Do you have an amazing concept for a story, but don’t know where to start?
Has your imagination dreamed up a fictional character who is now begging you to write—or finish writing—their story?
Have you completed a first, second, or forty-seventh draft of a novel, but long for someone to help guide you through your revisions?
Do you want to learn more skills and gain a better understanding of some of that pesky, confusing story crafting or editorial terminology and then apply those skills within your current work-in-progress?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you are an excellent candidate for my new Story Coaching service!
A RELATIONAL APPROACH
Story Coaching is an editorial coaching relationship that can begin at nearly any stage of the writing process. As your story coach, I will serve as a navigational guide, brainstorming partner, and structural analyst for your story. I’ll encourage you to dig deeper into crucial elements such as developing character depth, creating tension in your plot, building an immersive story world, and crafting dialogue that sparkles with authenticity. We’ll work together to make sure your story doesn’t suffer a lack of consistency or clarity and that its pacing keeps readers turning pages. Along the way, I’ll help you better understand writing craft terminology and gain skills that help you know how to put that new understanding to work on the page. Cheering you on toward every forward-motion victory, no matter how small, I’ll help you overcome those pesky walls that rise up, trying to block your creative flow.
INDIVIDUALIZED
This is not a one-size-fits-all service. Every author—and every project—is unique. Whether you’ve written a detailed synopsis, a partial draft, or you’ve completed a first, second, or forty-seventh draft of a novel, we can start with what you have and build from there. Perhaps all you have so far is a one-paragraph story premise, or the most basic outline. You may have invested in a developmental edit for your story, but you need or desire more ongoing editorial input as you revise and rewrite the next draft of your story. Wherever you are with your story, I will meet you there and help you move toward your goals.
HOW IT WORKS
Step One: Initial Consultation
While every client’s needs will differ, each project will begin with an initial consultation (by telephone or via a virtual meeting space such as FaceTime or Zoom) during which we will discuss your project goals and ideal timeline, as well as your budgetary and scheduling constraints. Once those details have been ironed out, we will schedule our first story coaching session.
Step Two: Pre-coaching Story Evaluation
Following your initial consultation, but prior to your first coaching session, I will read and evaluate what you have written so far—whether that’s a one-paragraph story premise, a fully completed draft, or anything in between. When I’ve completed the reading, I will create a plan for our sessions based on the size of your project and its needs, the areas of your craft that need the most intensive guidance, the timeline by which you would like to have completed the new draft of your project, and the budgetary and scheduling constraints we discussed during our initial consultation.
Step Three: Story Coaching Sessions
Prior to each coaching session, you will submit a set of pages for me to read, which we will discuss during that session. Through our series of scheduled telephone and/or virtual meeting room sessions, I will partner with you to enliven your story and enrich the experience of your future readers. Together, we will identify areas in need of improvement, brainstorm solutions, map your story’s progress, and grow your story crafting skills.
By the end of our sessions for your project, you will have gained access to a new storehouse of tools to aid your writing journey. The number of sessions needed will differ between authors and stories. My goal is for you to gain as much editorial insight and encouragement as possible from every single session.
Step Four: Completed Story Evaluation
Once you’ve completed the draft we’ve been working on in our sessions, we will pause our coaching sessions while you revisit your story from the beginning on your own, tidying up the manuscript and applying what you’ve learned. Afterward, you’ll submit that completed draft to me for a Completed Story Evaluation and I will perform a light developmental edit on the story in its entirety to catch any additional issues and help determine your next best step toward publication.
Due to the time-intensive, relational nature of this new service, limited story coaching slots are available. I look forward to partnering with you to discover new ways to spark fresh life into your stories! I am presently scheduling clients writing the following fiction genres:
- Speculative Fiction (fantasy/dystopian/magical realism/sci-fi/paranormal)
- YA
- Middle Grade
- Contemporary Women’s Fiction
- Contemporary Romance and Contemporary Rom-com.
I am also accepting clients writing in the following non-fiction genres:
- Memoir
- Essay
- Devotional
- Self-help
Please note: At this time, I am not accepting historical fiction, historical biographies, academic texts, or fiction that would be categorized as erotica.
STORY COACHING FEE SCHEDULE
Initial Consultation: FREE – No obligation.
Initial Full Manuscript Reading Fee (prior to first story coaching session):
- $0.50 per standard formatted** page, rounded up to the nearest page. (Invoice for initial read will be prepared upon receipt of materials and must be paid within 48 hours of when the client receives the invoice.)
Story Coaching Sessions
- 30-minute session: $25/session (includes up to 15* pre-reading pages, formatted to provided guidelines**)
- 60-minute session: $40/session (includes up to 30* pre-reading pages, formatted to provided guidelines** )
- 90-minute session: $50/session (includes up to 50* pre-reading pages, formatted to provided guidelines**)
SESSION PACKAGE DISCOUNT: A 10% package discount will be applied to coaching sessions for clients booking 10 or more story coaching sessions when 10 (or more) sessions are paid in full twenty-four hours prior to the first scheduled session of the package.
Completed Story Evaluation
- $1.00 per standard formatted* page, rounded up to the nearest page.
Following our final coaching session, the author will take however long they need to go through and tidy the full manuscript. After the tidied manuscript is returned to me, I will perform a light developmental edit on the story in its entirety to catch any additional issues and help determine your next best step toward publication.
Additional Information
*If the client wishes the coach to pre-read more than the number of pages allowed for their particular session (30-, 60-, or 90-minutes) the coach must be informed at least 48 hours in advance of the scheduled session. An additional fee of $1.00 per standard formatted page for the overage will be added to the invoice, which must be paid at least 15 minutes prior to the session. All pre-reading pages must be received at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled coaching session.
**Standard Page Formatting Guidelines will be provided following the Initial Consultation
PLEASE NOTE: Pre-reading pages for coaching sessions must be received at least 24 hours prior to the session. The session invoice will be prepared and sent when the upcoming session’s pages are received. Each coaching session invoice must be paid at least 15 minutes before the session’s start time.