The Programme

Your book has more commercial life ahead of it than behind it. This is how you go and get it.

Author in Command is a five-session strategic programme for serious non-fiction authors who want to build the long-term life of their books after publication.

Through live seminars, practical frameworks and intelligent use of AI, you will develop the knowledge, tools and confidence to become the steward of your work beyond the launch.

Is this programme for you?

Author in Command is designed for authors who have invested deeply in creating a substantial work and want to ensure that its ideas continue to reach the people who need them.

It is for authors who:

have written, published or are preparing to publish a non-fiction book built around significant ideas, research or expertise;
recognise that publication is not the end of their work, but the beginning of a new stage in their relationship with readers;
want to develop a thoughtful, long-term strategy for extending the reach and influence of their book;
are interested in using AI intelligently as a tool for research, exploration, creativity and connection, while remaining fully in control of their own voice and judgement;
are prepared to take an active role in guiding the future life of their work.

Whether your book has recently been published, your launch period has passed, or you are preparing for publication, Author in Command provides the framework to help you move forward with clarity and purpose.

How the Programme Works

Five 90-minute live sessions. Structured, substantive, and built for serious thinking.

Each session combines focused teaching with guided practical exercises, structured discussion, and hands-on strategic work on your own book.

This is not passive learning. Every session produces material you can use.

Sessions are delivered live online, in a working group environment where the quality of the conversation is as valuable as the content itself.

Between sessions, you work with the 182-page Author Strategy Planner — a companion document designed to deepen in value over time, not consumed once and shelved.

Photo: Toa Heftiba

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The Experience, in Authors' Own Words

Jan’s coaching, together with the experience, expertise and personal approach he brought to each session, turned those 90 minutes into a learning adventure.

For me, the programme was particularly valuable because it offered new perspectives on my work: not only on how to share it with readers, but also on how to continue developing new material, ideas and approaches long after publication.

Berta Alicia Chen
Author

I was a little bit skeptical about this online training on AI and writing. However, Jan did an amazing job while pushing me to think critically about my new book.

He gave us the tools to use AI as a resource to question and to better understand my future readers. I never thought about using AI in such a way.

Juan A. Ríos Vega
Associate Professor, Bradley University
Illinois, USA

“

It was a transformative experience. The approach to working with artificial intelligence was very innovative and timely: how to reduce AI to the role it is meant to play — that of a tool. The answer was that the human mind must never stop participating.

To this end, Jan offered us a variety of prompts and recommendations that aren’t commonly shared. The results were very satisfying.

Carlos Wynter Melo

Organiser, Author in Command Panamá Pilot

Photo: Sebastian Svenson

The Five Sessions

Author in Command is structured as five live online sessions that take you through the journey of becoming the steward of your book after publication.

Each session builds on the last. You begin by understanding your new role as an author beyond publication. You then develop the narrative clarity, strategic thinking and practical systems needed to help your work continue reaching readers, supported by thoughtful use of AI.

By the end of the programme, you will have a clear framework for guiding the long-term life of your book.

SESSION 1 - RECLAIMING OWNERSHIP OF YOUR BOOK:

Seeing your book’s possibilities beyond publication

Publication changes your relationship with your book. The work enters other people’s hands, but your ability to shape its future continues.

This opening session invites you to look afresh at what you have created: the ideas, questions and possibilities within your book, and the readers it could continue to reach over the years ahead.

You will examine how the habits of launch thinking can limit your ambitions for the work, and begin to define what thoughtful, sustained stewardship could mean for you—whether your book is already published or approaching publication.

By the end of the session, you will have a clearer sense of the future you want for your book and the role you are prepared to take in bringing it about.

SESSION 2 - STRATEGIC POSITIONING & NARRATIVE CONTROL:

Clarifying what your book stands for—and how its ideas travel

As your book reaches readers, its ideas are described, recommended and interpreted by others. Clear positioning helps you guide that process while preserving the substance of the work.

In this session, you will examine the change your book invites in its reader’s understanding. You will develop a Narrative Arc that traces that change and a One-Sentence Spine that expresses the central argument holding the work together.

