Publishing Comparison

Author.Inc vs. Manuscripts.com

We map the book with you, record you across two full days, and our editors write the manuscript from your own words. At Manuscripts.com you write it yourself.

Authorship

Who actually writes the book

Three companies can all hand you a finished book. Manuscripts.com is explicit that the manuscript is written by the author, author-led and editor-guided, so the drafting is yours to do. A ghostwriting firm assigns a writer who drafts it for you. At Author.Inc a Book Strategist maps the book with you first, and only then do we record you and write the manuscript from your own words.

Author.Inc
You speak it
01Your thinking, mapped with a Book Strategist
02Blueprint, table of contents, chapter talking points, story vault
03Two full days of recorded sessions
04Our editors write the manuscript in your voice
Your time on the book
30 to 60 days
Manuscripts.com
You write it
01Your thinking, on your own
02You draft the manuscript yourself
03Developmental and line editing
04Your manuscript
Your time on the book
Four to six months of drafting, their figure
Ghostwriting firms
Someone else writes it
01Your thinking, collected in interviews
02An assigned writer drafts it
03You revise what they wrote
04Their sentences, approximating yours
Your time on the book
Interviews, then revision rounds

Manuscripts.com is built around the manuscript, and so is Draft. It covers the same territory, with our team doing the writing and your own time on it measured in days rather than months. Draft ends at a finished manuscript. Publish carries that manuscript through design, distribution and launch.

Draft
$35,000
Everything up to a finished manuscript.

A dedicated Book Strategist maps the book with you and defines your positioning and bullseye reader. Blueprint, table of contents, chapter talking points and story vault, approved before anything is recorded. Two full days of recorded sessions, then the full editorial cycle, delivered as a publish-ready manuscript in your own voice.

Around 30 to 60 days of your own time. Faster end to end than Publish, because there is no design, production or distribution phase.
Publish
$75,000
The manuscript, published and launched.

Everything in Draft, plus custom cover and interior design, an ISBN from the Author.Inc imprint, distribution across Amazon, IngramSpark and major retail, the full launch marketing kit, 100 founder edition hardcovers, and twelve months of weekly advisory calls with Charlie Hoehn.

Six to eight months to a published book. You keep 100% of the royalties and profits either way.

Manuscripts.com wording quoted from manuscripts.com, August 2026. Ghostwriting describes the standard model across the category.

Your calendar

How much of this lands on your calendar

The fee is easy to compare. The harder number is how much of your own year the book takes, counting the blueprint and outline work up front, the recording sessions, and every round of review.

Author.Inc
30 to 60 days
of your own time on the book
The blueprint, table of contents, chapter talking points and story vault, then two full days of recorded sessions, then your reviews and approvals. Six to eight months to a published book.
Manuscripts.com
4 to 6 months
of your own drafting
Their stated four to six months building a complete manuscript, inside a process that typically spans eleven to fourteen months from positioning to launched book.
Your own time on the book
Total span to a published book
Month 0Month 4Month 8Month 12Month 14

Manuscripts.com figures quoted from manuscripts.com, August 2026.

Launch support

Launch, and the year around it

The weekly advisory calls start when you sign, not when the book ships. Twelve months of access to live group calls with Charlie Hoehn runs across the engagement and past launch, and you come to the ones you need. Manuscripts.com publishes a weekly cadence too, and theirs is described around the writing phase.

SigningLaunch, month 6 to 8End of term
Author.Inc
Twelve months of access to weekly live group advisory calls with Charlie Hoehn, running from the day you sign, through launch, and past it. Come to the ones you need.
Launch work inside the term: a launch email campaign written in your voice, a personalized podcast and media outreach list with a pitch drafted for each outlet, social launch assets, hands-on pre-sale advisory built around your first 1,000 copies, a BookBub submission, a self-paced marketing curriculum, and 100 founder edition hardcovers. Author.Inc advises and equips. We do not run the campaigns on your behalf.
Manuscripts.com
Their published cadence sits in the writing phase: weekly progress, weekly accountability, and editorial feedback during writing rather than only at the end, inside the Modern Author Studio.
Their launch services name audience development, presales and launch strategy. Past launch their site speaks to outcomes, using a book to unlock speaking, clients and long-term authority, without naming deliverables or a term. Checked August 2026.
SigningMonth 4Month 8Month 12

Manuscripts.com cadence and scope quoted from manuscripts.com, checked August 2026.

