Book Coaching
You want to write your own book. I coach you through the structure, strategy, and execution so you finish a manuscript that works, not one that stalls at chapter four.
Who This Is For
You have the expertise and the motivation to write your own book. What you need is someone who has been through the process enough times to steer you around the problems you cannot see yet. Structure that falls apart in the middle. Chapters that repeat each other. An opening that buries the best material. A manuscript that drifts from the audience it is supposed to serve.
I have ghostwritten 54+ books and published 113+ under my own name. I have written dozens of novels, most of them drafted in concentrated sessions of 2,000 to 12,000 words per day. I know where manuscripts break because I have fixed those breaks in my own work and in client projects across every genre. That experience is what you get in coaching.
Pricing
$200–$300/hour
Sold in 10-hour blocks
Zoom sessions, flexible scheduling
Lower rate on subsequent blocks
Engagements start at one 10-hour block ($2,000–$3,000 depending on rate) and extend across multiple blocks as needed. Lower per-hour rate applies to subsequent blocks. We start with your book, your goals, and where you are right now.
What Coaching Covers
Every coaching engagement is different because every book is different. But the problems writers run into are predictable. Here is what we typically work on:
Concept and Audience
Before you write a word, we define who the book is for and what it needs to accomplish. A book that tries to reach everyone reaches no one. We get specific about your audience, your positioning, and how the book serves your larger goals.
Structure and Outline
Most manuscripts that stall have a structure problem, not a motivation problem. We build an outline that gives you a clear path from chapter one to the end, with your strongest material placed where it has the most impact.
Drafting and Feedback
You write. I review chapters as you produce them and give you specific, actionable feedback on what is working, what is not, and how to fix it. No vague encouragement. Concrete direction on structure, pacing, voice, and clarity.
Revision Strategy
First drafts are supposed to be rough. I help you see the difference between problems that need rewriting and problems that need cutting. Revision is where a manuscript becomes a book, and knowing what to do with a messy first draft is half the skill.
Publishing Path
When the manuscript is ready, we discuss your options: traditional publishing, self-publishing, hybrid models. Each has trade-offs. I help you evaluate which path serves your goals and avoid the mistakes that cost authors time and money.
The Difference Between Coaching and Ghostwriting
In coaching, you write the book. I guide the process, solve structural problems, give feedback on drafts, and keep the project moving. Your voice, your effort, your manuscript.
In ghostwriting, I write the book based on interviews with you. You provide the thinking. I provide the writing. The manuscript is yours, but the drafting is mine.
Some clients start with coaching and realize they want ghostwriting. Some start with ghostwriting and realize they want to do more of the writing themselves. Either direction works. The first conversation helps us figure out which approach fits your situation. Learn about ghostwriting services →
What Coaching Clients Say
Your Coach
Richard Lowe has ghostwritten 54+ books for executives, entrepreneurs, and public figures and authored 113+ under his own name, including dozens of novels and a 40+ handbook reference library on writing craft covering character development, dialogue, world building, point of view, pacing, and revision. His clients’ books have helped raise over $30 million in venture capital and generated a TEDx invitation and keynote speaking fees of $5,000 to $20,000. His own book, How to Manage a Consulting Project, was adopted as required reading at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management by Professor Richard Makadok.
He spent 20 years as Director of Computer Operations at Trader Joe’s, managing technology for one of the largest privately held national grocery chains. That background in systematic problem-solving shapes how he coaches: structured, specific, and focused on getting the work done rather than talking about getting the work done.
More information:
Full Professional Background · Testimonials · Code of Ethics · Fiction Coaching at Master of Worlds
Case Studies
Real client projects — the goals, the work we did together, and the results that followed. Each one documented in detail.
Start With a Conversation
Tell me about your book, where you are in the process, and what you need. We will figure out whether coaching is the right fit and what it looks like for your project.