The nonfiction books that stay with you make you see the world in a fresh way. They offer clear ideas, a smart argument. They deliver compelling, accessible information through strong writing.

A coach can help you strengthen your work on everything that goes into the making of a book. This starts with book idea: the argument and information that will enlighten, entertain and benefit readers. It continues with the complementary elements that literary agents and publishers will want to see in a book proposal such as sample chapters, an analysis of your book’s audience, a marketing plan, and an argument for why you are the best person to write this book.

A coach offers you a sounding board to stress-test your argument, to offer suggestions for improving the work. And a coach serves as a process partner to help you progress toward your goal. As a coach, I use my experience working with writers from a wide range of backgrounds and my training as a certified Author Accelerator nonfiction book coach, to offer a sounding board to stress-test your argument. I offer suggestions for improving your work and continuing to the next step.

Asking for help when you strive to create something meaningful can show your strength. When Angela Duckworth, known for her research on grit and perseverance, wanted to make people aware of her latest book Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best, she wrote in this New York Times article (gift link), that seeking support for important pursuits pays off: “Without exception, every high performer I’ve studied credits a host of supporters for success. Research has found that a willingness to ask for help is crucial to achievement.”

There are two important stages in the book development process that I use with writers as a nonfiction book coach: the blueprint and the book proposal.

The blueprint guides an author through a series of questions: Why write this book? Why are you the best person to write it? What is your point? Who is your ideal reader? How will people’s lives change when they read your book? And more.

You come with your ideas and a willingness to work through these questions with a coach’s guidance. Are your answers clear, consistent? What could make your responses even better? These are the kinds of conversations a coach can have with you on the blueprint. Working through these points, you create a roadmap for what the book will say, how you will organize the information it contains, how you see it sitting on the bookstore shelf, and how you can make readers aware of your book. A coach reviews your answers and offers suggestions for shoring up the work. These exchanges happen both through shared written materials and during Zoom calls.

The book proposal builds on the blueprint. Developing a book proposal follows a parallel pattern to the blueprint process. The coach guides the writer through assembling all the required sections, from manuscript specifications and audience analysis to a table of contents and sample chapters.

You don’t have to be a professional writer to author a book. What you do need is the willingness to put in the time and effort to work on it. The blueprint process that I use to work with clients can help you split up the tasks into discrete steps. In this way, you’re not writing a book in one swoop; you’re working on the building blocks for your book, one at a time.

I can’t promise you a lucrative publishing deal or record sales. What I can do is support your creating the strongest possible work.

I can adapt the process to incorporate your work in progress.

Yes. Creating a book proposal gives you a great start on writing your book – and helps you think about how you will get that book into your ideal readers’ hands. A marketing plan is useful whether you have a traditional publisher or you go the self-publishing route.

In my experience, it is routine to use AI for research online (if you use a search engine, it takes effort to avoid using AI — and you should doublecheck the results). I don’t use AI in writing or editing text, however. The reason is that AI models compile text using the many sources they have ingested. I believe that we can do better than machines when we create the text ourselves; we have the opportunity to be original and authentic. I would expect authors to disclose if and how they used AI in the creation of their work.

You can schedule a free call to go over any other questions.

Reach out through the contact form (at the bottom of my home page) or schedule a call—I will walk you through the next steps and answer any questions along the way.