What is a book coach?
A book coach helps you get your book to the finish line.
We haven’t met, but I bet you have an idea for a book. Or maybe you have more than an idea! Perhaps you have a solid hundred pages written—or even a full draft! But wherever you are in your book writing process, right now, you might be feeling a bit lost.
While writing a book may seem pretty straightforward at the outset, there’s plenty of swamp to get stuck in along the way.
Here’s the good news: A book coach is a book writer’s fairy godmother. But instead of a magic wand, a book coach wields a full toolkit of book-saving devices. Including a winch to pull a writer out of the muck and hoist them back onto their writing path.
A book coach offers the support, accountability, know-how, and strategic planning to help you move your book ahead to the finish line.
For instance, do you have too many characters bossing you around? (That happens more often than you might think!) At some point, you have to put your foot down and assign major roles to characters who deserve them—not just the ones who are shouting the loudest.
On the other (nonfiction) hand, you could be struggling to focus in on the most vital of the dozens of important concepts of your nonfiction book topic.
Or maybe you’re just wondering how to handle such a big project with so many other demands on your time!
In all of these cases, and a hundred more, your expert book coach is prepared to guide you forward with confidence and clarity.
Expert book coach
When you first started your book, I bet you felt excited! You trusted that writing your book would be inspiring, easy, and fun. But if you find yourself suddenly stumped by unexpected writing challenges, a book coach might be just what you need.
A professional book coach meets you where you are. Your coach can help you outline your book, create a full first draft, or complete a significant revision. A book writing coach can also help educate you about the process of preparing your manuscript for submission to agents or small presses or for self-publishing.
I’m an expert book coach with well over a decade of experience coaching fiction writers, memoir writers, and nonfiction book writers. I can help you write your book. I’d love to talk with you: Book a free initial consultation.
How does professional book coaching work?
We’ll start with a free book coaching consultation. During that initial chat, I’ll want to hear all about your writing goals. (I might even give you a few pointers right away!) And you’ll want to get a feel for my style: Am I supportive and encouraging? Am I knowledgeable about your project? Do you find me generous with my insights, right from the get-go?
All of this—and that undefinable quality called “chemistry”—will let us know if we might work well together.
If it’s feeling right (yay!), we might agree that developing a solid outline for your book is job one. If you already have an outline? We’ll plan to launch a draft. Or revise your draft so that it serves your publishing goals.
Wherever we start, our work together will be unique—because you’re unique! However, it will generally look something like this:
- Every week or two, you’ll send me what you’re working on—a chapter or scene, perhaps—and your current questions about it.
- Then we’ll meet by phone or video call to dive into the material you’ve shared.
- Next, we’ll create a plan to carry you forward to the next step.
During my review of your work and our calls, I’ll have my literary sixth sense dialed up to ten! Using that, and my years of experience in the book world, I’ll help you identify the strengths of your work, as well as areas that would benefit from further attention.
Among the many points we’ll consider are:
- plot and pacing
- organization
- audience and genre
- character and point of view
As we discuss what’s working and what’s not, 
we’ll brainstorm solutions right on the spot! Not just a rehash of literary conventions, our conversations will be a living, collaborative exploration of your work.
Our meetings will help you understand exactly what your manuscript needs to take it to the next level. And with my support, you’ll be able to do just that.