What’s the difference between a book coach and an editor?

Book coach or editor?

Last time, I wrote about what the term “book coach” means. Now I’d like to compare and contrast a book coaching with editing because I think there is some warranted confusion due to similarities between the two. 

Similarities - and differences

Both editing and book coaching deal with words on the page, how ideas are communicated through text, and improving written work. 

I have had some great editors in the 20+ years I’ve been writing. Editors are able to find errors, omissions, and issues. They can tell you what to fix and how, and what to consider changing. They are able to give feedback on whether a work makes sense, and whether they get taken out of the story or stopped by awkward phrasing or details. The best editors are thoughtful, careful, precise, and always contextualize their comments so that a writer can make decisions about what to do on the page. As a writer, I highly value the feedback editors give and the skill their work requires. Good writing gets better with editing. Click here for a very thorough description of different kinds of editing.

I also have had some great book coaches. I first encountered book coaching in 2019 when I wanted to start writing personal essays, as opposed to the professional writing I had been doing up until then. As I considered hiring a book coach, I learned I could be trained as one, and that book coaching had the double benefit of not only helping me write, but also allowed me to help other writers - a dream of mine. The book coaches I have worked with are able to do all of the things I included above that I value about editors, with the addition of helping writers get their ideas out of their heads and onto the page so they can write forward.

In other words, book coaches and editors are great help when you have words on the page; book coaches also excel at helping you shape your ideas so that you can write more efficiently.

Deciding between a book coach and an editor

Perhaps like a therapist who can’t get therapy from themselves, a book coach can (and should) look for help when stuck. Here’s what happened when I found myself in that situation.

I had gotten thorough feedback from an editor whose work I admired, but she wasn’t able to help me figure out some bigger-picture issues I wanted to solve. She was more comfortable giving written feedback on another draft, but that didn’t help me figure out what I needed to do to get to the next draft. I knew I wanted to talk through what I thought the issues were and get some clarity on how to move forward before revising.

I went to a trusted and admired book coach and together we came up with a plan that would help me meet my objective and would be achieved through a series of calls (working sessions) and feedback (verbal and written). The solutions I needed came out of our conversations and coaching more than the editorial feedback. Going through that process gave me insights into the difference - and value - coaching provides.

What book coaching looks like in practice

Writers come to me at one of two points: either they have an idea they don’t know how to start working on efficiently, or they have pages (often hundreds) but don’t know exactly what’s needed to make it better. Either way, the process is the same: we make sure we are aiming for a target, we assess the obstacles (textual, physical and/or emotional) that come up, and overcome those with strategies.

For a writer at the idea generation and crystallization stage, we’ll spend our coaching calls collaborating in a document, playing with structure and content. By the end of the session, the writer will have a clear idea what to do next. He’ll do his work and send it to me by his deadline. I’ll read it and identify what needs to be worked on, which we will do during our next call, and the cycle repeats.  

For a writer who has a ton of pages, we’ll spend our coaching calls collaborating in a document, playing with structure and content. By the end of the session, the writer will have a clear idea what to do next. She’ll do her work and send it to me by her deadline. I’ll read it and identify what needs to be worked on, which we will do during our next call, and the cycle repeats. 

See how the process is the same? The help - and the value - to a writer comes from the coaching discussions that lead to understanding what decisions need to be made and being empowered to make those decisions when they write. The coaching calls are where the frameworks and guide rails and structures are created and put in place so that the writer can write, confidently. 

I think most writers (myself included, before I became a book coach) think you just sit down and write and write and write until you have a bunch of pages. I wish it was like that! Sure, I can put words on a page - I’ve been doing that for 20+ years! But having a framework makes the writing more efficient. Together we make the frameworks that help you write - and shine.

Is a book coach right for you?

Perhaps it is fair to say every book coach can provide editing, but not every editor is a book coach. Do you agree?

What’s book coaching all about? Click here and find out!