What Does a Book Coach Do?
Today’s blog post comes to us from Author Accelerator CEO Jennie Nash. If you’re interested in learning more about book coaching after reading about what a book coach does, you can click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to lead a discussion with seven writers, their book coaches, and four agents.
This was a learning session in Author Accelerator’s Nonfiction Incubator program. The writers participating are incredibly accomplished in their fields, and all but one of them is working on their first book.
Here's what a couple of them have achieved throughout the program so far:
This week's session was a perfect example of the role of a book coach in the development of a project—it was all on display. Here are 10 things these book coaches did for these writers throughout the discussion:
A book coach pays deep attention to your idea
This is the primary action you probably think of when you think of a book coach — or at least I hope it is! A book coach is first and foremost an editor. We are helping you get your idea out of your head and onto the page. We are working to make sure that your message is clear, your words are compelling, and the book you are writing is the book that is in your heart. We do this whether you come to us with nothing on the page or an entire manuscript.
A book coach pays deep attention to you
This is a key difference between an editor and a book coach—and I think it’s a profound one. An editor’s primary job is to make sure the words on the page are working. When people ask me “What does a book coach do?” on the other hand, I say we are here to help edit… but we are also concerned with the writer as a creator and a human.
Writers often suffer from doubt and sometimes even despair. It can be so painful to have a vision for a book and not be able to execute it, either because you don’t have time, you don’t have the will, or forces outside your control are preventing it from happening. Book coaches don’t dismiss this pain. We hold space for it. We totally get it. We have seen it before—probably a hundred times—and we normalize it for you, every time we talk, every time we meet.
A book coach tells the truth
It serves no one for us to pull the wool over a writer’s eyes. We are not here to flatter or praise when praise is not warranted. We are here to help you write the best book you can, and if something isn’t working we will say so—but we will have evidence to back us up. We will give you the why—and a way forward.
A book coach holds you accountable
When you have a deadline and someone is expecting your pages and you are paying them to read and edit them, you get those pages done. The power of this simple equation can’t be overstated. People who hire book coaches are ready to get serious. They are tired of trying to motivate themselves. They know the power of paying a professional to keep them on track.
A book coach cheers you on
When you work with a book coach, you have someone by your side, walking the path with you every step of the way and cheering you on. It’s our job, but it’s also our joy. We know you can do it (because anyone who commits themselves to the work of writing a book can do it) and we remind you of this as often as you need to hear it.
A book coach prepares you to enter the marketplace
A book is a product and an author is an entrepreneur. A book coach helps you prepare to enter the publishing marketplace by helping you envision your book on the shelf, helping you prepare pitch materials, and helping you get your mind in the right place to take up space and make an impact.
This is a daunting step for a lot of writers. Raising your voice can bring up the reality of people (or entire systems) in your life who tried to shut you up or shut you down. When a coach hears a writer playing small, we can call you out on it and bring you back into your power.
A book coach helps you understand the competition
Understanding your ideal reader is the key to reaching them, and a huge part of this work is understanding what else they are reading, listening to, and watching. A book coach can help you evaluate the competition and position your book to add value to the conversation that is already happening around your topic or idea.
Should another writer come out with a book that sounds just like yours just before you are about to try to pitch, a book coach will help you stay grounded and help you remember that there is room in the world for all the books and all the stories and that no one can write your book because no one is you.
A book coach helps you plan for the long haul
Most writers don’t just want to write one book. They want to write a bunch of books, and maybe develop a course or start a podcast or run a series of retreats or workshops. A book coach is going to discuss your goals for this particular book and your entire career and help you write the book that is going to set you up for long-term success.
A book coach prepares you to take advantage of opportunities
When you take action towards your dreams, opportunities happen. A book coach helps you know how to approach these situations so you can take full advantage of them. Do you have the chance, for example, to be in a small group with four top agents? Will you know what to expect and what to ask? What if one of those agents asks to read your work and offers you representation? Will you know what to ask and how to evaluate the offer? What if they ask you to change something in your proposal? Should you do it? When you work with a book coach, you never have to be alone when these opportunities arise. You have someone watching your back.
A book coach believes in you so that you can come to believe in yourself
At the end of the day, this is the most important and impactful role a book coach plays – and the reason most of us do it. We love books, to be sure. But we also love the transformation that happens when a writer sets a difficult task and achieves it.