Why Every Author Should Hire a Book Editor and Writing Coach

Writing a book is a monumental achievement. Whether you're penning your first book or your tenth, the process is incredibly personal, and it takes immense dedication. However, what happens after you've finished your manuscript? Many authors make the mistake of thinking their work is ready for publication just because the words are on the page. But the truth is, the most successful books are those that undergo thorough revision and refinement – which is where a book editor and writing coach come in.

A Fresh Pair of Eyes Can Spot What You Missed

When you've been immersed in your story for months (or even years), it's easy to miss inconsistencies, plot holes, or even awkward phrasing. An editor's role is to look at your manuscript objectively and spot issues that you may have overlooked. They’ll assess your writing on a technical level, ensuring the structure, pacing, and grammar are polished to perfection.

Why this matters: A professional editor ensures that no detail is overlooked, making your story shine. They help you spot issues that might confuse your readers or weaken your narrative.

Professional Editors Improve Clarity and Flow

As authors, we often fall in love with our own words, which can lead to complex, convoluted sentences or paragraphs that don’t serve the story. An editor will help streamline your writing, ensuring that your ideas come across clearly and that every sentence moves the narrative forward. They’ll help with word choice, sentence structure, and eliminate unnecessary fluff, which is key to maintaining reader engagement.

Why this matters: A smooth, clear narrative keeps readers hooked. By working with an editor, you create a book that’s easier to read and more enjoyable to experience.

A Writing Coach Helps You Develop Your Voice and Confidence

Writing coaches don’t just help with mechanics – they’re there to help you develop as a writer. A coach provides feedback that’s both constructive and supportive, guiding you through moments of self-doubt and helping you strengthen your craft. If you’re struggling with writer’s block or wondering how to approach a difficult scene, a writing coach can offer advice, prompts, and techniques to break through creative barriers.

Why this matters: A writing coach nurtures your creative growth, helping you gain the confidence you need to take risks and push your limits. The writing process can be challenging, and a coach helps you stay motivated, focused, and clear on your goals.

Editors and Coaches Help You Stay on Track

If you’re working on a long-term project like a book, it’s easy to get sidetracked or lose sight of your vision. A writing coach can help you set realistic milestones and timelines, ensuring that you stay motivated and on track. This external accountability is vital when the excitement of writing starts to fade, especially during tough spots.

Why this matters: Having a coach or editor means you’re never alone in the process. They’ll provide guidance, structure, and a roadmap to keep you moving forward.

Editors Provide an Objective Perspective

Writing is often a deeply personal journey, and it’s easy to get attached to every word you’ve written. Editors provide an invaluable outside perspective that ensures your book will connect with readers. They can offer suggestions based on trends, market needs, and genre conventions, which can help shape your manuscript into a more commercially viable and engaging piece of work.

Why this matters: An objective, experienced editor can bring a reader-centric perspective, ensuring that your book resonates with its intended audience.

Coaches Help You Build a Sustainable Writing Practice

The journey doesn’t end with the book’s first draft. Many authors struggle to maintain consistency and discipline. Writing coaches not only help you polish your current manuscript but also guide you toward creating a sustainable writing practice. They’ll help you develop habits and strategies that can carry you through future projects.

Why this matters: Establishing a solid writing routine is crucial for long-term success. A writing coach will help you build the habits that turn good writers into great ones.

Editors Ensure Quality in the Final Product

Once you’ve polished your manuscript, an editor provides the final quality check, making sure that your book is ready to be presented to the world. From grammar and punctuation to style and tone, an editor ensures your book is free from errors that could otherwise distract readers. They also check for consistency in character development, plot structure, and pacing.

Why this matters: A well-edited book reflects your professionalism as an author and shows respect for your readers. It’s the key to making your book stand out in a crowded market.

A book editor and writing coach do much more than provide technical assistance – they are invested in your growth as a writer. They bring valuable expertise, feedback, and perspective that can elevate your work and help you achieve your writing goals.

Whether you’re just starting out or have been writing for years, hiring a book editor and writing coach is an investment that will pay off, not just in the quality of your manuscript, but in your development as an author.

Ready to take your writing to the next level? Let’s talk!

A Christmas gift for yourself

“Thank you, Megan. I found a less expensive editor.”

Well, ho, ho, ho.

Receiving messages like this never feels good, and even after going on 20 years in the business, it does still feel like a kick in the pants from time to time.

The sad thing about choosing your rates is that no matter what number you choose, there will be people who come along and tell you that you are too expensive. Basically, they want you to do the work for free, out of the kindness of your heart (though more likely it would be out of their ego).

Are there situations in which people have legitimate financial concerns that prevent them from spending money on non-emergency services? Absolutely.

Would I want to have someone give me their last dime and be evicted from their apartment. Of course not.

But what I see a lot, and what truly breaks my heart, is that authors will talk about their writing dreams…and then do nothing about them.

If you’ve followed me on social media at all you’ll have seen the countless mantras that I have posted that encourage authors to see themselves as necessary, creative beings, and worthy contenders in the world of publishing. There is no better time to write that first word, or that last word.

But what happens after a book has been written? Or what if major writing blocks keep an author from moving forward on their journey? What happens then?

Two things happen – authors either a) struggle indefinitely or b) invest in themselves.

By “invest” I do not mean purchase business cards or purchase another writing course they won’t have time to complete. I do not mean search for the perfect pen or pencil or notebook.

I mean they invest their time in their writing, and then when they need help they invest their money in the best possible guidance they can receive.

My purpose on this planet is to help authors make their writing great and their publishing dreams come true. That is my very deepest passion.

