Writing a book can be daunting – take it from someone who has done it 15 times! There are many critical milestones in between, from coming up with your book idea to completing your first draft. To make things more challenging, becoming a published author isn’t always clear-cut.

Do you ever wish there was a roadmap for writing your book? A step-by-step plan that could help you finally make some progress on your writing journey?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the reality is that there is no “one way” to write and publish a book; it will be different for each person – because writing is such a personal journey.

What if I told you there was something even better?

Imagine having a knowledgeable mentor supporting you as you write, answering all your burning questions, and guiding you along the best possible path – because when it comes to book writing and publishing, there can be many forks on the road.

The answer you may be looking for is a book writing coach!

This article will explain everything you need to know about working with a book writing coach – from the basics of a book coach and the services they offer to how you can find the right coach for you.

Let’s dive right in.

What is a book writing coach?

A book coach is your companion, providing one-on-one mentoring throughout book-writing. A good coach can support you with organizing your ideas, reviewing drafts, navigating through the publishing process, and everything else in between. They rely on their extensive experience writing, publishing, and supporting other authors to create a personalized roadmap to success for your book.

Book writing coaches are here to help keep you accountable, suggest realistic timelines for writing, offer honest and constructive feedback, support you in overcoming any roadblocks, and save you time compared to trying to figure everything out on your own.

They’re your proofreader, project manager, emotional support, expert, and cheerleader.

They help you improve your writing, connect you with other writers (usually of a similar genre), and plug you into a writing community to help you propel your writing career.

Some book coaches focus on helping you with a book proposal, introducing you to the publishing industry, and helping you through the book publishing process. They can help you navigate the potential for a book deal or something as simple as helping you start that first draft.

Book coaches can help you become a better writer by offering various writing coaching services, especially if you’re working on your first book or collection of short stories.

What does a book coach do?

Writing coaches offer personalized services depending on your writing goals. Some of the ways they can support you include:

• Brainstorming – a coach can help you start writing, generate new ideas, prepare a book proposal, or refine your book idea to ensure it fits your audience.
• Organizing ideas/creating an outline – the flow of your book is an essential aspect of how readers will experience your work. It’s worth spending a reasonable amount of time on this, as it will help to simplify your book writing process – trust me! Your book outline and first draft uncover much of this flow.
• Navigating writer’s block – as a professional writer, a book coach can share tried and true tips for overcoming writer’s block and show you ways to improve your writing. For example, when I don’t know what to write next, one of my go-to tricks is to take a trip to the local bookstore, pick up a few books, and get inspired by the literary world.
• Understanding the book publishing process – the publishing world can be tricky for beginning writers, and a book coach can help guide you through your options. Personally, when it comes to the publishing industry, I am an advocate for self-publishing – it’s now more accessible than ever and cost-effective for authors of all levels.
• Reviewing your work – while a book coach may not be an experienced editor, they can help ensure your story flows well and even identify areas where you can go deeper to better connect to your audience on an emotional level. (And the truth is, my practice is that if I’ve had any hand in writing a book with an aspiring author, I won’t ever copy-edit my work. The margin for error is far too high in those scenarios)

Some book coaches can provide additional services, such as editing, proofreading, or ghostwriting. If your book coach doesn’t offer this service personally, they can likely put you in touch with someone from their network.

Working with a book coach can be amazing.

That being said, you must find the book coach that is right for you – you want someone who will get you results while also being considerate of your goals and aspirations – more on that below!

 

What does it look like to work with a book coach?

Every book coach is different, and the services provided will depend on your timelines, writing skills, and budget; however, in general, here is what you can expect:

Your first coaching session will likely be an information-collection exercise. Your writing coach will want to understand your personal experience, goals, and how far along you are in the book writing process.

For example, my coaching services begin with a 90-minute discovery call. This is where aspiring authors can share their overall book idea, and we can start peeling back that onion (yes, most stories can resemble an onion with many layers we will need to start pulling back).

The goal of this call is also to have the author feeling confident in the journey they’re about to embark on. With fifteen years of experience in social work, this is one of my favourite parts of the book coaching journey.

