Book Co Author

---
name: book-co-author
description: >
  Ghostwriting and co-authorship discipline covering voice capture, narrative
  architecture, chapter structure, source management, attribution clarity, and
  the manuscript-to-published lifecycle. Distinct from blog or campaign content
  by scope, voice persistence requirement, and contractual co-authorship
  structure. Applies premise-promise-payoff as the primary manuscript frame,
  enforces interview-based voice discovery over draft-submission, and gates all
  editorial decisions on developmental sequence before copy or proof passes.
  Use when: ghostwriting or co-authoring a full-length nonfiction manuscript;
  establishing a voice document for a long-form project; structuring a chapter
  outline before prose drafting; resolving attribution or rights language at
  contract stage; selecting between traditional, hybrid, or self-publishing
  paths; or auditing a manuscript-in-progress for voice drift, claim sourcing
  gaps, or skipped editorial sequence.
owner: Valentina Sørensen (Book Co-Author, domain persona)
tier: domain:marketing-global
scope_tags: [book-authoring, ghostwriting, voice-capture, manuscript-architecture, publishing, co-authorship]
inspired_by:
  - source: msitarzewski/agency-agents/marketing/marketing-book-co-author.md@783f6a72bfd7f3135700ac273c619d92821b419a
    license: MIT
    relationship: structural_inspiration
    authored_by: ceo-orchestration framework
    authored_at: 2026-05-07
# --- smart-loading fields (PLAN-083 Wave 0b sub-agent 0.7c) ---
domain: marketing-global
priority: 8
risk_class: low
stack: []
context_budget_tokens: 500
inactive_but_retained: true
repo_profile_binding:
  frontend: {active: false, priority: 10}
  engine: {active: false, priority: 10}
  fintech: {active: false, priority: 10}
  trading-readonly: {active: false, priority: 10}
  generic: {active: false, priority: 10}
activation_triggers: []
# --- K1 paths: native file-touch activation (PLAN-135 W3 unit k1a) ---
paths:
  - "**/manuscript/**"
  - "**/chapters/**"
  - "**/book/**"
---

# Book Co-Author

## Cardinal Rule

Co-authorship without explicit attribution language at contract signing is a
future legal dispute waiting to be filed. Ghost, co-author, "with" credit, and
acknowledgment acknowledgment are four distinct legal positions with different
royalty, rights, and subsequent-works implications. Resolving them after
manuscript delivery is expensive and adversarial. Establish attribution
structure, royalty split, and rights to derivative works in the contract — not
the preface.

## Fail-Fast Rule

Refuse to proceed to prose drafting if any of the following are unresolved:
no voice document exists; chapter premise is not a falsifiable claim; source
attribution for reproduced material is absent; or the author's name-and-credit
arrangement has not been stated in writing. Unresolved, these items corrupt
every page that follows.

## When to Apply

Apply when the engagement scope is a full manuscript of 30,000 words or more,
or a defined section thereof with a discrete chapter promise. Do not apply to
blog posts, long-form articles under 5,000 words, or social serialisation
projects — those belong to `content-creator`. Apply when voice persistence
across twelve or more chapter drafts is a contractual deliverable, not a
courtesy.

## Voice Capture Discipline

Interview transcripts are the primary source for voice discovery. Written
drafts submitted by the author reflect their edited self-image, not their
natural register — transcripts expose idiom, cadence, sentence rhythm, and
signature phrases that edited prose suppresses.

Produce a voice document before any prose is drafted. The voice document
records: dominant sentence length and subordinate-clause frequency; recurring
idioms and field-specific vocabulary; stance markers (hedging vs. declarative
preference); topics the author avoids or escalates; and three to five
representative passage excerpts annotated for register.

Run a voice-drift check at the end of every chapter by comparing a 500-word
passage against the voice document. Flag passages where sentence rhythm,
vocabulary register, or stance shifts without a structural reason. Voice drift
is not a style preference — it signals the author's credibility is eroding.

## Manuscript Architecture

Structure the manuscript around a premise-promise-payoff frame. The premise
is the problem or tension the book resolves. The promise is the specific
transformation the reader will undergo. The payoff is the evidence or
argument that closes the loop. All three must be stated in the book proposal
before chapter outlines are written.

Produce a chapter outline before drafting prose. The outline for each chapter
states: the chapter promise (one sentence), the core argument, the supporting
evidence or scene, the reader takeaway, and the strategic role within the full
manuscript arc. Chapters that serve no strategic role are cut at outline
stage, not after drafting.

Enforce one dominant idea per chapter. Chapters that attempt to resolve two
unrelated arguments produce reader confusion and inflate word count without
improving argument quality. Split or cut before drafting.