A fair account

When each one is the right call

Author.Inc

Work with us if the writing should come off your calendar. A Book Strategist maps the book with you, you speak it across two full days of recorded sessions, and our editors write it in your voice. Around 30 to 60 days of your own time, and weekly advisory calls with Charlie Hoehn from the day you sign. This fits founders who want the book to produce business and who need the next six months for the company.

Manuscripts.com

Some founders want to write the book themselves, and that is a real reason to pick a different partner. Manuscripts.com reports a 90% manuscript completion rate and counts more than 350 national and international book award winners and finalists among its authors. If sitting down and writing your own draft is the point of doing this, that record is worth taking seriously.

Questions founders ask

Author.Inc vs. Manuscripts.com, answered

Who actually writes the book at each company?+

At Author.Inc you speak the book. A dedicated Book Strategist maps it with you first, defining your positioning and bullseye reader and building the blueprint, table of contents, chapter talking points and story vault. That foundation gets approved before any recording is scheduled. You then sit for two full days of recorded sessions, and our editors write the manuscript in your voice, with a first draft inside two weeks of the final session. No ghostwriter is assigned. At Manuscripts.com you write it yourself. Their site states that every book remains author-led, editor-guided, and that the manuscript is written by the author.

Does Manuscripts.com publish the book, or only help me write it?+

They publish it. Their Modern Publishing Operating System lists final developmental and line editing, cover and interior design, metadata and positioning strategy, and global distribution. Authors own 100% of their books. On publishing scope the two companies are close, which is why this page is about who writes the manuscript and what happens in the year after launch.

What does Manuscripts.com cost?+

Manuscripts.com does not publish its pricing. Their own guide to hybrid publishing costs quotes a category range of $15,000 to $30,000 for most business authors and $40,000 to $100,000 and up for premium firms, without saying where they sit inside that range. Author.Inc publishes both of its figures. Draft, the manuscript on its own, is $35,000. Publish, which carries that manuscript through design, distribution and launch and includes twelve months of weekly advisory calls, is $75,000.

How much of my own time does each take?+

With Author.Inc, plan on 30 to 60 days of your own involvement spread across the engagement. That covers the mapping work up front, two full days of recorded sessions, the weekly live editing sessions you choose to join, and your reviews and approvals. Manuscripts.com states that most authors spend four to six months building a complete manuscript, inside a full process that typically spans eleven to fourteen months.

Do I keep my rights and royalties with both?+

Yes, at both. With Author.Inc you keep 100% of the royalties and profits and you retain copyright in your work. The book is published under the Author.Inc imprint and the ISBN is assigned from that imprint's registry block. Manuscripts.com states that authors own 100% of their books and retain 100% of the rights and royalties. Neither company takes a cut, so ownership is not the reason to choose between them.

What happens after launch?+

With Author.Inc the support starts at signing rather than at launch. You get twelve months of access to weekly live group advisory calls hosted by Charlie Hoehn, running across the engagement and past launch, and you come to the ones you need rather than all of them. Inside that term the launch work includes an email campaign written in your voice, a personalized podcast and media outreach list with a pitch drafted for each outlet, social launch assets, hands-on pre-sale advisory built around your first 1,000 copies, a BookBub submission, a self-paced marketing curriculum, and 100 founder edition hardcovers. This is done-with-you: Author.Inc advises and equips rather than running campaigns for you. Manuscripts.com publishes a weekly cadence around the writing phase and names audience development, presales and launch strategy as launch services. Past launch their site describes outcomes rather than named deliverables or a term.

Not every expert should write a book.
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