Hi, I’m Jennie Nash
I’m the founder and CEO of Author Accelerator.
I started this business after seeing how many writers struggled—not because they lacked talent, but because they lacked sustained, thoughtful support.
Editing wasn’t enough. Courses weren’t enough.
What was missing was someone who could stay with a writer through the entire process of creating a book.
That’s where book coaching began.
Since then, we’ve certified more than 380 book coaches who are now working with writers around the world—helping them build stronger books and find their way through the process of finishing them.
A New Way To Nurture Writers
For ten years, I taught a memoir course at UCLA Extension, and during that time I saw the same pattern again and again: writers who were thoughtful, committed, and deeply engaged in their work, but who struggled to make meaningful progress.
It was so frustrating to watch.
They were doing what they had been told to do. They showed up, they wrote, they revised. But the structure around them wasn’t designed to carry a project of this scale. A workshop could offer moments of insight, but it couldn’t hold the full weight of a book.
Again and again, writers would leave with pieces of something promising, but without a clear path forward.
At the same time, I had experienced a very different kind of process in my own work. I published six books with Big Five publishers and knew what it felt like to have close editorial engagement—work that was iterative, sustained, and focused on the book as a whole.
But as publishing became faster and less forgiving, it was clear that this kind of experience was becoming less and less available to most writers.
I found myself thinking about what a different model might look like—one that approached a book not as a series of isolated submissions, but as something that needed continuity, structure, and ongoing attention from start to finish.
The opportunity to try that came through a colleague at UCLA, Lisa Cron.
We worked together for more than a year as she developed what would become Wired for Story and Story Genius, moving from early ideas through a full manuscript, and then into a proposal and agent outreach.
That process felt different from anything I had done before. I felt more engaged and more responsive to the needs of the work as it evolved.
And it worked!
Lisa went on to secure a two-book deal with Ten Speed/Random House, and I came away with a much clearer understanding of what was possible.
That experience became the foundation for how I think about coaching writers—and, ultimately, the beginning of Author Accelerator.
Establishing the Gold Standard
As I refined this approach, I began working with more writers and saw what could happen when the process was handled this way.
Writers I worked with went on to publish widely—some reaching the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists, others securing book deals with major publishers, or seeing their work expand into new forms, including TED Talks and television.
What mattered most to me, though, was not any single outcome, but the consistency of the results: writers producing stronger work, and finding a clearer path through the process of bringing a book into the world.
In 2013, I founded Author Accelerator to teach this method to others.
From the beginning, I was less interested in creating a loose network or a simple training program, and more interested in establishing a standard for the work itself—something that would require real skill, and that writers and industry professionals could trust.
That led to the development of a certification process designed to ensure that coaches were fully prepared before working with clients.
Over time, that standard has held.
Author Accelerator coaches have built strong, sustainable practices, and the work has gained recognition across the publishing industry.
Seven Core Beliefs That Guide Our Work
1. I believe that the goal of writing books is not only about landing big publishing deals.
Those deals are nice when they come, but it’s not what makes writers write. Writers write because we are called to do it. We write to raise our voices. We write because making art of any kind often makes us feel alive. We write to have an impact on people, to engage readers, to get them to think and perhaps act. We write because it’s something we have dreamed about doing our entire lives and we can’t rest until we do it.
2. I believe that helping writers do this work—the work of their heart and their soul—is good, noble work.
Helping people get clarity around their thoughts, share their stories and perspectives, and invite others to see the world as they do is one of the ways we rise above the noise and reveal our humanity.
3. I believe that good writing can be taught.
There are rare native geniuses who know how to write an engaging book without having to work at it or think about it, but most writers must learn the craft. Throughout my career, I have had the pleasure of seeing all kinds of people from all kinds of educational and cultural backgrounds figure it out. It takes time and persistence, but it’s a skill that can be learned.
4. I believe that writing is not a zero-sum game.
Even if someone tries and fails (which means what? They don’t gain a broad readership? They don’t make the bestseller list? Insert any arbitrary metric….) the effort is still more than valuable and enriching. The same could be said for children who take piano lessons. The goal of the work is not always to end up playing at Carnegie Hall. It is a worthy goal to apply yourself to something challenging, to engage with an artistic medium, no matter the outcome. Aiming for big success is good — of course we all want it, and I get up every morning to try to guide clients to it — but it is not the only acceptable outcome.
5. I believe that it is difficult to make a living from writing alone.
Most writers will never get to quit their day jobs, land a movie deal with Reese Witherspoon, or even go on a great vacation from their earnings. It is for this reason that we don’t guarantee publication or a specific ROI from writing, and I counsel the coaches I teach not to do this, as well. Publishing is too dependent on luck and timing to make that kind of guarantee.
6. I believe that book coaching can be taught.
Whoever said that only successful writers can teach other writers to write? In my experience, famous writers are often the worst teachers because they are so genius at what they do that they can’t fathom not being a genius. They can explain what they do, but they can’t help others find their own way. There are a lot of good writers who are also good teachers, but the two things are not dependent on each other. In other industries — sports and music, for example, or executive business coaching — the coach has almost never reached the same level of achievement as the student. No one seems to question this. I believe it is no different in the world of writing. There are great agents and great editors at publishing houses who have never written or published a book. Most of them, in fact, have never written or published a book. They have learned how to help writers do their best work. This is what book coach training does for book coaches.
7. I believe that book coaching is a viable and meaningful way to build a professional life.
The coaches I have trained include teachers, writers, editors, librarians, copywriters, ghostwriters and others who are looking for work that is intellectually engaging, flexible, and sustainable—whether as a side practice or a full-time business.
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The Book On Book Coaching
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