FAQ

An Author Accelerator-certified book coach is a trained professional whose job it is to help you write your best book. She will apply her knowledge of writing craft, project management, and the publishing industry to your project while helping you stay on track toward your goals. A book coach can simultaneously see the big picture as well as the important, small details that bring work to vibrant life.

By working with a book coach, a manuscript or proposal is more polished and professional and closer to being ready than if you worked on your own. Plus, you get the added bonus of confidence and support during the writing process because you’re working so closely with someone who knows this stuff. You're the expert in your field/your idea; I'm an expert in helping you make it into a publishable book!

I share the mission and values of Author Accelerator:

Author Accelerator wants to change the way book writers are nurtured so that, instead of having to figure everything out on their own, they have expert editorial, emotional, and project-management support throughout the entire creative process.

Integrity: We do the right thing and don’t make promises we can’t keep.

Honesty: We will give tough love because being honest is the best thing we can do for a writer or a book coach.

Compassion: Writing is hard and we understand that all too well. So is learning a new skill and starting a business. Compassion is one of our best assets as we help our writers and book coaches reach their goals.

Support: We will be the biggest cheerleaders for our writers, our book coaches, and our staff. We want people to succeed.

Beginner’s mindset: Despite our experience and expertise, we approach our work with a beginner’s mindset, with curiosity and a belief that there is always something new to learn.

Want to read more? More benefits of book coaching are described here: https://www.authoraccelerator.com/bookcoach

My specialties are in the following genres - especially where the structure is critical to the telling of the story:

• Narrative nonfiction

• Creative nonfiction

• Memoir

• Self-help

• How-to

• Business

• Wellness

• Lifestyle

• Social science

• Essay collections

• Weird forms, like borrowed forms, hybrids, prose poems, etc.

Nonfiction falls into two broad types: prescriptive (how-to, informational, or educational – “benefit-oriented”) and narrative (uses scene, character, and dialogue to tell the story).

Within those types, here are some distinctions:

Prescriptive Nonfiction example: How to Build a Boat

Teaches the reader how to build a boat. May include some personal stories. A reader comes to the book wanting to build a boat and after finishing the book feels confident they can build a boat.

Real example: How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal From Your Past, and Create Your Self by Nicole LePera

Memoir “Plus” example: How I Built a Boat – and How You Can Too

A story that reads like fiction because of its use of scene, character, and dialogue PLUS has practical elements. A reader comes to the book wanting to see how the author solves their problem and learns new skills in the process.

Real example: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

Reported Nonfiction example: Boats: Not Just A Means of Transportation

A story that reads like fiction because of its use of scene, character, and dialogue PLUS has reported elements that weave in research and analysis. A reader comes to the book wanting to see how other people solve this particular problem.

Real example: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

Narrative Memoir example: How I Built a Boat

A story that reads like a novel because of its use of scene, character, and dialogue. Must have the same tension and propulsion that good fiction has. A reader comes to the book because they want to see how the author overcame obstacles in a period of their life.

Real example: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Creative Nonfiction example: Boats, Forever

A story that can bend the “rules” of genre and form. Must be done intentionally and with skill. A reader comes to the book because they want to see how the author overcame obstacles in a period of their life, and loves — or is at least not bothered by — straying from conventions.

Real example: In the Eye of the Wild by Nastassja Martin

For any of these to be traditionally published, they need a proposal, either before or in addition to the book manuscript.

I have worked with writers on:

A guide to decluttering your mind so you can declutter your home so you can live your best life

A memoir of growing up in Duvalier’s Haiti in the 1950s and 1960s

A utopian near-future novel

A guide to finding the courage to be your true creative self

A guide to creating the work/life situation that fulfills you and provides for your family

A how-to book for new managers

A guide for remote workers to survive, thrive, and encourage success for others in the return-to-office climate

Essays on the unintended consequences of political idealism

Meditations for people past midlife who are in the middle of transitions

A book on how to improve your sleep

A memoir of surviving incest and reforming sexual predators

Essays and memoirs on growing up and finding your place in the world

How do you know if you need an editor or a coach?

If you want someone to fix your manuscript for you, look for an editor.

If you want someone to reflect on what they’re seeing, ask questions about your intent, show you where there is room for improvement and how to go about it, and mentor you along your publishing journey, look for a coach.

A book coach helps you with both the vision for your book AND the execution of it. A book coach helps you understand what’s working and what’s not and teaches YOU how to fix it through revision. A book coach may edit your work but the primary job of a coach is to question, reflect, and bring the best out of you.

Your relationship with a book coach is likely to be longer-term. Note that a book coach explicitly helps you with positioning your book in addition to working on structure, content, and clarity. Your book is intended for a specific, invested reader, and a book coach helps you identify who that is and where to find them. Which is good for when you want to sell your book, and it’s one of the key things an agent or publisher looks for - that you know who your readers are and what pain your book solves for them.

An editor or a book coach can help you see big-picture issues with the content as well as line or copy mistakes in the content; a book coach's strengths also include helping you crystallize and hone your idea, developing a plan to get you from A to B, holding you accountable to a custom schedule and deadlines, and supporting you on the writing journey, especially during the “dark nights of the soul.”

A writing coach may focus on the technical and craft aspects of writing. A book coach will do that and help you get clarity on the idea of your book and help you envision the whole thing so you can write it and decide on your path to publication. So it's not just you writing essays or stories or a manuscript in a vacuum. You will be determining purpose and audience before and while you write. I will be challenging and questioning you with a reader’s / agent’s / editor’s eye and listening to you with compassion, and I will be with you every step of the way with feedback and recommendations.

Specifically, I love to work with coaches and consultants who dream of writing a nonfiction book but feel there’s so much they know they don’t know about writing and publishing that they just don’t even start. I tell them what they need to know and what they can expect so they can get it done, in manageable, bite-sized bits, with accountability.

More generally, I work with those who have some experience writing personally and/or professionally because they are Subject Matter Experts but need help creating a book-length work.

I work with writers who are open-minded, will trust my process, and are willing and able to do assignments and meet deadlines.

I work with writers who are willing to work hard and are willing to go the distance. Writing a book and pursuing publication is not easy.

I work with writers who are in tune with their instincts and are willing to be pushed beyond their comfort zones.

I work with writers who trust that I have their book’s best interests at heart, that I am their champion, cheerleader, and hand-holder, even when the going gets rough.

It depends on your goals (let's talk!), but it could be one or more of the following:

• If you have the seed of an idea for a book, we'll develop and clarify it and map it out so you can write it and/or sell it

• Consider publishing options so you have a plan

• Develop a polished, pitch-ready book proposal

• Plan to write a manuscript

• Develop your pitch / query letters and a custom agent list

Did you know that nonfiction books are sold on proposal, not completed manuscript (with the exception of memoir, where first time authors will need both)?

A book proposal serves as a business plan for the book and a road map for the writer, no matter where they are in the process or how they decide to publish.

A proposal is a great foundation for all nonfiction projects because it makes it defined, real, actionable, writeable, and pitchable.

Even if you are working on something non-traditional, you need a traditional way of explaining it to people: a proposal shows you speak the language of editors / agents / marketing / sales and you have a firm grasp on and justification for your work and its readers.

Even if you don't want to traditionally publish, you wiil still have your own marketing plan to execute. And if you do plan to traditionally publish, you most likely need a proposal to pitch. Even if a proposal is not required, your agent or editor will be pleased that you have put so much effort into the business planning for your book. It helps them do their jobs.

If you are writing nonfiction, you will need a proposal, and I will help you write it one piece at a time.