-harrison tash

Harrison Tash spent a year writing a book he wasn't sure he'd ever publish. He wrote it to force clarity on the model he'd been teaching his consulting clients for years, a framework he calls "8 to Great." The writing did its job, but the manuscript sat in a drawer.

It sat because the only publishing route Harrison knew was through the traditional Big Five, and everything he'd heard from authors who'd gone that way told him the book would get done on the publisher's timeline and the publisher's terms. He didn't want that. And companies like Author.Inc weren't on his radar, because he didn't know they existed.

Harrison's firm, Living Water Consulting, helps privately held businesses build leadership teams that can run the company without the owner. The work speaks for itself once his clients are in the door, but getting them in the door still depended on Harrison himself. Every new deal meant walking the prospect through his background and his team's track record until they trusted him enough to sign. The man who taught owners to build businesses that don't rely on them personally was winning clients almost entirely on personal credibility.

Then he heard Charlie Hoehn, Author.Inc's co-founder, on a podcast talking about what actually matters in a book. Harrison realized he'd been spending his effort in the wrong places. He'd worked hard to make every chapter thorough and complete. He hadn't thought about the title, how the book was positioned, or how the first chapter earns a reader's attention. He knew he needed help. Harrison looked at three publishers to find it, and two felt like printing services. Author.Inc was different.

Guidance came directly from Charlie, a four-time New York Times bestselling editor, alongside an experienced team that could rebuild the book with him. Harrison's one fear going in was that the program would move slower than he does. That fear was gone within a month, because the team matched his speed. He also hadn't expected the process to change his thinking. Harrison assumed his first book could be just okay, something to improve on with the next one. Charlie kept pushing him the other way – every book you put out is your best book. Working from that standard, Author.Inc and Harrison rebuilt the manuscript around his ideas, client stories, and voice. He even illustrated the book himself, the way he sketches strategy live for his consulting clients.

The result is Exit Without Leaving: Building a Business That Thrives with You but Doesn't Depend on You.

Harrison never ran a marketing campaign for it. He made the book part of how he sells instead. Every proposal now includes a copy for each member of the client's leadership team, so prospects experience his framework before they sign.

Harrison estimates trust and selling speed improved tenfold once it entered his sales process. His contracts averaged around $50,000 per proposal before. They're now reaching the $75,000–$100,000 range. He bought a thousand copies and has already sold approximately half of them, without ever treating the book as a product to push. He expects that within the next year, Living Water will be three times the size it was when he started with Author.Inc. And he's already planning his second book, with Author.Inc again.

Recently, a retired client brought his copy to a coffee meeting and asked Harrison to sign it. People keep telling him the same thing about the book: it's well thought out, and it paints a clear picture of what really matters in a business. The book keeps walking into rooms on its own.

On working with Author.Inc, Harrison says, "I enjoyed the work Charlie did with his coaching, and the whole internal team. It was a great experience. I definitely wouldn't have the book that I have today without them."

This case study reflects one author’s personal experience. Success varies widely and depends on many factors such as genre, audience size, marketing effort, and timing. While this author achieved a significant outcome, most authors experience different results, and there is no guarantee of similar outcomes.