One-on-one coaching to lay a solid foundation for your book, from idea, to structure, plot, and characters, to finished outline.
Like building a house, crafting a good book means first building a solid foundation. I can help you lay a foundation for your novel or memoir that will make writing the first draft of your book more productive, more satisfying, and less frustrating. We’ll work together from idea to solidifying all the crucial elements to creating a detailed roadmap for writing your book.
I love working with new writers who have a great idea for a story. I especially love teaching new writers simple craft tips to elevate their writing right out of the gate. I derive a lot of satisfaction from helping new writers avoid many of the common mistakes writers make in the early or even later drafts of their books.
Jump-starting your book isn’t about speeding things up in the short term; it’s about speeding things up in the long term because you will have put in the work to make writing the first draft of your book easier while also writing a much better first draft.
I know you want to get busy writing, and I want that for you, too. But trust me, the more pre-writing work you put into your book, the happier you are going to be with the results, and the easier the rewriting and revision process is going to be. When you work with me on planning your first draft or a revision of your book, you will come away with a roadmap that will keep you focused on the road ahead and get you where you want to go.
Planning Your Book
Coaching through the planning process involves a minimum six-month commitment to us working together one-on-one to create and review a book plan you will turn in to me over the course of two to three monthly deadlines. The plan will be completed in a workbook I will provide to you. I will provide inline comments regarding the strengths and weaknesses of your story plan after each deadline. We will have a 60-minute intake call before you begin the process and a 30-minute coaching call after each deadline. Then, once the plan is in place, you’ll start writing your book, 25 pages at a time, I’ll provide you with written feedback, and we’ll meet once a month over the course of the remaining monthly deadlines.
Pricing
A Monthly Coaching Package with an introductory call, one deadline per month, one set of written feedback per month, and one 30-minute coaching call per month is $625.00 per month with a minimum six-month commitment. Results will vary, but writers will generally come away with a completed plan by the end of two to three months and will spend the next several months writing the opening chapters of their novels or memoirs. Depending on the amount of time the planning stage takes, writers will come away not only with a plan for the entire book but with approximately one-third of their books written.
A Monthly Coaching Package with an introductory call, two deadlines per month, two sets of written feedback per month, and two 30-minute coaching calls per month is $1,250 per month with a minimum six-month commitment. This will speed up the writer’s progress, but it also means the writer must be prepared to devote more time to the process so that it is not rushed. Results will vary, but writers will generally come away with a completed plan by the end of one to two months and will have written approximately the first half to two-thirds of their novels by the end of our six months together.
Additional Services
I also offer coaching through the writing (Knock Out Your Novel) or revision (Manuscript Makeover) process.
For information on a One-Off Coaching Session or a First 50 Pages Evaluation, please visit my Services page.
If you are working on a short story, essay, or other project that is 10,000 words or less, please contact me for rates.
Additional services offered on a limited basis to my book coaching clients include development of a query package (query letter, synopsis, and first pages), an agent list, and pitch plan, as well as developmental, line editing, and copy editing.