I’m revisiting the topic of what a book coach does, and t’s on my mind because of the two conferences I went to last month in March (Alt Summit & AWP). At both conferences I held 15-minute mini book coaching session and had so many great conversations with women who are working on books.
There were also a lot of people, more so at AWP, talking about what they do professionally and how they help writers in the books/publishing world from book coaches like me to writing coaches, editors of all kinds, and publishers.
At AWP I was hearing a lot around the topic of book coaching that gave me pause, because it doesn’t align with how I do things. So I wanted to continue the conversation, talk about what I was hearing, why I disagree, and why I feel like it doesn’t align with the way that I work.
In this episode:
- giving myself time to recover from two back-to-back conferences
- why I disagree that coaches and editors need to be different people
- one of my superpowers as a coach an editor & the resistance that often comes up around the story that authors actually need to tell
- maybe I’m a unicorn (?), but based on the way that I work, why I am someone who can be both a coach and an editor
- why I will never preach absolutes
- why I don’t like the use of the word “codependent” in the context of areas in life where we actually need help, support, or accountability.
- there is no shame in needing accountability for taking action
- how Gretchen Rubin’s book and the framework The Four Tendencies applies to what motivates you to take action, and why needing external accountability to meet your goals is a real thing
- more important than whether or not we are ”codependent” is the question: how do we respond to expectations?
- dispelling the absolute that coaches must be published in the genre that you are trying to publish
- the coach’s track record with clients is more important than publishing record
- the importance of focusing on what you can actually take action on and what you can control (i.e. unless you self publish, you don’t have control over whether you get published or not!)
- the difference between coaching/editing/ghostwriting, and why I don't agree that editing is prescriptive and coaching is never prescriptive
- a question I get a lot: isn’t developmental editing the same as, or very similar to, ghostwriting?
Links mentioned in this episode:
- More about Under the Gum Tree
- The first episode I did on what a book coach is
- The episode answering the question ”Do I need 100,000 followers to get a book published?”
- The book The Four Tendencies, by Gretchen Rubin
- Follow, subscribe & find show notes for this episode at moretothestorypodcast.substack.com
- Follow me on Instagram @jannamarlies
- Follow Under the Gum Tree on Instagram @undergumtree
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