This is YOUR journey.

After this, your book coach may set you up with a writing plan or milestones to keep you on track. Then, you may have additional coaching calls with your writing coach to check in and ask questions. These coaching calls include reviewing materials, brainstorming, exercises to help your creative writing, or providing time for you to ask questions and be coached.

Once you have finished your rough draft, your coach may support you with editing/review services and help you sort through your options for publishing your book.

One of the unspoken services of a writing coach is support.

The right coach will have a positive approach to guiding you through the ups and downs of becoming a bestselling or even an award-winning author.

Am I ready to hire a book coach?

Your readiness to hire a book coach is a very personal choice – it will depend on your budget, personal goals, time constraints, and motivation to finish your book.

Here are some telltale signs that a book coach may be the missing link for you:

1. You know you want to write a book but aren’t sure where to begin – you’re an idea-generation machine, but you never quite make it past the brainstorming phase; this is where a book coach can help get you organized and provide practical advice to start writing.
2. You are stuck in the writing process – did you know that only 3% of aspiring writers go on to complete and publish their books? That’s because book writing is difficult, especially when you hit a roadblock or begin to question your writing skills. A book coach can provide what you need to finish your book – accountability, a new perspective, or moral support.
3. Your book deadline is approaching – a writing coach can help you set realistic timelines and provide tips for writing more efficiently to meet your upcoming deadline.

How much do writing coaches charge?

This can be a loaded question.

Costs can vary on the coach’s writing or publishing experience. You want your coach to be a professional writer (or at least I would think so!) This allows your coach to be relatable because chances are, at one time, they’ve experienced the same struggles you’re experiencing.

However, if you are solely looking for someone to cheer you on and hold you accountable, you can sneak through without a professional writer as your coach.

Regarding cost, you could visit a website like Fiverr or Upwork and hire someone to coach you through the writing process for $12 an hour. However, I encourage you to remember you get what you pay for.

I’ve had clients who started on that route only to learn it can be an expensive learning curve when you’ve hired a professional reader instead of a writer who can help give you feedback, critique, and guidance through the writing process.

Then, on the high end, I’ve seen some book coaches charge upwards of $100K for VIP days (true story), or others charge in increments of $250 an hour. Of course, when you venture into the ‘by the hour’ pay structure, this can add up unexpectedly. Other coaches provide group programs, which may be the most cost-effective or supportive avenue for you, whereas I prefer to work with my clients one-on-one (remember, writing a book isn’t so much a one-size-fits-all all deal)

The more common denominator in the world of what writing coaches charge is usually between $2000 – $2500 a month. What’s essential as you look for a potential coach is what is included in their costs.

Things to consider are;

• one on one calls (frequency and duration)
• email support
• mentorship
• manuscript support (editing, content, details, suggestions, etc.)
• ongoing support (I offer Voxer access, for example)
• collaborative efforts
• proofreading or copy editing

And probably the most significant thing to consider is — do you connect with this writing coach? Because writing your memoir, biography, short stories, or personal essays is a personal journey. How you connect with your writing coach matters immensely.

How do I find the right writing coach for me?

Most writing coaches, like myself, offer a discovery call that allows you to ask questions, understand the writing coach’s experience, and give you a glimpse into what it could look like to work with them. A great writing coach will be interested to hear your ideas, can quickly identify the areas in which you need support, and will not push you to work with them (pressure sales are rather gross).

Before the discovery call, take time to do your research and learn about the potential coach:

• Be familiar with the work of the writing coach – do they have a range of experience, or do they typically write in one genre/style (for instance, I love to support nonfiction book writers, so if you are looking to write your first romance novel, I may not be the best fit for you)
• Understand their publishing, coaching, or writing career; how did they start? What is their experience? What are they currently working on?
• Look for reviews or testimonials to understand their coaching and writing style and see if they have a proven track record of success with previous clients.

