The book your legacy deserves — finished in months, not years.
Simon Golden, PhD, helps executives, founders, and other business leaders create a legacy, scale their business, and build credibility by writing a value-packed book — in as little as four months. Coaching, ghostwriting, and publishing strategy for clients ranging from cardiologists to former Fortune-scale CEOs.
You don't have a writing problem. You have a positioning problem.
Every CEO I work with has tried the obvious things — Scrivener, ghostwriting agencies, weekend retreats, AI tools. They produce drafts. They don't produce books that move the needle. Here's why most executive books fail before the first chapter is written.
The book is about you, not for them
Memoir-shaped books read like résumés in disguise. Your reader doesn't care about your timeline — they care about a transformation only your story can deliver. Without that frame, even brilliant content lands flat.
Ghostwriters can't ghostwrite a strategy
A skilled ghost can match your voice. But voice is not point of view. Without a deliberate authority position, you produce a polished book that competes with 4,000 other polished books in your category — and gets buried.
"I'll write it next quarter"
Two years pass. The market shifts. A competitor publishes the book you outlined. Procrastination on this project isn't a discipline failure — it's a structure failure. Without a system, your calendar always wins.
Six ways Simon takes a CEO's expertise from blank page to published book.
Drawn from Simon's published methodology. The framework spans frame, structure, consultation, decision-partnership, reader feedback, and the discipline to actually finish — with optional full ghostwriting in your voice when you'd rather hand it off.
Frame & Structure
Guidance on how to frame and structure your book so it impacts readers, positions you as a thought leader, and grows your client base.
Writing Process
Consulting on the most efficient way to actually write the book — keeping your focus on current consulting projects while the manuscript progresses.
Big Decisions
Partnership on the book's pivotal decisions, so it delivers maximum value to your target audience and supports your business goals.
Reader Feedback
Detailed outside-perspective feedback on content and structure — so you know how the book will resonate with readers before you publish it.
Block-Busting
Tools to conquer writer's block, procrastination, and perfectionism — and the confidence to actually ship the book once it's drafted.
Ghostwriting
Optional: full ghostwriting using your ideas and tone of voice. The book carries your name, your authority, your voice — written without you typing every word.
A book is a cap-rate compressor for your authority.
Closes high-ticket consulting
Coaching clients report their books directly attracting one, two, or three premium engagements per year — at the price points their own practices command.
Lands speaker bookings
From local keynotes to TEDx stages — the book becomes a pre-qualified inbound vehicle for the speaking circuit.
Compounds for a decade
One asset, written once. The credibility halo earns you meetings, deals, and platforms long after launch week.
Outranks every competitor on Google
"Author of [book name]" is a permanent search-result moat against everyone else fighting over LinkedIn keywords.
My coaching is between $25 and $100K — so one, two, three of those a year from the book is worth it!Dr. Vikram Raya · Founder & CEO Coach & Coaching Client
Four stages. One outcome.
Engagements are private and capped. Most clients move through this in 4–6 months working a few focused hours per week. No retreats, no all-nighters, no ghostwritten content you don't fully stand behind.
Diagnose the book inside the business
A working session — not a sales pitch. We surface the book's strategic role and decide if a coaching engagement makes sense. If it doesn't, you leave with a clearer thesis either way.
Build the strategic outline
We architect the book's spine — reader, thesis, chapter logic, and post-launch leverage — before a single chapter is drafted. This is where most books are won or lost.
Structured weekly cadence
Coaching, editorial review, accountability, and (when appropriate) ghostwriting support. Most CEOs ship the manuscript inside one fiscal year working 3–5 hours weekly.
Position the book as a business asset
Publishing path, TEDx and podcast pitch decks, integration with your premium offers. The book stops being "a book" and becomes a category-defining platform.
The receipts.
A small sample drawn from Simon's published track record. Full client references and case studies shared on the strategy call.
"Published her book with Sounds True and earned an endorsement from Seth Godin. The book opened up 'a whole new world of business.'"
"My coaching is between $25K and $100K — so one, two, three of those a year from the book is worth it!"
"Drew a huge influx of business to his consulting practice and landed a 6-figure job offer as a direct result of the book."
Trained at the intersection of research, narrative, and strategy.
Simon Jacob Golden, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Simon Golden LLC, where he works as a book consultant, ghostwriter, and executive coach. He helps executives, founders, and other business leaders create a legacy, scale their business, and build credibility by writing a value-packed book — typically in four months.
He's coached and ghostwritten for dozens of authors, including: a CEO and national keynote speaker who published with Sounds True and earned an endorsement from Seth Godin; a management consultant who published with Rowman & Littlefield; an executive coach whose following grew 10×; a vice president who finished an 80,000-word manuscript in six months while working full-time; and a former All-pro NFL star who finished his book after years of feeling stuck.
His TEDx talk has been viewed more than 150,000 times. He developed the first AI-focused course on Coursera built for working professionals. He works privately with a limited number of clients each year — strategy calls are by appointment.
How long does it actually take to finish a book?
Simon's stated timeline is around four months for a value-packed book — though it varies. One vice-president client finished an 80,000-word manuscript in six months while holding a full-time role. The work happens in a few hours per week of focused effort, not in retreats or all-nighters. The point is to keep your day job moving while the book compounds in the background.
Is this coaching, or are you ghostwriting it for me?
Both. Simon offers structured coaching for clients who want to write every word themselves, and full ghostwriting using your ideas and tone of voice when you'd rather hand it off. Many engagements blend the two. We decide which path fits on the strategy call.
What does an engagement cost?
Pricing is custom and discussed on the strategy call after we've diagnosed the project. Past clients have publicly noted that the books they wrote with Simon paid for themselves in a single high-ticket engagement attracted by the book — for some that was a six-figure job offer, for others it was multiple consulting clients at the price points their own practices command.
I've tried writing this book three times already. Why would this work?
Most stalled book projects fail at the strategy layer, not the writing layer. The reader isn't defined. The thesis isn't sharp. The book competes with 4,000 lookalikes. B.R.I.D.G.E. forces those decisions before a single chapter is drafted — which is why clients who'd been "about to write" for years finish in months once we begin.
Will the book actually drive business?
If it's positioned as a business asset, yes. Past clients have used their books to fill premium coaching practices ($25K–$100K engagements), land TEDx and podcast platforms, and outrank competitors permanently on Google as "Author of [book]." If your goal is just a memoir for the family, this isn't the right engagement.
Do you handle publishing, or do I have to figure that out?
Publishing path is part of the engagement. We map traditional vs. hybrid vs. self-publishing against your business goals, then execute — including launch architecture (TEDx pitch decks, podcast tour positioning, premium-offer integration). The book stops being "a book" and becomes a category-defining platform.
What's the strategy call actually like?
Thirty minutes, on Zoom, just the two of us. We diagnose the book inside your business, surface the positioning, and decide together whether a coaching engagement makes sense. If it doesn't, you leave with a sharper thesis either way. No pitch, no high-pressure close.
Stop carrying the book in your head. Start writing the one your career deserves.
If you're a founder, operator, or industry leader sitting on a book you've been "about to write" for years — let's get on a call. We'll diagnose the book, the positioning, and whether a coaching engagement is the right move. No pitch, no obligation.
Book a Private Strategy Call