Let's work on your book, proposal, Substack, or other writing project together!
I love working with experienced writers, journalists, academics, and other professionals who seek inspiration, craft instruction, support around writing mindset issues, and accountability. Currently I offer:
One-time, highly-focused, supportive, Instant Clarity Sessions (more info below).
Ongoing support to finish the book you want to write. Check out my “Six Months to a Wow! Draft” program below.
Programs to complete nonfiction book proposals, agent query packages, and more. For proposals, queries, & other tailored programs, please email me.
My coaching is bespoke—I cater to your individual aims, needs, strengths, and challenges.
As a writer myself, I add a breadth of experience in the craft of nonfiction writing; I’ve studied with leading memoir and creative nonfiction practitioners across many settings since the late 1980s.
As a publishing expert, I bring to our sessions a background and expertise in mainstream publishing, working as both a freelance writer and as editor and writer with a book from a Big 5 publisher.
And as a coach, I access my own background in creativity coaching, as well as years of experience with 12-step and trauma recovery, Internal Family Systems, EMDR & more. I have also worked with some of the best coaches in the world, so I pass everything I’ve learned about best practices onto you.
I’m not afraid to ask the hard questions, but my approach is always highly supportive and nurturing.
Questions? Send me an email!
Get Instant Clarity—now for 15% Less
Are you:
Looking to make your Substack posts most enticing?
Feeling stuck or want another perspective on a writing project such as a personal essay, review, Op-Ed, or other?
Seeking clarity about some part of the publishing process, book proposal, agent pitching, or other?
Looking for advice or support about how to move forward with your writing career?
I invite you to join me for a highly-focused, supportive, and transformative one-time, 30-minute coaching session.
Together we’ll find solutions that help you to gain clarity, move past blocks, and leave with immediate actionable steps to move you forward on your project.
Paid Subscribers get a 15% discount on an Instant Clarity Session
How it works
You book a session and let me know in the Calendly reservation form what you’d like us to focus our conversation on
You can send me pages from a work-in-progress, book proposal, Substack post, agent query, etc., ahead of time (up to 5 pages doublespaced)
We’ll meet over Zoom (or phone) at a mutually agreeable time
You’ll leave with clarity and actionable steps to move forward
Paid Subscribers get a 15% discount on an Instant Clarity Session
NOTE: If you’re a Paid Subscriber, please email me for the discount link before you book your session.
Interested in ongoing coaching but want to try an Instant Clarity Session first? I’ll subtract the fee for this Instant Clarity Session if we decide to work together.
Finish The Book You WANT to Write:
Six Months to a Wow! Draft
When I lived in New York and ran author events and workshops in the early 2000s, I started noticing a trend…one that, once spotted, was hard to ignore.
Everywhere I turned, a new breed of hotshot Jewish writer had emerged. Their books filled bookstore windows I walked past, lectures I attended, book reviews I came across.
Publishers seemed eager to brand each as the next Malamud, Roth, or Ozick.
Nevermind that few of them were anything like that older generation. Instead, they wrote about conflicted identities, sexual fetishes, the stifling influence of orthodoxy, and even their drive to make sense of the Holocaust.
Of course—once I noticed these themes, it was hard to let go. I saw them everywhere I looked (at least it felt that way to me). I was sure the time was ripe for an anthology that would collect these new voices.
Do you know what kept me up at night? The feeling that if I didn’t do this now, someone else would.
Is your book idea one of those “keeps you up at night” projects?
If you’ve got a great concept for book— a soul-stirring story, an important breakthrough, a radical transformation, a major journey, an alternative pathway, or a fascinating mystery—chances are writing you are writing a book that feels urgent.
A book you must get out in the world.
Maybe you’re an expert -- such as a coach, writer, academic, journalist, social scientist, psychologist, or business leader – who knows that a book is a wonderful platform-builder and a springboard to a wider audience and greater success.
And you want to write a memoir (or memoir-plus), narrative nonfiction, self-help, how-to, or a trend/thought-leadership book that makes a difference. To readers, to potential clients, and of course to you.
Finishing your book can have life-changing benefits.
On a personal level, finishing your book will be a genuinely inspiring experience. It will require you to tap into sources of personal power, intuition, and creativity you may not realize you have.
You will prove to yourself you’ve got what it takes to get your story out there in a big and permanent way.
But do you realize there are even bigger benefits?
