What’s the Difference Between A Book Coach and an Editor?

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Written by: Amy Collette

Amy loves to work with people who make a positive impact. Amy is a Book Coach, Founder of Unleash Your Inner Author, and the Author of The Gratitude Connection. Amy helps changemakers on their journey to become published authors.

Happy authors with booksKnowing the difference between a Book Coach and an Editor can help you decide on what support you need to unleash your inner author and publish your book. Every author should be over-the-moon happy about their book, and professional Book Coaches and Editors pave the path to making that dream come true.

A Book Coach gets involved early to help authors with big-picture issues like finding their voice, connecting with their audience, working through beliefs and fears, and setting audacious yet realistic writing goals.

Editors jump in when the manuscript is done to fine-tune the book and make it ready to publish.

 

Book Coaching

The goal of Unleash Your Inner Author book coaching and courses is to get your story out of your head and heart and onto the page.

A Book Coach gets involved at the beginning of the creative process, usually before much writing is done. Authors want guidance about how to approach their writing to make a powerful impact with their books.

A Book Coach:

  • Helps authors gain clarity about their:
    • Audience (ideal readers) – who they are and what they desire
    • Goals for themselves (business, personal, purpose
    • Impact/purpose of the book – how it will transform people, teams, companies, the world
  • Provides emotional support for the process of stepping into their new author role and the fears and issues that arise
  • Creates writing and publishing tools to streamline the process
  • Provides feedback on writing:
    • Themes
    • Author voice
    • Organization
    • Message/story
  • Helps set writing goals and timelines
  • Becomes an accountability partner to meet goals and celebrate completing them

For more information, see Are You Writing A Book The Hard Way? And sign up for Advice for Authors.

Editing

Editors get involved after the manuscript is written. They take the point of view of the authors’ ideal readers and act as their advocate. Their goals are to improve the writing while maintaining the author’s unique voice. Great editing makes the experience for your readers is effortless, engaging, and powerful.

Editors help with the nitty-gritty details of the writing:

  • Organization
  • Flow of the information and stories
  • Word usage
  • Punctuation
  • Grammar
  • Recognizing gaps – what is missing or incomplete?
  • Removing redundancy or wordiness
  • Asking questions to clarify concepts
  • Suggesting creative solutions

For more information, see How Not Hiring an Editor is Like Cutting Your Own Hair and sign up for Advice for Authors.

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