Book Coaching & Ghostwriting

As a book coach (and occasional ghostwriter), I work closely with authors to help them structure and complete propulsive novels, memoirs, and nonfiction projects.

Whether you come to me with a bare-bones idea or a completed first draft that needs some extra love and attention, you will receive supportive, helpful, and actionable feedback tailored to your work. Writers who have worked with me one-on-one or have been in one of my group classes often say the process is not only highly effective, but also collaborative, successful, and enjoyable. As a story surgeon, I specialize in an ideation and structuring process that ultimately results in an airtight book.

My clients have sold projects to imprints of Simon & Schuster, Doubleday, Chronicle Books, Macmillan, Spiegel & Grau, HCI Books, and Random House and have received book reviews in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post.

Their essays have been published in Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, Zibby Mag, HuffPo, the Insider, the Washington Post, Salon, Kveller, New York Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Today, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue.

If you are an aspiring novelist, an essayist at work on your first non-fiction book, or a published author, I specialize in an honest and empowering approach that will help you outline, write, develop, and/or edit your next work — and get your project “agent-ready.”

What I offer:

  • Book Outline & Structure

    Anyone who has brought me in as their book coach will tell you, I am obsessed with structure. Whether you want help outlining your book or support from outline to publication, I will help you identify the exact structural scaffolding your book needs to come to fruition. This outline – or plot spine – is what keeps the train on the track, what keeps the reader reading, but it’s also what keeps you, the writer, writing.

  • First Draft Support

    Whether you have a bare-bones idea or a half-finished draft, I specialize in providing support, experienced insight, critical feedback, and organizational strategies and Zoom sessions that will help you move from page 1 to the final period (.) in your draft. While I work with writers of all experience levels, my first-draft support is particularly helpful for aspiring writers trying their hand at long-form writing for the first time.

  • Critical Edits with a Literary Agent's Eye

    I can see structural holes from space, but I don’t just fix them for you. After 25+ years working in the publishing industry, I know what books agents love and, more importantly, hate. I will help you identify what’s missing in your draft beat-by-beat, scene-by-scene, or chapter-by-chapter to get it agent-ready. I provide developmental edits or line edits, depending on what best suits each author’s needs or their current project.

  • Second Draft Edits

    Struggling to address notes from your editor or book agent? It happens. Bring me your draft and their feedback, and we can work together to address their concerns without sacrificing your vision or voice. This is a moment where a book coach proves invaluable: I’ll help you navigate complex feedback, objectively advocate for you and your draft, and give you constructive edits that move you forward.

  • Concept Reworks

    Do you have a great idea for a book proposal that isn’t selling? Let’s sit down to review the current project, any feedback you’ve received, and how you can pivot your proposal to make it more enticing to agents, editors, and marketing teams. You don’t need to scrap the idea you love; 9 times out of 10, you just need to frame it in a way that speaks to people who aren't familiar with how you think.

  • A Book — Full Stop.

    Bring me your thoughts, vision, idea, thoughts, or messy first draft. I will help you transform your vision into a well-structured, propulsive novel, hybrid memoir, non-fiction book, or book of essays. We will work together every step of the way to create the manuscript you’ve dreamed of writing for years.

INQUIRE

How I work:

  • Need a book coach’s honest feedback on a particular portion of your book proposal or draft? Book an hour-long session to workshop or ideate with me.

  • If you simply need help getting started, we can work together on small- to mid-size projects via a series of hour-long sessions to get you there. Examples include: outlining your first novel or writing an agent- and market-ready book proposal. (For more, read about how I format proposal projects.)

  • Work with me every step of the way to write a manuscript over the course of 3-12 months. We’ll start with an idea and hammer it out, word by word, scene by scene, and chapter by chapter into a finished draft. No experience necessary — I have coached everyone from first-time novelists to award-winning authors through this process.

  • I occasionally take on ghostwriting projects for authors looking to tell a page-turning story. Subject to timing and availability. Contact me to learn more.