Do you have more questions about Small Group Coaching for Book Writers?
Hopefully they are answered here. If not, please email me or book a free consultation.
Table of Contents
Meeting dates for next cohort: Autumn 2026
Will I need to share my work in progress?
What if I get stuck on a content problem?
Will Write Your Book! help me revive an abandoned book project?
I’m in the revision stages of my book project. Will this group help?
I’m on sabbatical so I have lots of time. How will this help?
Who is group coaching a good fit for
What are the meeting dates for the next groups?
If there are enough people, I will run 2 groups. One on Tuesdays and one on Wednesdays. Both groups will be at 10 Eastern / 3 UK / 4 Central European Time. Some regions end Daylight Savings Time (aka Summer Time) during this period. If you live somewhere that does not, the time of the meeting will shift one hour later (local time) starting with the November meeting.
22/23 September 2026
6/7 October 2026
20/21 October 2026
3/4 November 2026
17/18 November 2026
1/2 December 2026
15/16 December 2026
Will I need to share my work in progress?
I am aware that there are writing groups that are structured around sharing work in progress and getting feedback from other members of the group and the facilitator.
This is not that kind of group.
I am not an editor. I do not read pages. You will not need to share drafts with me or other members of the group.
My strength is in helping you manage the emotional and practical problems you encounter as you work on your book so that you can keep the process moving.
The biggest emotional challenges are around confidence. Over the years, I’ve discovered that you develop your confidence by doing scary things.
- Writing before you feel ready
- Trusting that you know enough about what everyone else has said (for now)
- Writing things you know some people will not like
- Trusting that you have a contribution to make
You will write. You may not write things you are willing to share with anyone (yet). But you will write.
And if you can’t write, I will help you work out what other work you need to do so that you *can* write.
This means that it doesn’t matter what language you are writing in. Although the group discussion happens in English.
Letting drafts be drafts
In my view, early drafts don’t have to be linear. They don’t have to be complete sentences. They don’t have to include comprehensive discussion of the secondary literature.
They need to grow. Sometimes you need to write more to figure out what is important. This group will help you get words on the page so you can gain clarity and confidence in the contribution this book will make.
A common hurdle to drafting is feeling like you are not ready, that what you write will be no good. Fear of future criticism makes it hard to write a draft, even one no one will see. We’ll help you write what you can, and then figure out what to write next. We aren’t reading it.
Fortnightly check-ins mean you only have to commit to this strategy for 2 weeks. If it doesn’t work, we’ll help you adjust.
“So much has changed. When I joined, I was trying to write a book proposal, and was thinking “Why is it so hard to tie down all these theoretical strings that are in the air? Why don’t I know exactly what’s happening here?”
And the advice was, “Well, maybe you need to do the work.”
While I had ideas of what I might talk about, I still had to do more of the actual research. I’ve now experienced how much it matters to think ideas through and actually see what the research is telling you.
Now I have a new way to talk about the book. Each chapter is shifting a little bit as it gets clearer. There’s still a ton of work to do but I know so much more about the book now. It’s been really great.”
(Rena, Communication and Media Studies, Canada)
What if you get stuck on a content problem?
We won’t read your writing, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t interested in what you are writing about. We’re a bunch of nerds (complimentary), just like you are, and hearing about other people’s nerdy interests is interesting.
Also, solving problems is a fun challenge. We hate having problems, so helping someone else solve a problem is ideal.
If you are stuck because of a substantive problem, it can sometimes be helpful to try to explain the details to the group, even though we are not experts in your field. I can ask questions based on my understanding to help you figure out your options and decide how to proceed. Other members of the group may also see things that are helpful.
Furthermore, over the course of the programme I develop an understanding of the big picture of what you are trying to do. This is often helpful when you are working on the details of one section, especially if you have a tendency to go off on side quests.
Even if we don’t know the solution, we can usually help you figure out what kind of work you need to do so you can solve the problem you’ve identified. Sometimes you’re trying to make a decision you aren’t ready to make. It’s frustrating to do work you aren’t absolutely sure needs to be done, but that’s often the only way to find the answer. Focusing on 2 weeks at a time can help you be more patient and trust that you will be able to solve this problem.
Will Write Your Book! help me revive an abandoned book project?
It is not uncommon to have a substantial amount of work done on a book, possibly even a contract with a publisher, and then have to abandon it for some reason.
Maybe you got a new job. Or had a baby. Or you wrote a whole other book or a bunch of articles. (Seriously, I have a client that did that last thing.)
You are not alone. You can still write and publish this book. Even if your publisher has cancelled your contract. Heck, if they haven’t cancelled the contract they might still be interested in publishing it, even if you ghosted them.
You don’t have to worry about that part yet, though.
First, you need to decide whether you even want to finish this book.
You don’t have to. It’s okay to decide not to. This post may help you decide: What to do about a stalled book project
You might also decide you want to write a slightly different book using some of that material and going in a different direction. It’s okay if you aren’t quite sure what that would be. You can figure that out as you write.
The key questions are:
- Is there a book length project here?
- Are you excited about it?
Seriously, a book takes a lot of time and effort. You need some excitement and joy in there to keep you going.
How this group coaching programme will help
If you decide there is a book there that you want to write, even if you aren’t quite sure exactly what it is any more, this programme will be a good way to get back into it.
Write Your Book! is designed to help you make a commitment to work on your book over 12 weeks. That’s long enough to build some momentum even from a standing start.
In each session you set an intention for the work you will do over the next 2 weeks. I can coach you through that process so you have a reasonable goal. I can help you with the emotional resistance. I can reassure you that it’s okay to focus on just the next 2 weeks for now.
