Alisa Parenti

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Authors

Award-winning broadcast journalist, Bloomberg host and reporter, and adjunct professor of journalism at Georgetown University, with a master’s degree from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. Deeply experienced in reporting, storytelling, and teaching others how to write clearly under pressure.

This project marked a shift, from daily journalism to long-form historical fiction, examining women’s rights and power through the lens of Ethel Rosenberg’s story, motivated by Parenti’s desire to leave a meaningful intellectual legacy for her daughters.

Modern Author Program

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“What I didn’t expect was the way they would take the content and elevate it, and spread the message to a much wider audience.”

— Alisa Parenti

What Changed?

The book process expanded what Parenti believed was possible. What began as a deeply researched historical novel became a vehicle for broader conversation, reaching audiences beyond her existing journalism platform.

The shift wasn’t just format, it was scope.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Publish a legacy or mission-driven book

Constraints

Limited time / full-time job
First-time author
Needed structure and accountability

Role

Executive / C-suite
Consultant / advisor

Watch the Deep Dive

Andrea Goulet

Authors

Andrea Goulet is a founder and UX leader who understands how trust and positioning are built.

She entered the Manuscripts process not to “become an author someday,” but to turn her expertise into a clear public framework, one that could create authority, demand, and opportunity in real time.

Her story proves something important:

Books don’t just capture credibility.
They generate it.

Modern Author Program

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“One unfinished chapter turned into 21 leads and a $250,000 opportunity pipeline, before the book was even done.”

—Andrea Goulet

What Changed?

Andrea didn’t wait for a polished manuscript.

Through the Manuscripts process, she began publishing and sharing ideas while the book was still forming.

That early visibility created an unexpected result:

The market responded before the product was finished.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Support a consulting or speaking business
Use a book as a business asset

Constraints

Limited time / full-time job
Needed structure and accountability
Balancing book with business or leadership role

Role

Founder / entrepreneur
Consultant / advisor
Healthcare or technical professional

Jim Camp Jr.

Authors

Jim Camp Jr. is a retired U.S. Air Force Major General, leadership advisor, and co-owner of Camp Negotiation Systems. After years commanding under pressure and coaching executives on high-stakes negotiation, Jim recognized a deeper pattern: leaders weren’t struggling to negotiate deals, they were struggling to lead decisively.

The book Start With No was the beginning of Camp Negotiations, which became a foundational text in negotiation by challenging the compromise culture. But over time, Jim saw that the real leverage wasn’t in deals. It was in leadership.

Lead From No emerged as a reframing of negotiation as a leadership discipline, one rooted in clarity, responsibility, and emotional control.

Modern Author Program

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“Pressure doesn’t reward instinct. It rewards a system.”

—Jim Camp Jr.

What Changed?

Writing Lead From No forced Jim to articulate something he had practiced for decades but never formally named: leadership itself is a form of negotiation.

Not persuasion.
Not compromise.
But decision-making under pressure.

The book reframed the Camp System from a negotiation methodology into a leadership operating system, helping Camp Negotiation Systems evolve from a training firm into one of the most respected leadership development organizations in the country.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Use a book as a business asset

Constraints

Limited time / full-time job
Balancing book with business or leadership role

Role

Founder / entrepreneur
Consultant / advisor

Watch the Deep Dive

https://campnegotiations.com/

Ashlee Berghoff

Authors

Ashlee Berghoff is the founder of Smooth Operator, America’s go-to process and systems specialists for event-based businesses. She helps entrepreneurs replace 7-figure chaos with 7-figure profits by building operational engines that scale without burnout.

With an MBA from Georgetown and experience inside high-growth entrepreneurial ecosystems, Ashlee specializes in turning visionary ideas into structured, profitable execution.

Her book, Eureka Results, distills her philosophy into a field guide for entrepreneurs who are drowning in ideas but starving for systems.

