We build the book in your voice, and everything it earns stays in your name. Forbes Books rents you theirs.
Author.Inc builds the book as property. You speak it across two recorded days, the manuscript is built from your own words, and everything the book is and earns stays with you: the copyright, the ISBN, 100 percent of royalties, and the authority it builds under your name.
Forbes Books sells the other arrangement. It is the publishing arm of Advantage Media Group, a Charleston hybrid publisher operating under license from Forbes Media since 2016, so the name on the imprint is rented from a media company. An assigned ghostwriter builds the manuscript from interview calls, the imprint holds exclusive rights to publish and distribute the book, and royalties run 15 to 65 percent on their own published numbers, against a basis they do not disclose.
"The way to really make money off of a book is to use it for authority positioning; to use it as a platform to be invited to speak."
Their founder said it himself: the book is a platform. The open question is whose platform you are building, theirs or yours.
Strip the marketing off both offers and each one reduces to a document. This is what each of them conveys.
One of these expires when the contract does. The other compounds for as long as you write, speak, and sell.
We publish one number: every royalty is yours. Forbes Books publishes a range of 15 to 65 percent and does not disclose what the percentage is calculated on. Set a lifetime revenue figure and compare what reaches you.
The idea is pressure-tested with your readers before writing starts.
You speak the book across two recorded days, guided by a Book Director.
The manuscript arrives within two weeks of the final session, built from your own recorded words.
A full editorial cycle runs under a process built by a 4x New York Times bestselling editor.
A Master Book Plan arrives within ten days of kickoff.
You choose a writer from their ghostwriting roster.
Interview calls run through the writing phase. Third-party reviews report 10 to 20 hours.
The ghostwriter drafts the manuscript, and you review another writer's rendering of your thinking.
A founder who wants the book to carry their own name, produce clients and stages for years, and remain their property does better owning the asset than renting the association. That is the buyer we built the company for, and the one we take on.
They run a distribution sales team that pitches retail, airport, and library buyers, which is real work we do not do. At the top tier they add a one-week Times Square banner and a feature in a supplement that ships alongside Forbes magazine, and they publish under a name most rooms recognize. If the Forbes association is the goal and the economics are secondary, they deliver that.
Buyers at chains like Hudson pick titles they expect to sell and are measured on that, and premium airport space is bought through co-op fees. Forbes Books' own blog on the subject calls it a pay-to-play model running $2,500 to $20,000 a month and says their team can help secure space. Their program page lists the line item as airport stores promotion. That is the accurate version, and no publisher can promise more than it.
The return most founders are buying does not depend on shelf space at all: clients, speaking fees, partnerships, media, and shorter sales cycles. That return comes from a book good enough to be quoted and owned outright, which is where we put the money. If physical shelf presence is the point of your book, say so on the call and we will point you somewhere better suited.
Operationally it is Advantage Media Group, a Charleston hybrid publisher, publishing under license from Forbes Media since 2016. Forbes supplies the brand and editorial oversight. Advantage runs the writing, production, and marketing.
Author.Inc's signature service is $75,000, and we tell you that before the first call. Forbes Books does not publish pricing. Third-party reviews from May 2026 report $125,000 to $250,000 for the Forbes Books imprint, with entry packages near $25,000 on Advantage's own imprint.
Author.Inc authors keep 100 percent of royalties, with the copyright and ISBN registered in the author's name. Forbes Books publishes a range of 15 to 65 percent and does not disclose what it is calculated on.
Your Author.Inc manuscript comes from your own recorded words, captured across two recording days, so the voice on the page is yours. Forbes Books assigns a ghostwriter, and the manuscript is that writer's rendering of your interview calls.
Author.Inc publishes in 6 to 8 months. Forbes Books' own FAQ says 9 to 14 months for online-only distribution and 12 to 18 months with bookstore placement.
They promote to airport retail, and their program page lists the line item as airport stores promotion. Their own blog on the subject calls airport placement a pay-to-play model running $2,500 to $20,000 a month and says their team can help secure space. Placement is a retail buyer's decision at every publisher, ours included, so treat any promise of guaranteed airport placement as a claim worth reading twice.
Author.Inc includes twelve months of weekly advisory calls with Charlie Hoehn, plus done-with-you launch strategy aimed at your first 1,000 copies. Forbes Books' marketing programs run on 6 and 12 month windows.
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