What the heck is book coaching?
Book coaching is handmade. It is the symbiotic relationship between coach and student. The coach provides a second pair of eyes, a trained view of the structure and movement of a piece of writing. Just as a golf coach changes a player’s grip ever so slightly to get all parts of the swing firing, so does a book coach suggest subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) fixes to the story.
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At heart it’s all about the one-on-one dynamic. No online course is ever as good as private lessons, nor does it make the same demands on the participants. The student cannot hide in the crowd. Rather, book coaching requires the student to bare her soul, to dig deep below her comfort level, to strip off the exterior shell and get to the heart of the story.
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If that process intrigues you and makes you want to share your story with a guide and see where it leads your writing, then it may be time you hired a book coach.
First Things First
A prime time for valuable book coaching is the period just before a writer types the first word on her new work in progress (“WIP”). WBC’s first package targets this time of preliminaries, the days when the book is hovering just out of reach, as yet formless and fraught with possibilities. This is the perfect moment for writer and coach to consider together the deep contours of the story and the emotional depths required to bring it to life. By taking the time on the front end to work on concrete assignments about the book’s place in the writing world, the author can sharpen her focus and prepare for the long haul ahead.
No Turning back
For the writer who is ready to begin Chapter One, or for those who have written some or all of their manuscript and need feedback and analysis from a knowledgeable book coach. In any of these settings, the coach focuses on the big picture and offers advice and guidance about the pluses and minuses of the work, its strengths and the avenues of improvement. The coach addresses story and plot and makes suggestions that may result in minor tweaks or lead to the author’s reworking large portions of the book.
some common book coaching scenarios
After "the end"
For a writer who has completed her book and polished it so that it is “good enough” for prime time and is ready to take the next steps toward publication. If she wants to pitch it to an agent, the book coach helps her get ready, working with her on a synopsis, an in-person type pitch, an elevator pitch, and other things an agent may require. If the writer is taking the Indie route, the coach advises her on how to proceed and assists her.
Miscellany
The catch-all, flexible offering that includes one-off situations and such things as a line edit on a completed manuscript. Woodfin Book Coaching will handle these assignments case by case on an arrangement agreed to in advance between the parties.
Our process
Because we know each writer’s needs are unique, we at Woodfin Book Coaching have developed a process through which we are able to tailor our coaching to fit our writers. Here’s how the process works:
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When you request a 30-minute free Zoom consult, we will send you a document we refer to as the Writer’s Self-Portrait.
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When we receive the completed Self-Portrait, we will schedule your consultation.
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We use the consultation to get to know each other and analyze your needs.
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At the end of the conference, if you want to move forward with book coaching, we will offer you a one-month Welcome Package, designed to meet you where you are. The price of this package is $499, a discounted rate from our standard offerings. The first-month package is standalone and is without any future obligation to you.
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If you decide to continue with Woodfin Book Coaching beyond Month One, then with your input we will craft a package for you.
If you are already familiar with book coaching and have a good idea of what you need from us, we will still offer you the Welcome Package discount for the first month (because that’s just the way we are, lol).