You share your intention, out loud, with the group before we finish. Speaking it out loud helps. We are not the kind of people who will judge you. We want to help you stick with your intention, in general (to work on the book) and specifically.
If you want to agree to share your contact information with other members of the group, they won’t mind if you email or message between meetings if you are having trouble doing the thing. Someone might even hop on a Zoom or FaceTime or something to work while you work if it would help. We will have a Discord server with just people from the groups in it specifically for this kind of interaction.
Then the following session we start by reporting on what we each did and what went well. Something always went well, and I don’t let you dismiss or diminish, or forget that.
Also, none of us care if what you did matches up to the specific intention you set, we just care that you worked on your book. Or took some kind of step that’s going to make working on the book easier next time.
The size of the group means there is plenty of time to troubleshoot whatever didn’t work, or whatever new bump in the road you’ve stumbled upon.
You set an intention for the next 2 weeks. Rinse. Repeat.
In the final session, we’ll look back over the whole 12 weeks to notice how much progress you’ve made, and what you’ve learned about yourself and what works for you. We’ll also help you set some intentions for keeping up the momentum.
I’m in the revision stages of my book project. Will this group help?
What if you already have a draft and the work you need to do is mainly revision?
No matter what kind of work your book needs, if regular intention setting and accountability for what you did will help, this group will help. In addition to accountability, you’ll also get help making decisions about what to do next and emotional support for moving on when things aren’t perfect.
My view is that the goal of a first draft is to build your confidence and clarity about the contribution you are making.
If you already have a full draft that does that, there will be several rounds of revisions. This is frustrating. You want to be done! But, trying to do 3 different types of revisions all in the same pass just gets you muddled up.
We can help you figure out what kinds of revisions you need, and get started on making them.
Setting intentions 2 weeks at a time allows you to experiment with working on this so you can decide what works best for you.
Revisions require decisions!
Sometimes to get clarity on what this book will do and what evidence you need to support that contribution, you need to write more than you’ll use in the final version. That can be really frustrating!
The work you’ve done is good work. It just doesn’t belong in this book. Maybe you have a couple of articles you might also write. I have also had more than one client realize that they have 2 books worth of material.
You might use the coaching element of this group to help you come to terms with your decisions. You can talk through the logic of the decision, tell us what you are unsure about, and we can help you figure out your next step.
You can pair this group with a book you are using for guidance
If you have a book or other resource you are using to guide you, the coaching in this group can be used to figure out how you are applying that approach.
Books that some of my clients have found helpful include Knox & Van Deventer’s The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook (University of Chicago Press) and Laura Portwood-Stacer’s Book Proposal Book (Princeton University Press). Both help you make decisions about the argument and structure of your book, and clarify your goals.
Portwood-Stacer also has a new book out called Make Your Manuscript Work (also Princeton) which will help you make a concrete plan for developing your book once you have the key elements worked out.
There may be other books (and I’m happy to share any you have found useful).
Will it help if I have lots of time?
The groups I’ve run over the past few years have been a mix of people who are on sabbatical or research leave and people who are trying to keep their book moving despite a heavy teaching load, a big admin role, or some combination of the two.
In my experience, even people on sabbatical don’t necessarily have lots of time for their book project. You’ve probably got articles, book chapters, reviews and other things that you’ve committed to. Someone else might be waiting for those, which makes it hard to prioritize the book. It’s easy for the book to kind of slip away even when you have lots of time.
Everyone sets intentions based on what’s going on for them in the next 2 weeks. For some people, that can sometimes be “I want to touch the book every working day for at least 15 minutes.” For others, it might be spending several hours a day working on their book.
Similarly, when you report on what you’ve done, you aren’t being compared to what anyone else accomplished. Heck, I don’t even let you compare to what you hoped you’d be able to accomplish. If you have lots of time you don’t have to worry about making other people feel bad.
Time isn’t the only issue. Sometimes you spend lots of time working on a project but still feel like you aren’t getting anywhere, or you aren’t making enough progress (whatever that means). This group can help you make decisions about what to do in the time you have. We’ll also help you acknowledge the progress you are making, and reassure you that books are huge projects and they just take a lot of time.
You will have something to show for it at the end of the sabbatical!
This group may not be right for you
If your primary need is to make time for the book even though you don’t have a lot of time, you might also consider joining the Academic Writing Studio and attending A Meeting With Your Writing, our regular coworking groups. There are also occasional Writing Clinics where you can get some group coaching support though you won’t have the continuity and the group dynamic is much less intense.
If you think coaching will be helpful for you at this stage, but you need more than 15 minutes to talk through your decisions, you might consider individual coaching with me instead. I’ve had a few book writers as Guide for the Journey clients and they have found the support very helpful.
Guide for the Journey coaching is also fortnightly, but it is 45-minutes and just you. We can go deeper into questions of process and content. I’m still not going to read pages though. Book a free consult to discuss your needs and I’ll help you figure out which would be better.
You can also book a Confidence Boost session for £140 to get some individual support before joining the group for ongoing support. Book a session using this link. I’ll invoice you when I receive the booking notification.
If what you think would be really helpful is to also have editorial support or teaching around how to structure things, this is probably not the best group for you.
- Kaitlyn Knox & Allison Van Deventer offer 2 different facilitated workshops using the process outlined in their book.
- Ellen Tilton-Cantrell also runs workshops based on the Knox & Van Deventer book.
- Jane Jones’ Book Brilliance programme is very comprehensive and includes editorial feedback on work-in-progress.
Or, you could work with an editor. There are different types of editors for different stages of the process.
The Art of Academic Editing by Cara M. Jordan and Leslie Castro-Woodhouse (Flatpage) will give you a good sense of what they are and how to find one.