Modern Author Program

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“Even if no one read the book, it would have been incredibly helpful for me.”

—Ashlee Berghoff

What Changed?

When Ashlee entered the program, she didn’t have a polished thesis. She had a messy middle.

Pregnant, running a business, navigating life in a slowed-down COVID world, she gave herself permission to start without clarity.

Over 10 months, structure did what structure always does.

It turned:
• vague passion
• scattered insights
• instinctive pattern recognition

into:
• frameworks
• language
• intellectual positioning

Writing forced her to articulate why systems matter and how they unlock freedom. The book didn’t just capture her thinking. It deepened it.

Friends told her they’d tried to write books for 10 years and never made it past chapter two. She finished because the process wasn’t motivational fluff. It was structured.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Clarify and organize my ideas
Use a book as a business asset

Constraints

Limited time / full-time job
Needed structure and accountability
Wanted editorial guidance, not ghostwriting

Role

Consultant / advisor

Jaime Jay

Authors

Jaime Jay is a systems-minded entrepreneur, former 82nd Airborne paratrooper, and the founder of Bottleneck Distant Assistants—a company that helps business owners reclaim 20–40 hours a week through smarter delegation.

After decades in operations, sales, and remote team management, Jaime wrote Quit Repeating Yourself to codify what actually works when businesses stop relying on memory and start relying on systems.

The book became a forcing function. It clarified his thinking, sharpened his offer, and positioned his company as a category leader.

Within a year of release, Bottleneck Distant Assistants crossed seven figures in revenue.

Modern Author Program

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“The book didn’t just explain what we do. It forced me to systemize it, and that changed everything.”

—Jaime Jay

What Changed?

Before the book, Jaime had experience and intuition.
After the book, he had language, structure, and repeatability.

Writing forced him to slow down, name the patterns, and turn lived knowledge into a transferable framework. That framework didn’t just help readers, it aligned his team, improved sales conversations, and made growth predictable instead of reactive.

The book wasn’t the finish line.
It became the operating system behind the business.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Use a book as a business asset

Constraints

Limited time / full-time job
Balancing book with business or leadership role
First-time author

Role

Founder / entrepreneur

Gregory Offner

Authors

Gregory Offner is a leadership speaker and culture strategist who helps organizations build accountability, trust, and human-centered performance.

After publishing The Tip Jar Culture, Gregory’s work crystallized into a message that traveled—fast. The book didn’t just capture his ideas. It made them portable, bookable, and scalable.

Within a short window, Gregory was signed by Eagle Talent Speakers Bureau and began delivering keynotes nationwide.

Modern Author Program

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“The book gave people a way to understand what I do—and a reason to bring me in.”

—Gregory Offner

What Changed?

Before the book, Gregory was doing strong work inside organizations.

After the book, decision-makers could:
• Understand his philosophy quickly
• Share his framework internally
• Justify bringing him in at scale

The book became a credential, a conversation starter, and a sales asset—not a vanity project.

Since publication, Gregory has delivered keynotes to thousands of leaders across the U.S., spanning industries from healthcare to government to professional services.

Goal

Use a book as a business asset
Support a consulting or speaking business

Constraints

First-time author
Balancing book with business or leadership role

Role

Consultant / advisor

Dr. Kathleen Muglia

Authors

Kathleen Muglia, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, is a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Professor at Marquette University, and leader in behavioral health, pediatric nursing, and therapeutic innovation.

Her book, Synergistic Caregiving, bridges clinical expertise with holistic healing principles, empowering caregivers to care for themselves while serving others.

Kathleen’s work spans academia, hospital systems, nonprofit initiatives, and community health.

Modern Author Program

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“Confidence changes everything.”

—Dr. Kathleen Muglia

What Changed?

Before the book, Kathleen was already accomplished.
But authorship shifted her identity.

