• You know your draft is missing something, even if you don't know what that something is. 

• You sense you could go deeper in your writing. 

• You know what you want to say, but you’re not sure what order to say it in. 

• You have several book ideas, and you're struggling to commit to just one. 

• You keep meaning to write your book. But you just… aren’t writing it.

You're feeling the restlessness of staying in familiar territory. 

You want your writing to feel truer, warmer, and fresher, and, to get there, you're willing to explore new ways of thinking and writing. That willingness to hang out in the unknown is why I named Kupala, Kupala. 

According to legend, there exists a fern that blooms in the dark just once a year, on the ancient Slavic midsummer celebration of Kupala Night. I know, I know, ferns do not technically produce flowers. But this fern does, and it is impossibly beautiful and brings great insight to whomever finds it.

But to have any chance of finding this rare fern, you must leave the warmth of your village's bonfire in the darkest part of the night and hike deep into the forest, bending under boughs and following the odd owl call until you reach a place where the village lights go dark and the earth smells like it knows you. Is this where the flowering ferns live, and the great writers? 

You care about staying true to your voice.  

When I give feedback, I focus first on what’s already working. This isn’t just to be friendly, but because focusing heavily on what’s lacking can, over time, make your writing sound like everyone else’s. (If you’ve participated in your share of writing workshops, you’ve probably noticed this phenomenon.) But when you revise by building primarily on your strengths, your voice naturally becomes clearer and stronger.

So you can expect me to repeatedly point out what you do exceptionally well and encourage you to do more of it. The last thing I want is for your writing to start sounding like mine. I want you to sound more and more like yourself.

You're writing nonfiction. 

I don’t take on fiction projects, but I’m open to all kinds of nonfiction, including memoir, expertise-driven books (about nature, health, science and other subjects), and creative hybrids, especially those that integrate poetry.

• Discuss what you’ve written since our last call. 

• Note where your writing sounds like you, and where it doesn't. 
• Decide who your ideal reader is and what they need from this book.
• Reflect on an old writing pattern and whether it's still working.  
• Sort out the overall structure of your book.
• Prepare for an interview with a source for your book.
• Discuss books you're reading and how they're informing this project.
• Talk through whatever writing obstacle is in your way right now: procrastination, overwhelm, doubt, unnamed unease, or even so much excitement about the project that you can’t seem to settle down and write.
• List what you don't know about your book yet, and accept each unknown for now. 

If you've worked with another book coach (or even me previously), you know that many coaches choose to share written feedback before calls. I no longer do that. I've found that written feedback has a way of setting the call's agenda and limiting its potential. 

I now show up to calls having read your pages and begun thinking about them, but without fixed ideas about what you should do next. We figure that out together.  

This approach to book coaching also helps us practice the thing you're cultivating in your writing: staying open to uncertainty and changing course when something new appears.

You might get a taste of this approach during our introductory call.

All that said, sometimes you just reach a point in your writing where you want me to sit down, read your manuscript closely, and provide detailed written guidance. When that happens, I offer developmental editing at $0.05 per word. 

Developmental editing includes in-line comments, a detailed editorial letter, a big-picture assessment of the manuscript, and specific recommendations for revision.

Please note: I offer developmental editing only to current or former coaching clients. It’s important for me to understand you and your goals before I sit down with your manuscript.