Book coaching

Coaching can be developmental editing that happens while you’re still drafting or revising. You bring the pages. I bring three decades of knowing how books work, and I’ll tell you when yours doesn’t yet, before you commit to that enticing (but irrelevant) plot branch.

Who is book coaching for?

Book coaching is for any writer who wants a partner to guide them, give feedback, and keep them on track to reach their goals. You could be drafting your first novel, revising your fourth, or trying to hit a publishing deadline. Some writers come for accountability: a gym membership for their book. Others come for a brainstorming partner who can tell them which of three endings serves the story or ask the question that sparks a fourth option that is clearly the best. Some just want to know what to do next. Most want some of each, and the mix can shift month to month. The constant is the writing. As long as you keep writing, you’re not doing anything wrong, and my job is to keep you writing.

What does coaching look like?

We start with an action plan built around your needs: your goals, the gaps you perceive in your work or your writing overall, your deadlines, and your writing life as it is rather than as you wish it were. (If I could spirit all my clients away to a tropical retreat center where they’re free from a day job and kids never need to be picked up, I would… but failing that, let’s talk about how many words you can write on your lunch hour or during car line.)

Then we work the plan with scheduled calls, voice messaging through Voxer when a quick chat would help you keep moving forward, email as needed, and accountability check-ins from me. (Deadlines have motivated more chapters than the muse ever has!) Along the way, I’ll point you to resources that address whatever you’re wrestling with and give feedback on passages or pages. Packages run from one month to a year or more, and fees can be split into multiple payments.

How do you apply?

You apply by answering a few questions about you, your book, and what you’re looking for. Then we meet briefly to see whether we’re a good fit. Coaching is a working relationship, and it has to work in both directions: you’re choosing a coach you trust with your book, and I’m taking on a book or author I know I can help. If coaching isn’t the right service for where you are, I’ll say so and point you toward what might be. Sometimes the honest advice is that you don’t need me yet.