Become A Certified Book Coach
In 12 months, you’ll be qualified to coach writers through developing a book idea, bringing it to life, and navigating the path to publishing.
Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program gives you a solid foundation for building a profitable and successful book coaching business that also feeds your soul, satisfies your intellectual curiosity, and gives you the freedom to work exactly the way you want to work.
Ready to enroll now? Click HERE
We help you build a business around your love of books
Were you that kid who hid under the covers with a flashlight reading past bedtime? The one who wanted to be Jo from Little Women?
Maybe books saved you from loneliness, boredom, anxiety, or chaos and your passion for them has never dimmed.
Becoming a certified book coach allows you to work in that powerful space of possibility. That’s because your job as a book coach is to help harness other people’s creative genius.
You teach people who are eager to learn exactly what you have to offer and are grateful for the guidance.
You coach people through a complex intellectual and creative journey, helping them structure their stories and ideas, complete their projects, and overcome their doubts.
You do work that is deeply transformative to your writers (and to you).
You choose exactly what kinds of books to work on so that every project is a passion project.
You step into your power, becoming the person in charge of every business decision, including when to work, where to work, and how much to charge
Being a Book Coach Gives You Agency and Power In Your Work And Your Life
Here are the top five ways this happens:
You help brilliant storytellers and deep thinkers make their dreams come true. These are some of the wins Author Accelerator Certified Book Coaches helped their writers achieve in 2024 — including first novels, fourth novels, nonfiction books that launched speaking careers, and memoirs that received national acclaim:
2. You can teach in amazing learning spaces. Author Accelerator Certified Coaches are invited to present at events and conferences all over the world and all over the internet. Here are some examples from recent events — including retreats in Italy. conferences in San Francisco, online events hosted by the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators, and a sailing of the QE2:
3. You can make money. You can earn enough to replace your teaching salary, leave your corporate job, and make the kind of money book lovers aren’t “supposed” to make. Here are some earnings examples from some of our coaches:
4. You can do work that feeds your soul. These are the kinds of the things Author Accelerator Certified Coaches say about book coaching:
5. You can impact millions of writers. Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach Savannah Gilbo has created one of the writing world’s most popular podcasts. She had the agency and power to make big moves and we love that!
Ready to enroll now? Click HERE
Are you ready to become a book coach?
It all starts with world class training. We make sure you’re ready to provide editorial feedback, emotional support, and actionable guidance to your writers
Anyone can hang out their shingle and call themselves a book coach, but there’s a lot more to the work than just being an editor and a cheerleader.
Our certification program gives your clients the confidence that you have the necessary skills, experience, and training to help them do their best work.
We designed our program to be thorough and rigorous.
It takes 12 months to complete the certification requirements in fiction, nonfiction, or memoir — and we don’t just hand out certification to anyone who signs up.
You have to prove you have the core skills of an excellent book coach, which you do by working with three practice clients at three critical stages of the book development process:
Starting a book from scratch
Evaluating a complete manuscript (fiction and memoir) or a complete book proposal (nonfiction.)
Preparing the materials and strategy needed to pitch to agents (which is a critical skill even for self-publishing writers, since it’s all about positioning the book in the marketplace.)
We hold a high standard so that your certification means something — both to you and to leaders in the industry.
Industry Praise For Our Program
What to Expect When You Enroll in Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program
You’ll identify the kinds of writers you would most enjoy serving and make a plan for how to get in front of them. Our goal is for you to build a sustainable business that is aligned with your life, your talents, and your passion.
With our direct support, you’ll learn the skills to coach writers from a glimmer of an idea to a manuscript (fiction and memoir) or a book proposal (nonfiction) that’s ready for the marketplace. You’ll know exactly how to communicate with your writers, earn their trust, and deliver the outcomes they need.
You’ll get personalized feedback on your coaching work so you always know where you stand and what you need to do.
You’ll have a community to help you brainstorm ideas, work through concerns, and celebrate your milestones, which is the key to marking your progress and keeping up the momentum.
You’ll have a dedicated team of seasoned coaches to answer all your questions and provide feedback on your work as you go.
You’ll learn how to be an effective book coach on an editorial, emotional, and entrepreneurial level. Coaching writers is a different skill than writing and we’ll teach you how it’s done.
