Do you know which one you need: a book coach, editor, or ghostwriter?
Most authors don’t. They pick a term because it sounds close enough, hire the wrong kind of help, and wonder six months later why their book isn’t progressing.
The three roles overlap, so they blur together from the outside. From the inside, they do three different jobs, built for three different needs. Here’s how to tell them apart, and how to know which one fits where you are right now.
A Book Coach Guides You While You Write
Pamela Rasheed came to me knowing she wanted to be an author. She had a strong story of surviving an abusive marriage and moving thousands of miles away to start a new life in the U.S. After we discussed her goal of obtaining clients she could support through infertility treatment, we decided her first book would be part medical text, part stories about couples she’d met while working as a nurse in an infertility clinic. After we developed a plan for the book’s chapters, she wrote it. Then I switched roles and became her editor.
A book coach is a writing partner in every respect except the actual writing. You write every word. I build the outline with you, hold you to deadlines, and ask the questions that get a stalled chapter moving again. That’s when you need a book coach: you want to write this book yourself, but you can’t get from idea to finished book alone.
An Editor Works With What You’ve Already Written
Chuck Hoskin wrote a compelling book about hiking on the Appalachian Trail at age 70. On his way back to his car, both of his quadriceps tendons ruptured. His story is about his injury, being stranded on the side of a mountain, unable to walk, and his slow and painful recovery. After I edited a batch of chapters, I sent them to him for his review before we finalized the book. I’m currently guiding him get through book layout, cover design, and uploading to Amazon KDP.
An editor doesn’t add content. I organize what’s scattered, tighten what’s loose, and catch the errors that make a good book look amateurish. That’s when you need an editor: you’ve written the whole thing, and you are too close to it to edit it.
You’ve lost your perspective on how to improve the word and sentence flow, recognize content that is out of order, or see how you can improve a chapter with a story. That’s true of anyone editing their own work, no matter how good the writing is sentence by sentence. An outside eye finds the redundancy, the missing section, the chapter that’s needs to be divided into two.
A Ghostwriter Writes It For You
Jan Folk came to me for help as her ghostwriter to share her story of developing into a multimillionaire. Telling her story stirred up emotions around some of the most painful periods of her life, and with my guidance, she revealed an inspiring story of success.
A ghostwriter works with you to gather your content, then does the writing. Your ideas, your stories, your voice on the page, built into chapters by someone else’s hand. That’s when you need a ghostwriter: you have everything you need to say, and no time, interest, or confidence to write it yourself.
This isn’t a workaround for authors who can’t write—it’s the right fit for busy experts with twenty years of material and no hours left over to turn it into two hundred pages. Plenty of strong writers hire a ghostwriter anyway, because writing a book and running a business at the same time are two full-time jobs.
Hiring a ghostwriter usually involves finding a person who has the writing skill to preserve your voice, the time to spend working with you, and then writing your book. Expect this to be the largest investment of the three types of professionals.
How to Tell Which One You Need: Book Coach, Editor, or Ghostwriter
Ask yourself:
- Do I have a full draft that needs organizing and polishing? You need an editor.
- Do I know what I want to say, but have no time or desire to write it myself? You need a ghostwriter.
- Do I want to write this myself, but keep losing momentum without anyone tracking my progress? You need a book coach.
- Am I starting from nothing, with more ideas than I can sort into a book on my own? You need a book coach.
- Can I commit money to hiring a professional? You need money to hire any of these three kinds of professionals.
- Am I willing to listen to the feedback of an experienced writer, even when it is not what I want to hear? A book coach, editor, and ghostwriter will give you feedback.
Knowing what you need helps you hire the right person. These roles don’t have to stay fixed for the life of your book. An author who starts with a coach to build the outline might hand the finished chapters to an editor or ask the book coach to become their editor once the draft exists. The roles can follow each other.
The book you finish still has to be yours. Your name will be on it, and you must be comfortable with it.
Authors work with me as an editor or a book coach, depending on what they need. Please use the contact form here to discuss which option fits you.
Pat Iyer MSN RN LNCC is a consultant, speaker, author, editor, and book coach. She has written or edited 73 of her own books and worked with dozens of authors as an editor and book coach.
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