In traditional software development, teams must complete the first milestone before continuing to the second. The chain continues to the end. For instance, building an application or system necessitates gathering all business requirements first. (Forget more modern Agile methods like Scrum for the time being.)

A phase-gate or waterfall process is rigid and sequential by design. Think Gantt charts. Everything is supposed to go according to plan.

This methodology is far from perfect—even with mature technologies. My first book addresses the problems that organizations routinely experience implementing new systems while following this method. Still, if your employer wants to begin any major endeavor, it makes sense to do some basic due diligence around resources, priority, budget, and the like.

The same gate principle holds when it comes to writing a book.

Vetting Potential Clients

Before beginning proper ghostwriting projects, I always ask prospects the following question:

Is writing a book one of your three most important personal and professional priorities?

I don’t want an immediate answer to such a critical query. In fact, I request that my potential client stew on it for a few days.

Ultimately, if the answer is yes, then it’s full steam ahead. We can begin our journey in earnest. If the answer is no, then we still may work together. A top-five priority is tougher, but still doable; a top-10 or -20 one is not.

A Caveat

Sometimes life happens. Breaks are necessary. On many of my ghostwriting projects, we have had to temporarily stop for some reason. An unexpected event means relegating for the forseeable future. It becomes obvious that a three- or six-month hiatus is necessary.

That’s fine, as long as all parties concerned understand the consequences:

• The book won’t hit its original pub date.
• The world won’t stand still just because we’ve hit pause; we may have to revisit parts of the book when we resume.
• Much like a train that has to suddenly stop, it’s going to take a while for us to restore our momentum.
• When we do, it’s imperative to maintain our propulsion. Our work needs to resume its place near the top of the author’s priority list until the book launches.

https://www.racketpublishing.com/blog/publishing/the-benefit-of-boutiques/

What You Need to Know

A top-five priority is tougher, but still doable; a top-10 or -20 one is not.

As an Amazon executive once reportedly said, “The best way to ensure failure is to make it someone’s part-time job.”¹ Excellent point.

Writing a timely, quality, and differentiated book doesn’t require putting everything else on hold. At the same time, trying to complete such a formidable task by occasionally devoting 15 minutes to it is a recipe for frustration and possibly disaster.

1. For the life of me, I can’t find the original quote.