It is also my job, and unfortunately I can’t buy groceries with hugs and good wishes.

How do I choose my rates? I want to fall into industry standards, of course, but I also base my rates on my aforementioned nearly 20 years of experience, as well as the level of detail I put into my work.

Any editor can look at a manuscript and say, “your main character is under-developed.” But when I say that, I also go on to ask the author questions (“what is your main character’s goal?” “what are they looking for in life?”) and then give suggestions on how to improve (“if Brody is willing to sacrifice everything in order to bring Susan home, we need to establish the stakes in the first third of the book”).

So, this holiday season, I am sure that you have already spent a ton of cash on things for other people – toys aren’t getting any cheaper! But what did you get for yourself?

Just imagine what 2023 could look like if you knew that your book could finally become a real, tangible thing.

Just imagine how could it would feel to stop getting lost in the questions and the what-ifs, and have someone actually guide you through the process, kicking the roadblocks out of your way.

I’d love to talk to you about your book project, and how I can help you get that book into the readers, hungry for your words.

Hop on over to the Services page on the website, or simply respond to this email and we can see how to find a way for me to give you the assistance you need.

Give yourself (and your book) a gift this holiday season.

As we begin to close out 2022, I wish you the very best!

To you and your book!

Introducing the Author’s Roadmap, a boutique service offered to authors who are ready, really ready, to realize their long-held dreams of being published.

First we’ll begin with a 60-minute call in which we’ll get to know one another. You tell me about you and your book and what your big, audacious dreams are for getting it published (and even after that). You ask me whatever questions you have and together we identify which roadblocks are keeping you from getting to your last stop.

After we meet, you’ll send me your manuscript and I’ll dive deep within it, identifying which aspects will be most attractive to publishers, literary agents, and readers – and which might need a little work (and then I’ll tell you how to fix them).

Finally, I’ll give you the steps you will need to take to get your book published, and beloved by readers everywhere. Looking for a literary agent? I’ll tell you how to get there. Self-publishing? I’ll get you there, too.

It can be hard to know which way to go, and the options can feel overwhelming.

I’m here to get you where you need to be: published.

​Are you ready to play big?

A day in the life of a book editor

A favorite part of my job? Reading books, of course! But there is so much more to the life of a book coach than that – namely finding ways to help authors (the other favorite part of my job!).

Just as every author and book project are unique, no day is the same for me. Some days are better than others, for sure, but no matter what I am grateful to be doing exactly what I feel I was put on earth to do.

There are some authors that focus on only one type of editing, or one genre of book, but I prefer the variety. One week I may work with a fantasy novelist, the next the CFO of a large corporation who is writing a business book.

Just as a reminder, there are two main types of editing: developmental and copy editing.

Developmental editing focuses on “big picture” things like structure and content and theme. Basically, I read through a manuscript and, using track changes, make changes and suggestions directly on the document, as well as questions in the margins. Then I send the client back the redline and clean versions of their manuscript.

Copy editing looks at things like spelling, grammar, syntax, etc. Like with developmental editing, I make changes directly to the document and then send my revisions back to my client.

My rates for both types of editing depend on the word count of the document. Developmental editing is more expensive because it is more detailed.

Manuscript assessment is another service I provide, and it involves me reading through the manuscript and then delivering a memo outlining the book’s areas for improvement (as well as strengths, too!), in addition to any potential obstacles I see on theirr path to publication.

I also work with authors to draft query letters (or edit existing ones they may have) that they will be sending out to agents and publishers to get them excited about their book.

Finally, I offer customizable coaching packages for folks that would like a little extra encouragement, guidance, and/or hand-holding. I do one-off coaching calls that are about an hour, or I do monthly coaching, which involves multiple calls and lots and lots of emailing.

So here are some things you might find me doing on any given day:

1)    Doing a coaching call with an author who is writing a memoir and is trying to decide whether to self-publish or publish traditionally.

2)    Copy editing a thriller about a police offer whose quest to save an abused wife leaves her haunted by her past.

3)    Developmental editing a business book based on lessons learned from one of the world’s most famous bands.

4)    Speaking at a writer’s conference about mistakes and missteps even the best authors make.

5)    Writing new blog entries and newsletters, and scheduling those for publication.

6)    Doing publishing research to keep up with the latest news in the world of books, as well as making sure I am sharing the information my author clients need to do.

7)    Working with a monthly coaching client to put together a writing schedule that works for him.

8)    Spending way too much time looking for funny book- and writing-related memes.

9)    Being interviewed on a podcast for entrepreneurs, discussing how a book is a great way to grow one’s business.

Do you have any questions about book coaches? Just comment below and let me know!

Introducing the Author’s Roadmap, a boutique service offered to authors who are ready, really ready, to realize their long-held dreams of being published.

First we’ll begin with a 60-minute call in which we’ll get to know one another. You tell me about you and your book and what your big, audacious dreams are for getting it published (and even after that). You ask me whatever questions you have and together we identify which roadblocks are keeping you from getting to your last stop.

After we meet, you’ll send me your manuscript and I’ll dive deep within it, identifying which aspects will be most attractive to publishers, literary agents, and readers – and which might need a little work (and then I’ll tell you how to fix them).

Finally, I’ll give you the steps you will need to take to get your book published, and beloved by readers everywhere. Looking for a literary agent? I’ll tell you how to get there. Self-publishing? I’ll get you there, too.

It can be hard to know which way to go, and the options can feel overwhelming.

I’m here to get you where you need to be: published.

​Are you ready to play big?