How Much Does a Book Coach Cost?
“How much does a book coach cost?” is a good question. Here’s another one: “Will an investment with a book coach make a big enough impact on my writing career to be worth it?”
There, now that’s the real question.
You could pay $5 to your dog in a cardigan, but it’s not going to have an impact on your writing career. Lower is not always better.
You also could pay $10,000 to a creative writing professional to then go on to only sell 10 copies of your book.
Neither of these situations are wins. It’s not so much “How much does a book coach cost?” as it is “Is this going to drive my writing career forward?”
Before we get into the nitty gritty, let us take a moment to introduce ourselves.
Nicole & Rebecca Conquer Books
We’re Nicole Van Den Eng and Rebecca Zornow and we coach science fiction and fantasy writers.
We are passionate about helping writers make their manuscript better, and coach them through the many decisions they have to make on the way to a finished manuscript or published book. If you want to learn more about book coaching, check out this article What Does a Book Coach do for Writers?
Numbers & Rates
Back to your original question, “How much does a book coach cost?” Like most great questions, the answer is: It depends. Individual book coaches charge different amounts based on their experience and the demand for their genre and area of specialization. Further, a book coach will charge different clients different amounts depending on the project. Some writers come to us at the line editing stage and need help cleaning things up over a set period of time, while others need help navigating the whole process and industry.
To suss out exactly what a writer needs, we give free 20-minute chats to talk with writers about their project, their goals, and to explain our process. Then we build a custom proposal outlining exactly how we can help with the project and what it will cost.
While a book coach’s rates are highly variable, it’s safe to say that most professional writing coaches fall within the range of several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, with highly accredited coaches charging $30k for full coaching packages and an editor or coach on Fiverr charging $200 for a short critique.
We work with professional independent authors, writers preparing a manuscript for querying, and seasoned authors trying to problem solve specific challenges, so it’s important to us that we charge rates that respect our investment in the project, but is attainable for someone working in this industry.
Is It Worth It?
This is another good question. You’re not just a writer, you’re a business person and you need to make sure every investment into your literary empire counts.
The answer again is highly variable and depends entirely on three factors:
- Your goals for the project and your career
- The work you put into a coaching package
- The quality and fit of the coach you choose (and that chooses you)
Consider item one: goals. If a writer’s primary goal is to make money on the project, or to go full-time, they would do a cost-benefit analysis, even one as simple as following their gut. How many books would they have to sell to make back what they spent on coaching? Would they view the investment with a long lens and consider that the experience may set the tone for the next five years of their writing career?
What a writer brings to a coaching experience is also key. If they rush into coaching looking for a quick fix, and haven’t set aside the time in their schedule to do the work, then they’re not going to grow.
Finally, choosing the right book coach is essential. You can secure an excellent book coach, but if they don’t care for romance and that’s exactly what you’ve got, you didn’t find someone that will understand what you’re trying to build. You need a champion that keeps you accountable and wants to see your project out in the real world as much as you do.
We hope this short discussion has brought you some clarity. If you want to read more on book coaching, check out The Value of a Book Coach. Good luck on your writing journey and if you want a deeper conversation set up a free-20 minute chat with us so we can build you a custom proposal.
