Phase 02 — Pre-Project
Plan a Business or Leadership Book.
Pick the form. Name your reader, your premise, and the framework. Grey lays out a chapter spine that matches how working business books actually move — anecdote, principle, evidence, application.
Grey.
Your writing partner. A business book earns its keep when a tired executive picks it up on a Sunday and feels less alone by Monday. Tell me your reader, your one idea, and the proof you have. I'll lay out the spine — Lencioni's fable, Godin's manifesto, Collins's treatise, or the short-essay style Tom Markert and Lencioni both use to good effect.
Step 1 — Choose Your Form
Short Manifesto
15,000 to 25,000 words
One provocative idea, sharply argued. ~80 to 120 pages. Seth Godin's Linchpin or The Dip lane.
Essay Collection
25,000 to 45,000 words
Twenty to forty short chapters, each a story plus a lesson. Tom Markert's You Can't Win a Fight With Your Boss, much of Lencioni's playbook work.
Standard Business Book
45,000 to 65,000 words
The market default. One central framework elaborated across 10 to 12 chapters with cases. Sinek's Start With Why, Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions.
Comprehensive Treatise
65,000 to 90,000 words
Research-backed argument. Collins's Good to Great, Pink's Drive. Multi-company evidence, deep framework, requires real data or longitudinal observation.
Step 2 — Your Book
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