How to Find Book Coaching Clients: Part Two
In last week's post on finding ideal clients, we were circling around the idea of figuring out what your ideal client needs. In order to get them to pay for your help, you need to define a specific problem and offer a solution for them to solve it.
Book coaches can’t guarantee our clients anything in terms of publishing prizes or ROI or sales. These things are totally outside of our control. They are often a byproduct of the work we do, but they can’t be the thing we promise. We have to focus on the transformation we are offering.
This reality begs the question: do writers really want to be transformed? I think the answer is yes, absolutely.
In his new book Gentle Writing Advice: How to Be a Writer Without Destroying Yourself, Chuck Wendig says, "Writing is an opportunity, whenever you can seize it. Writing can be a chance for escape. It can be a way to funnel your rage. It can be a place to wrestle with your fears, to contextualize your anxieties, or to do literally none of that and instead enjoy a buffet of vicarious fictional thrills. Writing can help you understand the world outside your door, or it can help you avoid it entirely."
Transformation, in other words, is the whole point of engaging in the creative process — and I think most writers know this deep down. Yes, we all want the prizes — the prizes are nice — but they are not the driving motivation for why most of us are going into this work.
So what transformation are you offering? This may have to do with actual output:
From nothing to an outline
From an outline to sample chapters
From sample chapters to a finished draft of a book or a book proposal
From a finished draft to a revised draft
From a revised draft to a polished draft
From a polished draft to a pitch package.
It may have to do with mindset, emotions, and accountability:
From nervous to confident
From unskilled to skilled
From clueless to knowledgeable
From scared to willing
From scattered to focused
From filled with doubt to filled with faith
In an ideal world, the transformation will have to do with both tangible outputs and intangible elements, because this is a powerful combination.
Photo by Rebecca Emily Photography
A Real Book Coach Story Unfolding
To try to get at the transformation she was offering writers, I asked Erin, whom we met last week, what kinds of fiction writers she most wanted to work with. She said:
Contemporary, historical, women's fiction, light fantasy. I'm most comfortable working with newer writers, since I'm new in my coaching.
I asked her where her ideal clients were on their journey. She said:
I focus on writers who are in the planning, drafting or revising stages.
I asked her what sorts of things she had made to help them (a topic we will dig deeper into next week). She said:
I have a lead magnet geared towards writers using animal POV characters.
I asked her if point of view was the primary pain point her ideal client had. Was this the main area of transformation where she could most help them?
No, POV isn't their primary pain point. When I think about my ideal clients what comes to mind is they are noticers, that is they are observant and notice things in the world around them. So maybe the lead magnet has something to do with helping them apply those skills to their writing, or helping them believe they can move from observer to creator.
This is the kind of inquiry you need to do for yourself, because Erin's answer is GOLD!
Erin’s ideal client is a new writer working in Contemporary, historical, women's fiction, or light fantasy. They have a desire to give nature a voice in their work. They are new to writing. They are observant and notice things in the world around them. The transformation she is going to offer them is to learn how to apply those skills to their writing, which will build:
An increase in the Skills of writing fiction
An increase in Confidence around their writing
Pages being written
People being motivated by their writing which will likely result in their making a commitment to it
Another Story Unfolding
One of our certified non-fiction coaches, Christine Sheehy, is based in New Zealand. She writes that there are some constraints in the market.
The local market is very small, so the direct financial return from book sales alone is often modest. When I first started book coaching, this was a mental barrier for me - if a client couldn’t ‘make money’ from book sales, why would they invest in book coaching? It didn’t take long to realize the ROI of a book encompasses so much more than sales. My authors were reaching new audiences, securing speaking engagements and media interviews, and attracting new clients. Their books were expanding their impact.
Now, almost a year into going full time with her book coaching practice, Christine has come to see that the transformation runs even deeper.
My clients are typically either experienced coaches or experts in their fields. They are at a point in their careers where they are leveling up, claiming their authority and writing about ideas they have developed, sometimes over many years.
The first time a client announced she had redesigned her established coaching program based on the insights gained from our book work, I was surprised and delighted. Several clients and several book projects later, I’ve almost come to expect it.
I now know that the relationship between book coach and writer is an ideas partnership. The work we do together in developing the book concept unlocks fresh connections, crystallizes the writer’s thinking and can even elevate their entire body of work.
The more I have leaned into this understanding, the more I am attracting clients who are looking for that deep, creative and intellectual support. These are accomplished people with big ideas, often on topics that are new to me, and yet book coaching has created profound shifts in the way they see their work and themselves.
And that’s before their books are even published. Is it any wonder I love this work?