A structured, confidential process designed for institutional clients. Every stage is defined. Every deliverable is agreed in advance. Simple to begin, rigorous once under way.
Before the work begins
The five stages between a first enquiry and the commencement of substantive work are deliberate. They are designed to ensure that both the client and the practice are entering a serious engagement with a shared understanding of what is being commissioned, and on what terms. No stage is skipped, and no stage is hurried.
A written note from the prospective client, by email or through the contact form on this site, outlining in brief the nature of the matter and the kind of document or engagement being considered. No confidential detail is required at this stage, and none should be included. Enquiries are acknowledged within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
A half-hour conversation by video or voice, without charge and without obligation. The purpose is to establish whether the engagement is one the practice is well placed to undertake, and whether the client's expectations and the practice's capabilities are in meaningful alignment. A non-disclosure agreement is executed before any substantive detail of the matter is discussed.
A written scoping note is prepared by the practice and sent to the client for consideration. It sets out the proposed shape of the engagement, the documents or deliverables contemplated, the indicative time frame, the resources the practice will bring to the work, and the resources that will be required from the client. The scoping document is the basis on which the engagement letter is later drafted.
Once the scope is agreed, a formal engagement letter is issued. It records the scope, the fee structure, the payment schedule, the confidentiality framework, the governing jurisdiction for disputes, and any specific protocols applicable to the matter. The engagement letter is signed by both parties before substantive work begins.
The first working meeting is scheduled, the working infrastructure for the engagement is established, and the commencement instalment of the fee is invoiced. From this point onward the engagement proceeds according to the agreed scope, with review milestones at defined intervals, and with full continuity of personal attention from the first meeting through to final delivery.
All enquiries are treated as confidential from first contact and acknowledged within 24 to 48 hours. The mandate is reviewed, fit is assessed, and where appropriate a scoping consultation is scheduled, without obligation and governed by informal mutual confidentiality. The objective at this stage is straightforward: to establish whether this is the right engagement for both parties, and what it would involve.
Before any substantive discussion of content, a formal Non-Disclosure Agreement is executed. This is standard and applies to every engagement, without exception. The NDA is followed by an engagement letter setting out scope, deliverables, timeline, fees, and revision provisions. Work does not begin until both documents are signed.
Every document is built on structured knowledge extraction from the principal. For feasibility studies and policy documents, this means technical and strategic interviews with subject-matter experts, extracting the proprietary intelligence that the document must carry. For executive memoirs, biographies, and private legacy work, it means something different: extended, unhurried conversations designed to surface the authentic voice, the real intellectual framework, and the full arc of what has been lived and built. The depth of this phase is what separates a document that persuades from one that merely informs.
Before drafting begins, a detailed structural framework is produced, mapping the argument, sequencing, evidential requirements, and target register of the finished work. This is submitted for review and approval before a word of draft text is written. The most consequential failures in institutional documents are structural, not grammatical. Addressing those questions here eliminates the majority of revision cycles later and ensures the final document achieves its purpose, not merely fulfils its brief.
The first full draft is delivered against the approved architecture. For complex institutional documents, it is typically 85 to 90 percent of the final text, structurally complete, argumentatively coherent, and written to the target register. Review at this stage focuses on substance: accuracy of facts, positions, and scope. The structure and language register are already settled.
All engagements include a defined number of revision rounds, specified in the engagement letter. Factual corrections are always incorporated. Scope extensions are subject to additional agreement. Stylistic preferences are accommodated within the register requirements of the document. The process is collaborative throughout, the principal's knowledge of the subject informs the work at every stage, from first conversation to final full stop.
Final delivery includes the finished document in agreed formats, along with any supporting materials produced during the engagement. Upon delivery and final payment, all proprietary client materials are returned or securely destroyed per the NDA provisions. The intellectual property in all delivered work vests absolutely in the principal.
A document that is well-proofread but architecturally incoherent will not survive the scrutiny of a review committee, however polished its surface appears. The editorial process here begins with structure, mapping the argument before refining the prose. Surface correction is the final stage of a process that begins much deeper.
The conventions of argument, evidence, and authority differ across linguistic and cultural traditions. Bridging those differences, without flattening the integrity of either, requires editorial judgment informed by direct experience of the institutions involved. This is a practiced competency, not a theoretical one.
In memoir and biography work, the central discipline is preservation of the principal's voice. The finished document must read as an authentic expression of the principal, their cadence, their intellectual priorities, their characteristic ways of framing problems. The measure of success is a document that reads as though no editor touched it.
All enquiries are treated as confidential from first contact.
Request a Confidential ConsultationOr write directly: skr@skreditorial.com
This section will be updated with an anonymised excerpt from an actual client mandate.
Due to the confidential nature of most assignments, we do not publish working drafts or marked-up documents without explicit clearance.
We will shortly include a real before-and-after excerpt demonstrating:
If you would like to see a relevant example in the meantime, we are happy to review your document and walk you through our approach on a call.