During the discovery call with a potential coach, feel free to ask questions that help you understand the writing coach’s work and experience, bandwidth, process, services offered, how they measure success, and cost for your nonfiction book. How familiar they are with the publishing industry may also be a key question if your goal is to gather support once you’ve completed your manuscript.

Why Working With a Coach is So Beneficial

There are a lot of coaches out there today, and I understand that it can be messy to sort through the sea of who is genuinely out there to help you – this is where you will need to rely on your intuition and be honest with yourself about the areas in which you are struggling.

I’ve learned from experience that sometimes, when you feel stuck, the best way to move forward is to get the support you need.

Why not just take a course or workshop?

This is a question I get asked a lot.

For example, writing coaches might send you tracked changes and comments in the margins. Still, rather than reading a finished project, they’re coming in earlier in the process, offering support, instruction, and advice to coach you toward a finished book.

This is an example of how coaching differs from taking a course or workshop.

Although many coaches have teaching experience and can provide thorough instruction on writing, coaching is customized for your precise needs and challenges.

Coaching services should never be one size fits all. Book coaching [should] be a personalized experience for the student or client.

 

The literary world is a remarkable space filled with incredible people — why not you?

I will never forget when I hired my first coach in January 2016. Real-life talk here … I was terrified. I was nervous, shaky, and had butterflies in my stomach, and my palms were sweaty.

It was a group program called Impacting Millions with a publicity expert, Selena Soo. I had been following Selena online for quite some time (I even took a free course she offered), but the cost of this program was scary. I wasn’t earning much income then, and throwing this expense on my credit card terrified me.

But I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

It was not an expense at all. It was an investment. An investment that led me to earn six figures a short few months later in my business.

But it was more significant than the income — working with a coach took me out of what felt like a solitary journey.

The support was invaluable.

I fell in love with her coaching style and continued to work with her year after year. Each year was taking my goals to new levels. She helped me form new ideas I had yet to consider; she plugged me into communities and helped me attain my writing goals.

Her guidance amplified my writing journey, and I am forever grateful.

Since then, I’ve hired coaches in all areas of my career; I’ve published books, grown my teaching experience, become an Amazon bestselling author, and I’ve been published in media outlets like Forbes, Thrive Global, and Authority Magazine (etc.). Oh, and I’ve created a free writing community on Facebook for aspiring writers and storytellers.

I am sharing this with you because hiring a coach can be scary. And that’s OK. You are here because you have a story inside you that the world deserves to hear, but you’re just wondering where to start or where to go from here.

You have a story to tell. 

You have a story that will help someone else. 

You have a story you want to share, but you need to figure out how.

Or if it’s good enough.

… if anyone wants to read it.

Or all the other self-doubt garbage we feed ourselves.

Writing is hard. 

It takes effort, and sometimes it feels like you’ll only accomplish something other than sharing your story with the world.

But I want to tell you that you can!

And you absolutely should.

I remember saying yes to ghostwriting my first book for a client in 2016. He had an incredible story of survival, and with a background in social work, I knew I could get through the story, but was I going to do his story justice?

It was my mission. And since I have a lot of LOVE for self-published authors n’ books, we knew that waiting on publishers would not be a thing that kept him from sharing his story.

(Spoiler alert: I wrote it, self-published it, a publishing house picked it up a few months later, and he had a book deal).

Back to why I’m sharing this.

You, like him, have a story to share and one that people will connect, relate to, be inspired by, and all the things inside you.

Too often, [what would be] authors let the start stop them.

When I look back over the last seven years of ghostwriting books, there has been a prevalent theme with authors I didn’t have the opportunity to work with.

→ My growing waitlist didn’t fit into their timelines

→ I didn’t offer any DIY or DIWY services

I want you to be able to write your story, and I would love to help you do it.

 

Conclusion

Overall, a book coach can provide the ongoing support you need to fine-tune your book and streamline your writing process so that you can FINALLY have that finished book in your hands. Imagine what that would feel like.

If you are finally ready to become a published author, book a coffee chat with me, and let’s discuss how I can support you.

Your story is meant to be shared.

Use your Voice, Make an Impact.

Catherine x