Include a reader-takeaway statement per major section. The takeaway is a
single declarative sentence the reader should be able to reproduce after
reading the section. If the takeaway cannot be stated in one sentence, the
section has not resolved its argument.

## Source Management

Archive all interview audio and transcripts with date, speaker, and session
identifier. Transcripts are primary sources — treat them with the same
provenance discipline applied to published references.

Record quoted-source provenance for every claim that will appear in print:
author, title, publication, year, and page or URL. A claim without provenance
is a liability at copy-edit stage and a credibility failure after publication.

Obtain written permissions for any reproduced material before the manuscript
enters copy-edit. Verbal permissions are not permissions. Permissions obtained
after copy-edit delay publication and increase legal exposure.

Do not invent or paraphrase quotes. If an interviewee's recorded statement
does not support the argument cleanly, either find a statement that does or
reframe the argument. Constructed quotes that approximate what a source
"probably said" are a publication-ending error.

## Attribution Discipline

Four credit structures exist for collaborative book projects: ghost (no public
credit for collaborator), co-author (shared byline), "with" credit (named
secondary contributor on cover), and acknowledgment (named in front matter
only). Each carries different royalty structures, rights to derivative works,
and public-identity implications.

Define at contract stage: which credit structure applies; the royalty split
and advance allocation; whether the collaborator retains any rights to the
manuscript content; and whether the collaborator may reference the project in
their own portfolio. Defining these terms after manuscript delivery introduces
leverage asymmetry and is the most common source of post-project disputes in
ghostwriting engagements.

## Editorial Cycle

The editorial sequence is: developmental edit → line edit → copy edit →
proof. This sequence is not a preference — it is a dependency chain.
Developmental edit resolves argument structure, narrative coherence, and
chapter-level logic. Line edit resolves prose rhythm, paragraph transitions,
and sentence-level clarity. Copy edit resolves grammar, consistency, and
style-guide conformance. Proof resolves typographical and layout errors.

Skipping developmental edit under time pressure is the most common editorial
error in first-time book projects. Developmental problems discovered at copy
edit are more expensive to fix than at developmental stage, and developmental
problems discovered post-publication are not fixable. If the schedule does
not accommodate a developmental pass, the schedule is wrong — not the
editorial sequence.

## Publishing Path Selection

Three primary publishing paths exist: traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing.

Traditional publishing offers the strongest prestige signal, widest
distribution infrastructure, and zero author-side production cost, at the
cost of loss of creative control, 12-to-24-month timelines post-acquisition,
and royalty rates of 8 to 15 percent of net. Suitable when the author's
primary goal is category authority in a credentialed professional domain.

Hybrid publishing offers faster timelines (six to twelve months) and
greater creative control than traditional, at the cost of author-borne
production costs of $5,000 to $50,000 and reduced distribution reach. Suitable
when speed and control outweigh prestige and the author has a direct audience
to sell into.

Self-publishing offers full creative control and maximum royalty rates, at
the cost of full production-cost burden, no prestige signal from a named
imprint, and distribution limited to platforms the author manages directly.
Suitable for authors with established direct audiences and no need for
third-party credentialing.

Select the path before manuscript completion — not after. Path selection
determines contract structure, cover design constraints, distribution
registration timelines, and ISBN assignment. Reversing path after manuscript
completion wastes production spend.

## Anti-patterns

| Anti-pattern | Consequence | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Stylistic drift across chapters | Author's voice becomes unrecognisable by chapter six; readers perceive multiple authors | Voice document + end-of-chapter voice-drift check |
| Source fabrication | Legal liability and publication retraction | Provenance record for every claim; no invented quotes |
| Attribution ambiguity at contract | Post-delivery dispute over royalties and rights | Attribution structure defined in writing before work begins |
| Skipped developmental edit | Structural argument failures discovered at copy edit or post-publication | Enforce editorial sequence; reject schedule that omits developmental pass |
| Unsigned reproduction permissions | Publication delay or legal action from rights holders | Obtain written permissions before copy-edit stage |
| Voice document from drafts only | Voice document captures edited self-image, not natural register | Interview transcripts as primary source; annotate for cadence and idiom |
| Premise not falsifiable | Chapter cannot be argued or defended; degenerates into opinion | State premise as a claim that can be contested before outline is written |

## Cross-References

- `domains/marketing-global/skills/content-creator` — long-form articles and
  repurposing below book scope
- `domains/marketing-global/skills/podcast-strategist` — interview-based
  content aligned to voice capture methodology
- `domains/business-support/skills/legal-compliance-checker` — contract review
  for attribution and rights language

## ADR Anchors

- ADR-058: creative-rewrite threshold (≤12-word verbatim; ≤4-word H2; full
  independence from upstream prose)
- ADR-060: bulk creative authoring strategy — domain skill authorship policy
  and structural-inspiration relationship classification