Book Coaching - The Book Shelf

The who

This service is ideal for you if:

You want to start writing a nonfiction book but don’t know where to start.
You’ve started writing your book but aren’t sure you’re on the right track.
You’ve finished writing your book but don’t know whether you’ve got it right.
You feel stuck on where to go with your book.
You’re hoping to land a publisher but don’t know how to do so.
You’re hoping to self-publish and want to know the process.

The why

A coaching call will help you to:

Get you started on the right path.
Confirm you’re moving in the right direction.
Find the right direction to move in if you’re going the wrong way.
Re-focus your efforts so you’re motivated to keep writing.
Get you unstuck.
Show you the path to publishing or self-publishing.

The what

In this service, you’ll get objective, honest feedback from an editor who knows what readers want. This feedback can be on your:

Initial idea
Book proposal
Outline (structure or list of chapters)
Introduction or sample chapter (approx. 10 pages)
A mix of these things

Before your coaching call, please send any relevant documents to us for review.

The how

During your coaching session, the editor will:

Help you get clear on your topic, audience, writing style, key messages, structure, and goals.
Address specific things from your documents that were highlighted during the review.
Provide insider tips and pointers on writing and publishing.
Answer questions you have about writing and publishing.
Help you create a clear plan to get started and keep writing.

After the call, the editor will send you a copy of the notes made during the review and any comments on the manuscript. You can make your own notes during the call if you wish.

The when and where

Coaching sessions take approximately an hour, though they can be split into two half-hour sessions if you would prefer.

They will be held via a phone call or Zoom video call within the UK. They will be held via Zoom or WhatsApp call outside the UK.

As we are based in the UK, we offer coaching sessions between 10am to 6pm GMT from Monday to Friday. Please check your time zone to ensure that these times work for you.

The legal bit

If you’d like to record the call for future reference, feel free to do so, but please don’t share it with anyone.

We take our authors’ privacy seriously, so rest assured we won’t share your documents, details, or the content of our discussions with anyone.

We delete all files after the project’s completion aside from those used for marketing purposes.

You can see our privacy policy here.

Our experience

At The Book Shelf, we specialise in nonfiction books that make the world better. We empower our authors to write life-changing books for their readers. We’ve worked on over 500 books with authors around the globe—from first-timers to New York Times bestsellers to non-native speakers and everyone in between. If you want to change your readers’ lives, we want to help you achieve that.

Our specialist areas are:

Business: This might include entrepreneurship, leadership, getting out of the rat race, or building a business. It might relate to your particular business, teaching the reader a skill or sharing expertise on your subject matter (such as property development or animation).
Personal development: This includes books on how to make the reader’s life better, such as how to become happier. It might also mean teaching them individual skills such as goal-setting or nutrition. It often includes aspects of psychology, health, and wellbeing.
Philosophy: This can be any area of philosophy from ethical theories to ways of life, metaphysics to morality. It may be an analysis of traditional philosophy or proposing a new approach for readers.

What our clients say about our coaching services

"Being a new writer, I felt the weight was all on me to produce compelling content for my readers and to figure it all out on my own. But when you work with Ameesha, she brings out the inner writer in you. She's got this wizardry and magic where she can help you turn 3 plain paragraphs into 20 paragraphs with rich detail. I would highly recommend her for whatever literary ventures you have."

Danny D, April 2021

"Ameesha is a friendly, savvy, and resourceful partner in the publishing process. She is a natural coach—during our collaboration, she ably discerned my wants and concerns, offered crisp guidance and suggestions, and topped it off with some amicable interactions for the human touch. True to her profile, she came across as someone who was genuinely interested in the success of my book. I would definitely recommend her and her team to anyone in any stage of the publishing process."

Timothy Chen, author of "The Religious Transaction", June 2021

Danny D
Timothy Chen