You will then pressure-test these formulations, using AI to help identify ambiguity, misplaced emphasis or interpretations that pull your book away from its purpose. Your judgment remains the measure of whether the language is faithful to the work.

By the end of the session, you will have a clearer account of your book’s distinctive contribution and language you can use to communicate it with greater precision and confidence.

SESSION 3 - YOUR TURN - THE AUTHOR'S COMMAND BRIEF:

Bringing your thinking together and setting your own direction

Before you can direct AI—or make sound decisions about your book’s future—you need a considered account of what you want for the work and what matters most to you.

This session gives you time and structure to develop that account. Working through seven questions, you will bring together your thinking about your book, its readers, your ambitions and the commitments you are prepared to make.

Through guided reflection and discussion, you will examine where your answers are clear, where tensions remain and which questions deserve further thought. The aim is to arrive at a position you can use to guide your decisions.

By the end of the session, you will have developed your Author’s Command Brief: a statement of direction that grounds your subsequent work with AI and the practical strategy you build for your book.

SESSION 4 - AI AS STRATEGIC THINKING PARTNER:

Developing a disciplined way to think with AI

AI becomes more useful when you give it a clear understanding of your work, a defined role and boundaries that reflect your intentions as an author.

In this session, you will explore three roles AI can play: reflecting your thinking, organising complex material and challenging your assumptions. You will learn how to provide context, frame a worthwhile thinking challenge and recognise when a fluent response needs closer scrutiny.

Working with your own book and Author’s Command Brief, you will practise keeping the exchange focused, questioning what AI offers and deciding what deserves further attention. Your experience and judgment guide the process throughout.

By the end of the session, you will have a more deliberate way of working with AI to deepen your thinking and support decisions about your book’s future.

SESSION 5 - DESIGNING AN AUTHOR-LED SYSTEM:

Building a sustainable connection between your book and its readers

The final session turns your strategic thinking into a practical approach you can sustain alongside the rest of your life.

You will examine where your book’s relationship with readers can develop, distinguishing between attention borrowed from other platforms and connections you can cultivate directly. You will choose a core channel and shape a signature asset that gives readers a compelling way into your book’s ideas.

Drawing on the idea of the author as host, you will consider how to gather people around a conversation worth continuing, with AI supporting your preparation and thinking.

By the end of the session, you will have a focused 90-day action plan, with clear priorities, manageable next steps and ways to assess whether your efforts are strengthening the continuing life of your book.

The journey continues beyond the programme

The five sessions give you a foundation for work that continues as your book reaches new readers and encounters new questions.

You leave with a clearer sense of direction, practical ways to work with AI and a plan you can put into action. Your Strategy Planner remains a place to revisit decisions, develop your thinking and assess what you are learning.

Over time, opportunities will change and your understanding of the work may deepen. The lasting value of the programme lies in being better equipped to respond—with judgment, purpose and confidence in your own authority as the author.

What Participants Receive

You will leave the programme with:

✦ A clear strategic narrative for your book — the language that makes it findable, describable, and worth returning to

✦ A reframed understanding of your commercial role after publication — and the confidence to act on it

✦ A practical, author-led AI system for reaching new readers and sustaining long-term sales

✦ A long-term reader engagement plan built around your specific book and its particular audience

✦ A 90-day action plan, grounded in the work of the five sessions, with clear next steps

✦ The 182-page Author Strategy Planner — a working document that deepens in value as your book's life unfolds

Everything is designed to be used long after the programme concludes. This is not a course you complete. It is a strategic foundation you build on.

Photo: Visax

The Investment

Participation in Author in Command costs £699 for UK bookings or US$997 for US bookings, including five live online sessions, your printed Author Strategy Planner and accompanying materials.

Your book represents a substantial investment of thought, experience and time. Author in Command helps you build on that investment by developing clearer positioning, a disciplined way of working with AI, and a practical strategy for reaching readers over time.

The aim is to leave you better equipped to recognise opportunities, make informed decisions and direct your effort towards work that can sustain your book’s readership, influence and commercial life.

Applications are reviewed for suitability and readiness. No payment is required until you have been offered a place and confirmed that the session dates work for you.