After my book Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction from the Edge came out, I received invitations to speak at conferences and deliver university lectures. Suddenly, I was suddenly getting calls from reporters eager for my thoughts on contemporary fiction. I even appeared on one of my favorite WNYC public radio shows!
Your book can raise your profile, widen your audience, and help you build a personal or business “brand”
Therefore before you dive in, you will want to make sure that:
Your book is a powerful and memorable expression of your ideas
Your book attracts the readers, clients and/or opportunities you want most
You have a roadmap, a working method, and the support you need to finish
How can I help you?
If you’ve decided that now is the time to write your book, you’ve come to the right place. I love nothing better than to help smart, focused people to get their stories and ideas down on the page.
Maybe you’ve already started your book – only to discover the writing process isn’t proving to be as easy as you anticipated. You feel stuck. Or you’ve hit up against one or more of the many common challenges that face many authors (especially first-time book writers):
Pages that go nowhere
A narrative voice that lacks unity, drive, or shifts tone awkwardly between chapters
Arguments that lack focus or repeat themselves endlessly
Personal stories that don’t land for the reader
Or you haven’t started yet. You want to get this book done, you’ve got the time to do it now…but you’re just not sure where to even begin!
Here’s where I can help the most.
As your book coach, I will be that experienced, trusted partner who will help you to understand why the world needs your book and why you are the right person for the job.
I will help you to come up a structure and plan for your book before you start—a method that will save you a lot of time and stress down the line.
And I will help you with a series of time-bound writing goals that will keep you focused and on track.
Most of all, I’ll be with you every step of the way, making sure you get from zero to a “Wow! Draft.”
Ready to apply?
What’s a “Wow! Draft” exactly?
A “Wow! Draft” is one that:
Feels alive and urgent -- it makes you sit up and say “This is good!”
Feels like a fully developed version of your concept, idea, or story – a great representation of the message you want to get out in the world.
Won’t require endless tinkering or revisions!
Keeps you excited about the process of finishing and publishing your book .
By the end of our work together, you can have a completed draft like this!
What’s included in this program?
While I adapt this program for each individual client, the basics include:
A preliminary discovery process to clarify your book’s goals and central argument(s)—usually over the first month of meetings
A Blueprint method that produces an outline before you start
Ongoing deadlines to get your draft done
Ongoing chapter review
Weekly intensive and powerful coaching sessions via Zoom
Zoom recordings
Email support in between sessions
In addition I’ll also help you get clarity about how to:
Generate buzz
Get blurbs, testimonials and other endorsements from writers or experts in your field
Get your book published (and the important differences among traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing)
Pitch and land an agent – if you’re going traditional book route
Position your book to get media attention
Use your book to become a trusted/platformed expert in your field
Sounds great! How do we work together?
Because of the intensive nature of this 6-month commitment, I work with only a handful of clients at any one time. I want to ensure I can give you the time, attention, and care your project deserves.
If you:
Have a track record of significant achievement or success in your field
Are passionate about wanting to write a good book
And are capable of taking action, keeping commitments, and staying open to the coaching process
And you’re writing a work of nonfiction, especially:
Literary Memoir or “Memoir+” (i.e. memoir plus a research angle)
Blended narrative (i.e. memoir/self-help)
Narrative nonfiction
Then I’d love to hear from you!
To get started, I invite you to fill out an application with some questions that will help me to get to know you and your project better. I also ask request a writing sample (up to 10 pages double-spaced) in the style and subject of your book.
If I think we may be a good fit as coach and client, I will invite you to an exploratory 60-min Zoom call, at no cost to you, in which we will do a deep dive into your book and its impact on you and your readers.
Ready to apply?
Here's what my client Leah Eichler has to say about our work together…
First and foremost, you've actually given me the confidence to actually do this. I don't think I would have gone to Hungary, I don't think I would have gotten this far, I don't think I would have done the research, I don't think I would have done any of this. I think I would have sat and looked at these tapes for the rest of my life and beat myself up in my head for not doing anything. So, I think that has had a huge impact on my heart, my soul…
—Leah Eichler, Toronto-based author, former Globe & Mail columnist, longtime journalist, and founder of Esoterica magazine.
You can also listen to the full episode of The Book I Had to Write podcast with Leah, where we talk more about her memoir-in-progress, an examination of Holocaust legacy and contemporary Jewish identity.