What is a book coach and how can one help me

by Joyce Griffith ~ April 11th, 2003. Filed under: General Questions About Self-publishing & Planning, Publishing Basics.

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What is a book coach and how can one help me
with my book?

A book coach is a publishing consultant without the frills. A talented and dedicated book coach works closely with you to save you many hours of time, tons of frustration, and lots of money.

Specific services a good book coach will offer include the following—

Feasibility study. A feasibility study is ananalysis of your book’s chances of success. Will you be able to sell enough books to pay your out-of-pocket costs? Of course no one can predictwith absolute certainty whether your book will sell 1 copy or 1 million.The book coach is guessing, too, but the guesswork is based on many years of experience and observation. A feasibility study should be based on three primary factors—
Is there a market for this book? Do people need (or want) to know (or experience) what you’re telling them in your book? How many people? What will it cost to reach them?

Will you be able to get the attention of the book’s market? Will people you believe need (or want) your book recognize its value and buy the book. Are you taking steps to be sure the title, cover design, illustrations, and organization of your book will help this happen?

Does the book deliver its promise? Are your facts, assumptions, quotes, logic, examples, and stories on target with your book’s purpose? Is the book written in a clear and interesting way?

Word doctor. You can never have too much help getting your words right. A well-qualified book coach can tell you whether you need to hire a ghostwriter, a developmental editor, a text editor, or just a copy editor or proofreader before you publish your book. Depending on the topic, you may need special help with page design, indexing,illustrating and other aspects of making your book special.

Your marketing plan. Your book coach will look at your marketing plan—or talk to you about it—and share with you the key elements in your marketing strategy that will make or break thebook. You want a coach who is honest enough to tell you that the book has little chance of commercial success. You want to be sure your timing and sequence of all the tasks involved in selling your book are in order. Your coach will help you with this.

Book packaging. Your book coach may offer to put all of the pieces together for you to help you produce your book. At that point the coach becomes more of a coordinator than just a coach. Specific services the coach-coordinator can provide with you at a high level of quality—and, hopefully, a good price—include the following:

Editing the words for your book.
Designing the inside pages.
Designing the cover—front, back, andspine.
Making sure pricing, copyright, and publishing information are correct
Printing and binding

Your coach-coordinator may offer other services as well, such as—

i. Warehousing
ii. Order fulfillment
iii. Marketing or publicity packages
iv. Direct mail
v. Placement of advertising
vi. And more

Your coach is not a magician, just a highly skilled and dedicated professional who sits down with you—usually in virtual space using email and the web—and walks with you through the steps it takes to produce a fine book. The purpose of book coaching is to give you an objective view of its potential and, once you decide to go ahead with production, to make your book the finest it can possibly be.

What does book coaching cost? Expect to pay about $300 for a feasibility study, a critique of your book’s content and purpose, and recommendations for your marketing strategy. If your book is lengthy or complicated, the fee may be more.

Be sure you understand exactly what your coach is—and is not—doing for you. Success can be predicted, but it cannot be guaranteed.

Send her email at hodi@mindspring.com or call her at 800 359-9503.