Making a Living Doing What You Love
We’d like to introduce you to Michelle Cox, who recently became a certified book coach. We invited her to sit down for a little interview to talk about her experience.
How did you come to book coaching?
About two years ago, I took a sabbatical from my strategic communications career to complete my first novel and thankfully, I found Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification program. While on leave from my 25-plus year career, I realized I enjoyed my time in the world of writing, books and publishing more than I ever enjoyed my previous career, so I began to explore ways that I could make a living doing those things. Book coaching was the answer. Now I’ve re-launched my business as a book coach who happens to know a lot about strategic communications (that’s helpful for platform building).
What was your experience in the fiction certification course?
The course gave me language to explain things that I knew but wasn’t sure how to articulate to writer’s I’ve worked with in the past. It also showed me that the process of writing a book can be broken down and taught, which is something I never really considered. The most challenging part of the course for me was figuring out how I would manage the business side of book coaching (but thankfully Author Accelerator offers guidance on that!).
What is the most valuable piece of advice you’re taking away from the training?
That writing well can be taught and that bad books aren’t necessarily the product of a bad writer — they are the result of a bad process or a rush to do something that cannot and should not be rushed.
Do you plan to coach writers in your own business?
I’m already coaching fiction and nonfiction clients and I plan to grow both of those client bases.
My first love is fiction, but my decades of experience in business communications naturally lends itself to working with nonfiction writers and I’ve found that I have a lot to offer these clients. (Plus I’m working my way through the nonfiction certification course, as well.)
I’m also an individual in recovery with 15 years sobriety, and I have a passion for helping other writers in recovery tell their truths through fiction and nonfiction.
What are you going to do to celebrate your certification achievement?!
I left for a three-week road trip out west the day after I submitted my application for review, and I got word while I was on vacation, so I celebrated by hiking in Glacier National Park and journaling about my goals and dreams as a coach while looking out over Avalanche Lake.
What are the next steps in your career?
I will complete my nonfiction certification while working hard to grow my coaching business so that it can provide a full-time income.
