Work With Me

Choose the path that meets you where you are.

Every story is unique, and every writer arrives at a different point on the road. Start wherever you are.

For the writer drowning in ideas

$19

The Workbook: From Tangled to Throughline

A guided workbook that walks you through the first piece of the throughline work on your own, so you can feel your story start to take shape. It's also the exact preparation for the Throughline Session, so nothing you do here is wasted.

Coming Soon!

Launching soon. Subscribe on Substack for first word.

The front door to working with me

$249

The Throughline Session

You complete the workbook, I review it before we meet, and we spend an hour naming the point of your book. You leave with a written Throughline Statement and my notes. The full $249 credits toward the Boot Camp or 1:1 coaching.

My signature offer

Founding rate $450/month · three months

Find Your Throughline Boot Camp

A six-seat small-group intensive that takes your story from tangled idea to a complete, draft-ready blueprint.

For the writer who's ready to draft, or already drafting

$800/month · three-month minimum

1:1 Book Coaching

Private, dedicated support where I read all of your pages, with editorial notes and coaching calls as you build the book. This is the natural next step after the Boot Camp, and the three-month minimum is there because a novel needs real accountability, not drop-in support.

Frequently asked

The questions that come up most.

What is a book coach?

Think of a book coach as a thought partner for the whole messy, wonderful process of writing a novel. Instead of disappearing into a document alone and hoping it's working, you get someone in your corner who gives you structure, honest feedback, and a reason to keep showing up to the page. I'm part developmental editor, part cheerleader, part accountability buddy, and part thought partner. An editor reads what you've written and hands back notes. A coach works alongside you as you write, so the story gets stronger as it grows, instead of getting fixed once it's done.

What is a throughline?

It's the spine of your story. The one thread that runs underneath every scene and quietly holds the whole thing together, so the book feels like it's about something instead of just moving from event to event. Screenwriters use the word for the force that gives a film its momentum, the thing that makes you lean forward and keep watching. Novels have it too, even when the writer can't yet name it. Most writers who feel stuck aren't short on ideas. They have too many, and no clear sense of which one the story is really built around. Finding your throughline is the moment the fog lifts and the book finally knows what it is. That moment is my favorite part of this work.

Who is the Find Your Throughline Boot Camp for?

It's for the writer with a big, cinematic speculative story she can see in her head but can't quite get onto the page. Maybe you've worldbuilt for years. Maybe you've started chapter one more times than you'd like to admit. You're not a beginner and you're not short on talent, you're carrying a full life and a demanding creative career, and the novel keeps getting pushed to someday. The Boot Camp is a small group of six writers, three months, and a clear path from tangled idea to a complete, draft-ready blueprint. You walk in with a jumble and walk out ready to write the book.

What is Author Accelerator's Blueprint for a Book method?

The Blueprint for a Book is a proven, step-by-step method for building a novel from the inside out, created by Jennie Nash and taught to certified coaches like me. Rather than starting with chapter one and hoping for the best, it walks you through the real foundations first: why you're writing this book, who it's for, who your characters are and what they want, and how the whole thing is structured, scene by scene. By the time you reach the actual drafting, you're not staring at a blank page wondering if it will hold together. You already know it will. It's the difference between building a house from a plan and building it one wall at a time, hoping the roof fits.

What genres do you coach?

Speculative fiction is my home, especially the stories that don't sit neatly in one box. Fantasy, dystopian, science fiction, romantasy, gothic, magical realism, and all the beautiful blends in between. If your book has a map in the front, a world that doesn't quite match ours, or a premise that makes people say "wait, how does that work," we're going to get along. This is the fiction I read for the pure pleasure of it, and it's what I coach best.

Not sure where you fit?

Book a free discovery call, or write to me and tell me about the story you're carrying. karen@liveinstory.com.