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Coaching and Training
I provide coaching, tutoring and training to both authors and editors through a variety of teaching formats. I have also designed bespoke training courses for businesses. Examples of these are given below.
Coaching
An online meeting, following Gale’s written edit, was tremendously useful and gave me an opportunity to bounce ideas and explore ways to fix plot holes. I would definitely recommend her to anyone who wants a high-quality editor.
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Jay Jones, author
Many authors, as well as editors, find it useful to access some coaching or advice on particular areas of their work. I am happy to provide this via one-on-one coaching sessions, tailored specifically to the individual’s requirements. Sessions can include some or all of the following:
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Written feedback
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Brainstorming
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Phone call/Zoom consultations
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How often does coaching happen?
All coaching is tailored to the specific issue at hand, as well as to the individual’s needs and what they feel would be most beneficial.
Coaching can be a one-off session, or a pre-arranged weekly meeting over a specific period of time (e.g. once a week for an agreed number of weeks).
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What does it cost?
There is no one-size-fits-all pricing structure, as coaching is tailored according to each individual and the nature of the guidance.
Why not get in touch and find out more?
Coaching for authors
Who is coaching aimed at?
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Fiction and non-fiction authors
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Those intending to self-publish
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Authors wishing to submit to agents/trade publishers
Packages offered
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NB: All packages can include written feedback (on a full or a partial text, if applicable), and/or a 30-minute or 1-hour consultation, by phone, WhatsApp/Facetime or Zoom.
1. Targeted coaching: on specific craft/writing issues, as well as more general quandaries about publishing. Covers topics such as:
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Show, don’t tell
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Point of view
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Pace
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Characterization
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Description
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Voice
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Book blurbs
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How the publishing industry works
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Different routes to publishing ...
2. Big-picture coaching and brainstorming: help with structural (i.e. developmental) issues, such as:
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Fiction:
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Plot holes
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Weak beginnings
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Sagging middles
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Unsatisfactory endings
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Unconvincing setting
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Confusing point of view
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Troublesome protagonists
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Genre conventions
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Reader expectations ...
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Non-fiction:
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Content flow/clarity
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Text presentation/structure
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Reader comprehension
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Target audience ...
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3. Querying/submission: can cover all or some of the following:
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Synopses
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Covering letters
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Book proposals
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Suggestions on how to find an agent/publisher
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What the author needs to know
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What agents/publishers really want to know
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Understanding and adhering to submission guidelines …
4. Productive authors: help for authors who might be wrestling with obstacles to their writing endeavours, such as:
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Writer’s block
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Organising their time
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Establishing a writing routine
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Where to find help …
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Her knowledge of the publishing industry, her ability to whittle away until my novel had a punchy opening, her brilliant solution to signalling the time shifts in my book and her forensic approach to the smallest detail were all amazing.
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Kathy Hopewell, author
Coaching for editors
Who is coaching aimed at?
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Fiction editors
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Newbie editors
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Packages offered
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NB: All packages can include written feedback (on a full or a partial text, if applicable), and/or a 30-minute or 1-hour consultation, by phone, WhatsApp/Facetime or Zoom.
1. Fiction conundrums: help for fiction editors who might be struggling with specific areas of concern, such as:
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Specific topics (e.g. head-hopping, dialogue, description, exposition, point of view, etc.)
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How to deal with structural issues
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Dealing with queries
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When to stop editing …
2. Mentoring: for editors who might be considering moving into fiction editing from another editing field, or who have just started fiction editing, and want to know:
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How fiction editing is the same or different
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Where/how to start
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If they’re on the right track
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About specific areas of fiction editing (e.g. structural editing vs. copy-editing) …
3. General editing issues: help for newbie editors who might need a little reassurance or guidance about things such as:
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Dealing with clients
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How to comment on a text
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Setting goals
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Getting help …
She is always helpful and encouraging. In the mystifying world of the new writer she is an excellent guide.
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Lesley Paton Cox
Training
She offered delegates a tempting blend of experience and pragmatism, and I find myself quoting what she said about the editorial process still.
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Professor Alison Baverstock, academic, author and publishing consultant
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Tutor, HarperCollins Author Academy (fiction stream)
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Course leader, NKD, London. Bespoke in-house course. Quality Checking Masterclass
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Tutor, CIEP's Introduction to Fiction Editing course
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Mentor, CIEP's Proofreading Mentoring scheme
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Revised Publishing Training Centre’s (PTC) Editing Fiction and Editorial Style online courses
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London Book Fair, Insights Seminar Programme. Authors are our Business: The Collaborative Relationship between Editor and Author. With Margaret Hunter
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Project-managed and co-wrote the CIEP’s Introduction to Fiction Editing online course
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​Training given at CIEP annual conferences:
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One-day, pre-conference training course. Introduction to Fiction Editing
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Live Editing Session (fiction)
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Workshop. An Introduction to Editing Fiction: Mind over Matter
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Seminar, How we got started. With John Firth and Richard Hutchinson
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​Kingston Publishing Conference, Kingston University, London. Seminar.
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Chamber of Commerce, Edinburgh. Workshop.
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Consultant/trainer, SafeSpace charity write-athon
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Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (Scotland) (SCBWI). Summer retreat: Workshop.
Gale revised two of our most popular Publishing Training Centre (PTC) e-learning modules, Editing Fiction and Editorial Style. She did an excellent job.
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Petra Green, Head of the Publishing Training Centre