The book became:
• A credibility amplifier
• A bridge from clinician to founder and advisor
• A platform to lead conversations beyond the classroom

It allowed her to move from practitioner to thought leader.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Establish a category or methodology
Support a consulting or speaking business

Constraints

Limited time / full-time job
Balancing book with business or leadership role

Role

Healthcare or technical professional

James Wang

Authors

James Wang is a General Partner at Creative Ventures, investing in healthcare, agriculture, and industrial technologies. He previously worked at Bridgewater Associates and Google X’s Makani project and is a co-founder of Lioness Health.

With degrees from Dartmouth, Georgia Tech, and UC Berkeley Haas, James sits at the intersection of venture capital, AI, and systems thinking.

His book, What You Need to Know About AI, grew out of his Substack Weighty Thoughts, transforming complex AI ideas into practical frameworks for leaders and founders.

Modern Author Program

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“Writing online clarified my thinking. Writing a book scaled it.”

—James Wang

What Changed?

James didn’t write a book to “become an author.”
He wrote it to scale clarity.

The book became:
• A positioning tool inside venture
• A signal to founders and LPs
• A bridge to international representation

From Substack → Book → International Agent.

The book formalized his ideas and expanded his platform beyond digital essays into durable thought leadership.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Use a book as a business asset

Constraints

Limited time / full-time job
Wanted editorial guidance, not ghostwriting

Role

Executive / C-suite
Healthcare or technical professional

Watch the Deep Dive

http://jameswang.ai/

Danny Lehr

Authors

Danny Lehr is a sought-after speaker, entrepreneur, and former competitive athlete obsessed with helping people accomplish their biggest goals—one hour at a time.

As the founder of the iconic fitness brand Caffeine and Kilos, Danny has spent more than 15 years studying the habits of Olympians, professional athletes, and 9-figure entrepreneurs. Those insights became the foundation of his W.I.N. formula and ultimately his book, Win Your Next Hour.

For Danny, the book wasn’t about proving expertise.
It was about turning lived experience into a disciplined, repeatable framework others could actually use.

Modern Author Program

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“I didn’t write a book by inspiration. I wrote it because I had structure, deadlines, and accountability.”

—Danny Lehr

What Changed?

Danny didn’t struggle with ideas.
He struggled with compression.

Writing the book forced him to do what he teaches others to do: commit to a system, show up consistently, and execute even on hard days.

Through a structured publishing process with clear deadlines and accountability, Win Your Next Hour went from concept to completed asset—becoming a cornerstone of Danny’s speaking career and professional platform.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Establish a category or methodology
Publish a legacy or mission-driven book

Constraints

First-time author, Not a confident writer
Wanted editorial guidance, not ghostwriting

Role

Healthcare or technical professional
Academic / educator

Andrew Mangan

Authors

Andrew Mangan started writing his book while still in high school.

At 17.

He wasn’t majoring in neuroscience.
He wasn’t working in biotech.
He just got curious.

So he started calling people.

Including a doctor who implanted a chip in his own brain.

He interviewed researchers.
He read everything he could find.
He wrote.

And within weeks, he went from “I know nothing about this topic” to seeing “the edges of the picture.”

He became the person asking better questions.

Modern Author Program

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“If you read three books and write one, you’re the expert.”

—Andrew Mangan

What Changed?

After publishing:

• First and only freshman at Stanford invited into a neuroscience lab
• Worked on spinal injury + brain-machine interfaces
• Founded PromptLoop
• Accepted into Y Combinator (W22)
• Building AI-powered research tools for enterprise
• Training for the Paralympics in rowing
• Advocating for athletes with spinal cord injuries

The throughline?

Curiosity → Conversations → Credibility → Creation.

The book wasn’t the outcome.

It was the launchpad.

Goal

Build authority or thought leadership
Establish a category or methodology
Publish a legacy or mission-driven book

Constraints

First-time author, Not a confident writer
Wanted editorial guidance, not ghostwriting

Role

Healthcare or technical professional
Academic / educator