You’ll learn how to create a business launch plan so you are ready to start taking clients right away.
You’ll celebrate your certification!* It takes a lot of work and dedication to complete our program and we encourage you to savor the moment!
You’ll be invited into our community of certified coaches**, where we offer guidance and support as you work towards your first-year business goals and beyond.
Want more details? Download a syllabus.
🎯DOWNLOAD THE FICTION SYLLABUS
🎯 DOWNLOAD THE NONFICTION SYLLABUS
🎯 DOWNLOAD THE MEMOIR SYLLABUS
* You must meet the requirements of certification. Details in the syllabus.
** There are additional fees to participate in the certified coach community. Details in the syllabus.
Hi I’m Jennie Nash
I’m the founder and CEO of Author Accelerator. We’ve certified more than 300 book coaches, who are working all over the globe to help writers do their best work.
My own book coaching clients have landed top New York agents and six-figure book deals with Big 5 houses such as Penguin, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette. They’ve won dozens of national indie book awards, landed on the Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestseller lists, and become a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.
I’m also the author of twelve books in three genres, but book coaching is my true love.
Teaching and inspiring writers to raise their voice, do their best work, and make their dreams a reality just lights me up, and now I’m on a mission to set the standard of excellence in this brand-new industry.
I can’t wait to see you in our program.
Who is a Good Fit for Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program?
📚️ Burned-out English teachers and creative writing professors who love what they do but crave more control.
📚️ Overwhelmed freelance editors, copyeditors, and ghostwriters stuck in a per-word, per-page, or per-hour universe.
📚️ Lawyers, nonprofit executives, and librarians who want to continue to do meaningful work in a less stressful environment.
📚️ PR and communications professionals who love telling stories and want to learn how to read books all day and get paid for it.
📚️ Agents and editors who want to stay in publishing but crave more agency and control in their work life.
📚️ Writers looking for a way to add an extra income stream.
Who This Program Not For:
If you want a program that will hand you clients (who are probably not right for you and probably won’t pay enough), this program is not for you. We are teaching people how to be their own boss, attract their own clients, and run their own businesses.
If you just want to pay a fee and get a stamp of certification— that is not what we are doing here. Our program is rigorous, comprehensive, and takes time, effort, and energy. We give every student the support they need to learn the work of being a book coach, but certification is not guaranteed.
If you are mean. We are a community of people dedicated to lifting up writer’s voices. We make room for all stories and treat each other with kindness and respect.
Invest in Yourself
When you invest in Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program, you’re investing in a career that can give you money, meaning, and joy for years to come.
Rather than being locked into what someone else says you deserve to be paid, you have the flexibility to set your own prices, decide on your own workload, and set your own hours.
The investment in Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program is: $9,000
Book A Call Now To Save
Book a call within seven days to lock in your special offer. See the ticking clock on this page? That’s your personal countdown timer. We know people sometimes need a nudge to take bold action and the action we want you to take next is to get on a call to talk about how Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program can change your career and your life.
There’s no obligation to enroll in our program, but if you enroll within three days of your call, you’ll receive the $500 off.
Ready to enroll now? Click HERE
The 13 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program
I would love to be a book coach, but can I really help writers? Can I really run my own business?
Short answer: We have coaches in our community who come from a wide variety of backgrounds. They were lawyers and literary agents, librarians and communications professionals, copywriters and ghostwriters, career counselors and psychologists, journalists and nonprofit directors, architects, and doctors. They’re now betting on themselves instead of someone else.
We have quite a few book coaches who are published writers, because it’s a fantastic compliment to a writing career, but success as a book coach does not depend on success as a writer
Longer answer on video: 4:22 minutes
2. How much time does your program take? I’ve got a job/family responsibilities/a big trip planned and want to make sure I can do the work.
Short answer: Our coaches in training generally spend about 2 to 4 hours a week on the work. Some weeks when you are working with clients may be closer to 8 hours, but you get to determine when those weeks fall. There is plenty of flexibility in the program for you to determine your own path through it.
