews so the manuscript is built from your own spoken words, and it pairs writing with publishing and promotional support.
What are the main steps from idea to published book?
Big Impact Books describes four stages: plan, create, publish, and promote. Planning shapes the idea and audience, creation happens through guided interviews, publishing turns the manuscript into a finished book, and promotion includes support such as podcast placements and media coverage. The free book planning checklist covers the first stage.
Why does writing a book feel so intimidating?
Most experts have never organized years of knowledge into a single structure, and a blank page magnifies that. Big Impact Books writes about this feeling and recommends breaking the work into small, regular sessions. Talking through one chapter at a time turns a huge project into steady weekly progress.
See if the interview process fits you
Book a call with Big Impact Books to talk through your topic and how the weekly interviews would work for your schedule.
Not ready yet? Start with the free book planning checklist.