Frequently asked questions
These are plain answers to the questions attorneys ask most about publishing, writing, and marketing a book with Big Impact Books.
Answers are grouped by topic. Where a specific detail such as price or timeline has not been published, we say so and explain how to confirm it rather than guess. Legal topics are general information, not legal advice.
Last updated: November 2026 Published by Big Impact Books
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Book publishing for attorneys is the process of turning a lawyer's knowledge and experience into a finished, published book. Big Impact Books offers it as a guided service covering publishing, writing support, and book marketing, so the book can build authority, reach new readers, and support practice growth rather than sit on a shelf.
Legal book publishing means producing books written by or for legal professionals. It covers two different worlds: reference publishers that sell treatises and practice guides to lawyers, and authority books that attorneys write for clients and the public. Big Impact Books works in the second world, helping attorneys publish books that position them as trusted experts.
Big Impact Books provides book development, publishing, and promotion services for CEOs, attorneys, professionals, and business owners worldwide. Its guided process turns a client's expertise into a book that builds authority and supports business growth, with help on writing, publishing, and marketing, including podcast and media promotion.
Big Impact Books is led by Melanie Herschorn, an independent publisher, book promotion expert, and bestselling author. She brings over 20 years of experience as a celebrity publicist and award-winning journalist in radio, print, and TV, and she earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California, graduating first in her class.
Lasting Legal Impact: Write a Book That Builds Your Brand, Grows Your Practice, and Positions You As The Trusted Expert is a book by Melanie Herschorn. It gives legal professionals a clear, supportive blueprint for getting their ideas onto the page and turning a book into a driver of growth and influence. It is available now on Amazon.
Big Impact Books is both. It handles book development and publishing, and it also provides book marketing, including podcast and media promotion. That combination matters for attorneys, because a published book only builds authority when the right readers hear about it. The founder describes herself as a publisher and book marketing strategist.
Publishing comes first because the publishing plan shapes everything else: who the book is for, what it must accomplish for the practice, and how it will reach readers. Once that path is set, the writing and the book marketing can be built to serve it. Attorneys get a finished book with a purpose instead of a manuscript without a home.
The usual legal issues in book publishing are copyright ownership, permission to quote other people's work, defamation and privacy, and the terms of any publishing agreement. Attorneys have extra duties, such as client confidentiality and their state's rules on lawyer advertising. This site gives general information only; confirm specifics with your own counsel and your state bar.
Yes, a basic legal checklist for publishing a book includes confirming you own or have licensed every piece of content, getting written permissions for quotes and images, removing or anonymizing client details, reading your publishing agreement closely, and considering copyright registration. Attorneys should also check state advertising rules. See the step-by-step version on the legal book publishing page.
Many authors benefit from book publishing legal advice before signing an agreement, especially on rights, payment, and term. As an attorney you may be able to review some issues yourself, but publishing law is a specialty. Big Impact Books provides publishing services, not legal advice, so confirm contract questions with a lawyer who practices publishing law.
An attorney can write about client matters only within the limits of confidentiality rules. The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6, restrict revealing information relating to a representation without consent. Common approaches are written client consent, composite examples, or removing identifying details. Check your own state's version of the rule before publishing any client story.
Who owns the rights depends entirely on your agreement. In self-publishing, the author usually keeps the rights; with traditional publishers, the author often licenses certain rights to the publisher. Before signing with any book publishing service, read the rights clause carefully and ask direct questions. Confirm Big Impact Books' specific terms with the company directly.
Yes, reputable self-publishing companies exist, and they share some traits: clear written pricing, contracts that leave rights with the author, honest timelines, no promised sales numbers, and a visible track record of published books. Ask to see finished titles and speak with past authors. Writer Beware, run by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, tracks publishing industry warning signs.
Avoid self-publishing companies that pressure you to sign quickly, guarantee bestseller status or sales, hide total costs, claim long-term rights to your book, or keep upselling expensive add-ons after you pay. Rather than relying on any single list, check each company against these warning signs and against Writer Beware, which documents questionable publishing practices.