Longer answer on video: 1:47 minutes
3. How will I find practicum clients for the program?
Short answer: You will start with people you know, including friends and family, and members of any writers’ groups or professional organizations you are part of. (All those copywriters and grant writers you are connected to? All those lawyers and doctors? So many of them want to write books!) We’ll also show you how to use social media to invite people to work with you. We’ll help you identify and connect with practicum clients — and these are the same skills you’ll build on when you launch your business.
Longer answer on video: 3:22 minutes
4. How much money can I expect to make as a book coach?
Short answer:
We are fierce about teaching you how to make money. We believe that people who coach writers are offering a valuable service that is worth more than pennies per word or dollars per page.
Some of our students want to supplement their existing income. $30,000 doing part-time work is entirely possible.
Other people go all in, building businesses that reach six figures and beyond.
Longer answer on video (plus Jennie up on her soapbox about book coach income): 4:33 minutes
5. I’m neurodivergent. Can I succeed in your training and become a book coach?
Short answer: We hope so! A lot of neurodivergent people are attracted to entrepreneurship in general and book coaching in particular because it allows such flexibility in when, where, and how you work. Our program is designed with different learning styles in mind. All our program videos have the option to turn captions on or off, and a complete, searchable transcript is also available.
Longer answer on video: 1:07 minutes
6. I have an MFA or a PhD in English. Will your program be redundant to my previous studies?
Short answer: No it would not be redundant. More than 35% of our certified coaches have advanced degrees and they report that our program was incredibly value-added to their education. For one thing, our focus is on the writer as well as the writing. For another, we’re teaching people about the marketplace — what it is, how it works, and how to succeed in it. The most common reaction we get is, “This was way more robust than my MFA program.”
Longer answer on video: 1:45 minutes
7. I am already running an editorial freelance/developmental editing/ghostwriting/ copyediting business. How can you help me run a more effective and efficient business?
Short answer: Yes! Most freelancers have not thought strategically about their business. They have not thought deeply about their pricing models and how to run a sustainable business. They have not looked at the systems and processes that could make them more efficient. We’ll help you do all that and more.
Longer answer on video: 1:35 minutes
8. Will the Book Coach Certification Program help me become a better writer?
Short answer: Yes! There is no better way to improve your own work than to focus on teaching others.
Longer answer on video: 1:21 minutes
9. What if I can’t attend the live coaching sessions because of my time zone or work schedule?
Short answer: We will miss you but we also know that you will get the same benefit by submitting questions in advance and listening to the call recordings (or reading the call transcripts.)
Longer answer on video: 2:17 minutes
10. I love fiction, memoir, and nonfiction. Which course should I choose?
Short answer: There is no short answer to this question, since it’s highly personal and depends on key factors such as your background and how fast you need to make money. If you are on the fence as to which genre you would like to study, go ahead and book an enrollment call. We will discuss your situation on our 1:1 call.
You can also download a syllabus for each genre, below, to see how the programs differ. Please note that the memoir program has 3 additional modules, because coaching memoir demands an understanding of both fiction and nonfiction concepts.
Longer answer on video: 6:57 minutes
11. What are the requirements of certification and what happens if I don’t pass?
Short answer: The requirements are listed in each program syllabus (which are right above 👆.) You will turn in your coaching work (video calls with your practicum clients and written feedback on their writing) from each of the three practicums. Our Certification Team will review your work and let you know if it meets the requirements for certification. If it does not, we will give you a Revise and Resubmit letter, outlining the improvements we expect you to make.
Longer answer on video: 2:46 minutes
12. How will you support me in running my book coaching business after I’m certified?
Short answer: We want you to succeed — and we know what it takes to run a successful business. As a member of our Certified Coach community, you will receive a Business of Book Coaching Launch-It Kit (Tier 1) and a Business of Book Coaching Level-Up Kit (Tier 2) to guide your business launch and growth. We host a monthly Business Accountability Call to support you in setting and reaching your goals and offer special masterclasses to help you continue to build your business.
Details and pricing on the membership tiers and support options can be found in the program syllabus and HERE.
Longer answer on video: 3:24 minutes
13. Can I see what it’s like inside the Author Accelerator virtual learning spaces?
Short answer: Sure! Check out the video. It’s 5:33 minutes
Ready to enroll now? Click HERE.