Coaching

If you are my coaching client, we will speak together regularly, on a set schedule. Usually every week or every two weeks. Always at the same time. It’s a standing call. Twenty-four hours in advance of that call, you’d send me some work to read. In our conversations, we’ll discuss process and craft. I have several different coaching packages with defined schedules, word counts, and price points. I hold space for these lovingly and with benevolent authority. You’ll walk away from our calls knowing exactly what your next steps should be and feeling confident in those steps.

Coaching is for you if:

You have the seed of an idea and want to develop it.

You are working through a big revision.

You have a rough draft and want to revise it with clarity and confidence.

You know your work is not yet at the level you want it to be.

You like the idea of regular engagement and steady, sure progress.

You crave structure over a longer period of time.

↪ Inquire about coaching.

We can work together in two possible ways:

Manuscript Review

You have a draft, or a partial draft, and you need help seeing the big picture. You have questions. How do you level-up this project? What are the craft issues that you should be aware of? Is the structure sound? Are there characterization issues? I read your work closely. I take copious notes. I mark up the paper manuscript, lightly, and I translate all my notes for you into an editorial letter that precisely, and with empathy, analyzes all the craft issues that are coming up in your work. I’ll also make some suggestions about how to handle those craft challenges (this is the process part). I send all of this to you, and then we talk about it over the phone. These three things together – the lightly marked-up manuscript, the editorial letter, and the conversation – give you a road map forward, so you can take the next steps with confidence.

A manuscript review is for you if:

You have a draft or a partial draft of a book but you can’t move it forward alone.

You know you can improve the manuscript, but you are not yet sure how – what to do, in what order?

You want to know which of your craft choices are landing and which are not.

You need help seeing the whole of the work and understanding the cohesion of it.

You are grappling with structure, plot, or the flow of your ideas.

You are on deadline with your publisher and need that final tune-up and overview before you submit.

↪ Inquire about manuscript review.

FAQ

I work with writers who are ready to commit and to go deep. That you? What matters to me most is that we can collaborate fully and have interesting, useful conversations about your work.
In real terms, I work with both fiction and nonfiction writers. Essayists and novelists. Memoirists. Short story writers. People writing idea-driven nonfiction. Narrative journalists. Academics who would like to write for a general reader. Basically, if you want to write something powered by story and move your readers, we can work together.
Much as I love poetry and poets – and I do, I LOVE YOU – I do not have the depth of craft knowledge to work with you. I’m sorry. My loss. Same for screenplays and stage plays. I have worked with a couple of business/how-to writers, and some genre writers: horror, YA, romance, a lot of mystery and suspense. A lot of “women’s fiction,” whatever that means, and “upmarket book-club fiction.” Are we just stringing nouns together now and calling it a genre?
Let me be clear: I am not a fan of how the publishing industry categorizes literature into silos. But that’s the reality and we may as well be clear-eyed about it while also, internally refusing to be categorized. Writing that really lands transcends genre. If you write in a style defined as a “genre,” reach out to me. Let’s see if we are a good fit.
Yes! A book proposal is a mighty undertaking. You have to articulate the book before the book actually exists. You have to express all your ideas succinctly, precisely, and in a way that establishes an audience. Proposals are creative documents and also business documents. They exist to help you sell you book. They can make you feel as if your brain is turning inside out. Your agent (if you have one) might help you. But then again, they might not. Don’t go it alone! Get help. Your brain will thank you.
I have more inquiries from writers than I can take on, and a very full schedule. I have to prioritize, so that I can give my clients my best. I am usually booked out months in advance for manuscript reviews and have a waitlist for coaching clients. That said, for me, it’s all about the fit. I do not care if you have an MFA or not. I do not care if you are in contract, or if you are writing your very first essay or short story. Where you are in your career and publishing journey has no bearing on whether I would take you on as a client. It’s really all about the quality of the conversation, and whether you are open to feedback and ready to collaborate, deeply. If I have an opening in my schedule and I’m interested in working with you, we’ll have a phone consult to see if it feels right on both sides.
Click on the “inquire” link on my website and follow the instructions there. I need to know a little about your project, read some of your work, and understand the issues you are coming in with. If I have space to take on a new client, I will reach out and set up a call so we can get the ball rolling.
Working with me confers no guarantee of anything other than: you will go deeper into your work, get to know yourself better as a writer, and feel more aligned and in flow with your own creativity. External goals are fine and sometimes necessary. I get that. But the work I do is as much, or more, about the internal experience as the external one. I want to help you get in touch with your instincts as a writer. Good stuff flows from there, I find.