If any of the following Coaching services are a good fit for your project and growth as an author, contact me to discuss your needs and objectives. I brings 10+ years of fiction editing and author coaching expertise to my one-on-one work with authors at all experience levels (in addition to my 10 years of experience as a Senior Technical Writer).
Working one-on-one with each client and student, I customize manuscript work and author coaching to fit your beginner, intermediate or experienced needs.
All rates are approximate. After evaluating your specific project or coaching requirements, a quote will be made before work begins. All fees and terms are finalized when both you and eye sign the final contract (which we will exchange and execute via email).
Authors provide materials through email in Text (.TXT), Rich Text (.RTF), or Microsoft Word (.DOC or .DOCx) files, in standard manuscript format (Times New Roman or Courier font, 12 point type, double-spaced, .25 or .5 inch margins). Materials are returned to authors in Microsoft Word format and PDF file (in the case of editorial letters).
Coaching Services and Rates
Author coaching empowers hard-working writers, whatever their experience, to raise their craft, story-telling and ability to analyze and rewrite to a higher level.
Why Author Coaching?
Many clients are eager to improve their planning, drafting and rewriting skills–beyond what can be learned in a workshop or editorial pass. In fact, when I teach groups in person and speak at events, my motto is that we can always learn how to more effectively create.
Planning, drafting and rewriting are fluid processes that no author fully masters. As artists, we are always learning and striving for ways to grow in our craft. There are tools, however, that we can turn to, in order to improve our work. The result of this willingness to improve enables us to with each new project we undertake, more effectively design, create and craft a successful reader experience.
And even better! The more we learn about how and why we write the way we do, how to spot weaknesses as well as strengths, and how to capitalize on every opportunity to improve… the more we find ourselves in the driver’s seat of our own writing journeys.
This is the very essences of How You Write.
But Let me Just Say…
Coaching is not intended as a substitute for quality developmental, line and copy editing. And I most definitely practice what I teach.
I personally have never published a novel (traditionally or indie) that hasn’t been carefully edited by one or more highly-skilled professionals with an eye toward my diving back in, re-crafting and refining until it’s the best story I can deliver to my reader.
Coaching services will include whatever content and technical editing is needed to offer examples of the principals, practices and methods being covered. But, unless otherwise negotiated, the more extensive editing services described above are NOT provided as part of a basic Author Coaching fee.
Custom packages are available that combine editing and coaching services.
How It Works
Author coaching objectives are carefully designed to match an author’s and/or manuscript’s needs.
Any of the speaking and workshop topics listed on my Speaking page are available for individual instruction. I’m also open to work with you on any topic for which you feel you need instruction, and for which I am qualified to assist you. Additionally, I frequently work through a partial, proposal or manuscript with an author, helping them rewrite their work-in-progress and incorporate recommendations and editorial feedback.
Client Profile: No add-ons required.
I’ve coached authors for whom I’ve also edited. However, signing an editorial contract is not a requirement for coaching.
Coaching is about technique and tools and improving your ability to compartmentalize, deconstruct, analyze and improve the various pieces of your story (as well as the whole).
Time Frame: Mileage may vary.
I’ve coached authors for periods of weeks, months, as well as a year or more. I contract to work with you for a finite period of time. However, I’m always open to discussing future coaching opportunities with former students.
Working Together:
I’m the coach, you’re the writer. Always. The details of our coaching relationship will be spelled out in your contract. But in general, our process will revolve around you working on a particular portion of or a full manuscript.
Instructional materials (and any manuscript review and/or editorial work) will be provided to you via email. You will practice applying the principals covered in our instruction time together to your work-in-progress. After which, I’ll typically review your work and offer additional feedback, once again with material and information exchanged via email.
What I offer is a collaborative, communication-driven, creative instruction process, custom designed for your particular needs. But at each step in our work together, I’m assisting you in YOUR writing journey, neither editing nor contributing directly to your work-in-progress (unless developmental or technical editing is negotiated into your contract).
Set times to communicate through email about your progress or questions, or to speak over the phone are, also built into your contract–along with any tentative dates and deadlines that apply.
Often students request multiple rounds of this instruction-work-feedback cycle. Your contract will specify all relevant details of our working relationship, as well as an end-date for our work together, along with a summary of coaching goals we are working to achieve by that date.
Any work requested beyond the end-point agreed upon in your contract will require a new contract, or additional billing at an hourly rate.
Coaching Fee Schedule:
Fees are negotiated individually and based on the custom services being offered, the agreed-upon time frame of our work together, and the skill level of the author.
All coaching fees are fixed (not billed hourly) unless otherwise indicated in the contract– with the exception of additional email or phone consultation requested by the author.
Minimum $250 coaching fee per client, per contract.
A minimum of one third of the full fee is due when the contract is signed, with at most the final third due at the contract end date.
Interim payments scheduled will be set in the contract.
Fine Print
All fees are negotiated before coaching begins and are quoted fixed-fee (unless otherwise noted in the contract).
A set fee is quoted based on my evaluation of your writing sample, our agreement on the work we’ll do together, and my subsequent analysis of my total time and creative contribution. Additional work requested beyond services quoted will be billed on an hourly basis at the rate noted in your contract.
Unless otherwise negotiated, no less than one-third of the coaching fee quoted is paid up front, before our work together begins. Remaining fee payments will be scheduled and detailed in the contract. All outstanding fees owed are due at the end date of the contract.
How You Write 