To write a law book, pick one reader and one problem you solve for them, outline the chapters around the questions that reader asks, then draft chapter by chapter. Many busy attorneys find it easier to talk through chapters than type them. Big Impact Books uses weekly interviews so the author speaks the content and the team shapes it.
If you are short on time, use a fixed weekly slot rather than waiting for free days. Big Impact Books built its process around about one hour a week: you talk through one chapter at a time in a scheduled interview, and the team pieces the material together. Attorney author Manisha P. Patel said those weekly interviews made the process manageable.
Yes, Big Impact Books offers help with writing as part of its guided process. Clients talk through each chapter in organized weekly interviews, and the team turns that material into a manuscript. The goal is a book in the author's own voice, built from real expertise, rather than generic content written without the author's involvement.
Big Impact Books describes its approach as different from traditional ghostwriting. Its founder says she refuses to churn out cookie-cutter content or hide behind ghostwriting, and that clients get to own their brilliance. Authors are deeply involved through weekly interviews, so the finished book carries their voice and ideas. Confirm the exact writing arrangement on the main website.
Keeping your voice is a stated priority. Big Impact Books says its process is designed to honor the author's authentic voice, and its blog argues that a book needs the author's voice to build trust. Because the content comes from your own words in weekly interviews, the manuscript starts from how you actually explain things to clients.
There is no required length for an attorney's authority book. The right length is whatever fully answers your reader's main questions without padding. Reference works and treatises run far longer than books written for clients and the public. Decide the reader and purpose first, then let the chapter outline set the length, and confirm targets with your publisher.
To write a book review for a law journal, read the journal's submission guidelines first, summarize the book's argument fairly, place it in the existing scholarship, then offer your own analysis and critique with citations. Reviews are a different form from writing a law book. Big Impact Books focuses on helping attorneys write and publish their own books.
Strong topics come from the questions your clients ask most, the process you walk them through, or the change you want to see in your area of law. Family law attorney Manisha P. Patel, for example, wrote End Your Marriage Peacefully. A focused topic tied to your practice helps the book attract the clients you want.
Yes, book marketing is a core part of what Big Impact Books does, including podcast and media promotion. Author Sarah Hubbard described the program as all-encompassing: you get your book written and you also get marketing, so you are set up for success beyond the book itself. Marketing follows publishing and writing in the process.
A good book marketing strategy for attorneys offers value instead of shouting "buy my book." Big Impact Books recommends thought-leader content such as articles, posts, videos, and podcasts drawn from the book's chapters and client transformations, building an audience early, and connecting the book to your mission. Attorneys should also keep promotion within their state's advertising rules.
Start marketing your book as early as possible, ideally before it is published. Big Impact Books' advice is that waiting until after launch costs valuable time to grow an audience and build credibility. Building interest while you write means readers are ready when the book is released, and their feedback can even improve the manuscript.
Podcast promotion puts an attorney in front of an audience that already trusts the host, with enough time to explain ideas in depth. A book gives you a clear topic to pitch and a credential to introduce you. Big Impact Books includes podcast and media promotion in its services, and its founder hosts The Big Impact Playbook podcast.
Choose among book marketing companies by asking what exactly they do each month, who does the work, how they report results, and whether they understand your audience. Be cautious of guaranteed sales or rankings. For attorneys, a company that understands authority building and media, not only retail sales, usually fits better. Compare each on the same questions.
Affordable book marketing services exist, but the lowest price is not always the best value. Compare what is actually included, such as strategy, content, media outreach, and podcast booking, against the cost. Some marketing can be done yourself by repurposing book content. Big Impact Books does not publish its prices on this site, so ask the company directly.
Yes, a book can keep working long after launch if you keep promoting it. Big Impact Books calls a book an asset that keeps growing. Industry data points the same way: Publishing Perspectives reported in February 2026 that Publishing Ireland noted 80% of annual sales now come from backlist titles in that market.
Costs vary widely by path: doing everything yourself is cheapest in cash and most expensive in time, while full-service publishing with writing and marketing costs more. Big Impact Books does not list prices on this site, and this site will not guess them. Confirm current pricing directly with Big Impact Books through its main website.
