Simply put, book coaching is about the writer and your creative process. Editing is about the writing -- the finished manuscript you'll share with readers.

Book coaches work with writers before they have a finished manuscript. They provide editorial feedback, project management, and emotional support. From an editorial perspective, they help you sort out what the book is about, who it’s for, and how to structure it. As project managers, they help you organize your life to commit to writing. They meet with you on a regular basis to provide feedback on your pages, work through challenges, and set realistic goals. They are there for you when you struggle with the “feeling” side of writing. (If you’re writing about trauma, you may need a therapist, too.)

Editors usually work with a finished draft. They evaluate it and give you specific feedback for revision. They might leave the actual revising up to you, or they might get in there with tracked changes and comments to edit directly on the page. Editors who offer different levels of editing may be involved in every stage of the manuscript, from developing the idea to polishing the prose.

Consider three things: the kind of editorial relationship you want, your writing goals, and your personal style of working.

1. The relationship:

Book coaches are more involved in the writing process and in your writing life. You will likely develop a closer relationship with a book coach than you will with an editor. The author-editor relationship focuses on the particular manuscript you’re working on together.

2. Writing goals:

If you want to learn to become a better writer, book coaching will help you develop your craft. Book coaching is an ongoing conversation about your pages-in-progress and the “how” of writing. You may be assigned writing exercises and readings to nurture your creativity. Editing will also help you to become a better writer, but you have to be able to independently apply the techniques that the editor shows you.

Editing is a better fit if you have only one book in you, and you’re not interested in growing as a writer.

If you’ve completed an MFA or writing courses, you probably won’t need the intensive editorial feedback of book coaching. But your manuscript will still need editing. That’s because you’re too close to your manuscript to read it from the outside, from the perspective of a reader.

3. Your personal style:

Writers are often introverts. They are comfortable working alone. When you work with a book coach, you’re inviting someone into your personal space on a regular basis for an agreed-upon period of time. You may have to adjust your habits to work with a coach, and this might be a good thing.

With me, you don’t have to decide between book coaching and editing, because I’m an experienced editor who then trained as a book coach. I have the repertoire of skills and experience to meet you where you are and move your project forward.

You don’t have to hire an editor or a book coach. You can submit directly to agents and to some publishers. But you have a better shot at getting an agent or publisher if your submission materials are polished and professional. For memoir, in addition to a query letter, sample pages, and synopsis, you should have a finished manuscript ready to go.

Agents receive hundreds of queries a week (a query is an email telling them about your book), and they’re looking for a quick excuse to say no. What’s more, most agents work on commission, which means they don’t get paid until they sell your book to a publisher. Agents are therefore looking for manuscripts that they consider commercially viable.

With occasional exceptions, you need a literary agent to submit to the Big Five publishers: Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, and Macmillan Publishers. Each of these conglomerates contains several smaller houses or imprints that also require an agent. However, sometimes a publisher will invite “unagented” work. At the time of writing, Penguin Random House Canada is open to submissions “from LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC writers, as well as those from other traditionally underrepresented communities.”

Independently owned publishers usually do not require an agent. You can submit to them directly, following the submission guidelines on their website.

I can’t guarantee that you’ll get an agent, but I promise that you’ll have a better book.

Yes. I can help you find the right agents and publishers to query. I’ll also edit your query letter and submission materials to showcase your best writing.

It depends on your abilities as a writer and your intended audience. If you’re a good writer, and you’re writing a memoir to share with family and friends, you may not need an editor or a book coach. If you want to reach a wider audience, you should consider working with an editor/coach or developing your craft in other ways, such as by reading, taking courses, joining a writer’s group, or getting feedback from beta readers (fans of your genre who are not professional editors).

Self-publishing companies offer packages that include editing. In my experience, the editing provided with these packages is minimal.

Usually, four to six weeks from the time of booking. How long it takes depends on the length of the manuscript, the shape that it’s in, the level of editing, and how many rounds of editing we do together.

If you’ve started your manuscript or have a finished draft, I’ll ask to see the first chapter or up to 10 pages. Once we’ve established trust and decided that we would like to work together, I’ll ask to see the entire manuscript so that I can provide you with a custom quote.

I edit both books and essays.

For developmental editing, I do not offer free sample edits, because the edit involves reading and assessing your work as a whole. For line and copy editing, I offer a free sample edit of ~500 words when you’ve completed the author questionnaire and I have a sense that you’re serious about working with me.

Often, authors ask for proofreading when they mean copy editing. Proofreading is the last stage of the publishing process. It’s done after your book is designed and typeset (or formatted). The proofreader catches any errors introduced by the designer or missed by the copy editor. If I’m your copy editor, I’ll proofread on request, but it’s better to hire someone who brings fresh eyes to your work. I don’t offer formatting services.

AI has become impossible to avoid. So, yes, I'm using it for marketing and publishing research. For example, I've used AI to research agents and to find comparative titles (titles that agents and publishers could use to position your book in the market). I do not use AI to write my blog posts or newsletters.

I do not work with writers who use generative AI, because I've found that the writing is polished but impersonal, and frankly, boring. I'm interested in the complex, messy human story that only you can write. It's the human emotions that connect you with readers.

Publishers have made it clear that they are not open to publishing books generated by AI. It's a copyright nightmare.