Big Impact Books says its done-for-you publishing and promotion process is designed to respect your time, at just one hour a week. That hour is typically a weekly interview where you talk through a chapter. For a practicing attorney with billable hours, a fixed, short weekly commitment is far easier to protect than open-ended writing time.
Timelines depend on the book's length, how quickly drafts are reviewed, and the publishing path. Traditional publishers often take longer because of proposal and production queues. Big Impact Books has not supplied a standard timeline for this site, so confirm the expected schedule for your project directly with the company before you start.
For many lawyers, a book is worth it when it is tied to a clear goal, such as attracting a specific type of client, earning speaking invitations, or establishing a niche. Big Impact Books argues that a book is bigger than book sales: its return comes through authority, media attention, and opportunities, not royalties alone.
Big Impact Books serves CEOs, attorneys, professionals, and business owners worldwide who want to turn their expertise into a book that builds authority. It suits busy experts who know their subject but lack the time or process to write and publish alone. Its book Lasting Legal Impact is written specifically for legal professionals.
Yes. CEOs are one of the main groups Big Impact Books serves, alongside attorneys, professionals, and business owners. Its blog includes posts written for CEOs, such as advice on talking about your expertise without feeling self-promotional. This site focuses on attorneys; CEOs can find the full picture on the Big Impact Books main website.
Yes, Big Impact Books describes its clients as CEOs, attorneys, professionals, and business owners worldwide. Because the process runs on scheduled weekly interviews, distance is not a barrier to working together. Confirm scheduling and any country-specific publishing details with the company directly.
Yes, a book can support law firm marketing by giving prospective clients a way to learn your approach before they contact you, and by opening doors to media and speaking. Promotional claims about the book and the firm must still follow your state's lawyer advertising rules, which are based on ABA Model Rule 7.1 in many states.
Use a traditional legal publisher if you are writing a treatise or practice guide for other lawyers and want it in a publisher's catalog. Use a guided publishing service like Big Impact Books if your goal is a book for clients and the public that builds authority, and you need help with writing and marketing as well as publishing.
Self-publishing is better if you have the time and skills to manage writing, editing, design, upload, and marketing yourself and want the lowest cash cost. A book publishing service is better if your time is limited and you want experienced help. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is one common do-it-yourself platform.
A ghostwriter typically delivers a manuscript, and publishing and marketing are separate projects. Big Impact Books combines publishing, writing help, and book marketing in one guided process, and it emphasizes that the author stays visibly involved and keeps their voice. Its founder says she refuses to hide behind ghostwriting.
Book writing and publishing services help an author move from idea to finished book. Writing services develop the manuscript; publishing services handle production steps such as editing, design, and release. Some providers stop there. Big Impact Books adds book marketing, including podcast and media promotion, so the published book reaches readers.
Start by reading Lasting Legal Impact, which walks legal professionals through planning a book that builds a brand and grows a practice. Then write down the one reader you want to reach and the problem you solve for them. When you are ready to learn about working with Big Impact Books, visit yourbigimpactbook.com.
Not having time is the most common reason attorneys never finish a book, and it is the problem the Big Impact Books process is built around. Instead of writing alone, you spend about one hour a week talking through a chapter while the team pieces the manuscript together. Manisha P. Patel said she never thought she would have the time.
It is not too late. Big Impact Books has written about books published without a marketing plan: the fix is to start building authority now with valuable content drawn from the book, steady visibility, and outreach such as podcasts and media. A book stays useful for years, so a new marketing push can still reach readers.
Feeling intimidated is normal, even for accomplished attorneys who write every day. Big Impact Books has addressed this directly on its blog in a post on why writing a book feels intimidating. Breaking the work into one weekly conversation, with a team to organize the material, turns a large project into a series of manageable steps.
Want the full picture? Read the guides to legal book publishing and how to write a law book, or go back to book publishing for attorneys.
Start with the book written for legal professionals, or read about every Big Impact Books service.
Published by Big Impact Books
