What Does a Book Coach and Editor Do? A Day in My Life

A view from one of my recent runs

Authors often wonder, What does an editor really do? And what about a book coach—how is that different? In truth, my days blend both roles. As an editor, I provide detailed feedback and help authors shape their manuscripts; as a book coach, I walk alongside authors in real time as they revise. Here’s a peek into one day in my life.

Morning: Routine, Running, and Story Insights

I’m not an early riser, and you won’t find me in the 4:00 a.m. club. (Sleep is crucial!) If I don’t have an early appointment, I wake up around 7:30, have a cozy chat with my husband for an hour or so, and make us breakfast (with a matcha latte for myself).

Next up, I’m usually running. I’m training for a marathon, so these runs are on the long side, and they’re both personal time and professional time. I listen to writing craft audiobooks—currently Matt Bird’s The Secrets of Story—and mull over the big-picture issues my clients are working through. More often than not, while I’m running, my ideas for a manuscript evaluation start to take shape, or I start to see the solution to one of my client’s story problems.

Back at home, I shower, answer emails, respond to inquiries from potential new clients, and do what’s needed to meet any quick-turn deadlines for one of my traditional publishing clients.

Afternoon: Editing Work and Manuscript Evaluations

After lunch, I dive into the day’s main editing project. Today, it’s a line edit on a manuscript I’ve guided through earlier rounds of developmental editing and manuscript evaluation. I love seeing a project evolve across stages—it’s one of the best parts of long-term editorial work. (And this one keeps bowling me over with how good it is!)

Once I’ve made decent progress, I shift to preparing for coaching meetings by reading revisions that clients have recently sent in. I like to read these close to our meetings, so the ideas are still fresh in my head, but I also like having a bit of time to mull over my feelings about them and do some supplementary reading and research if needed.

Coaching: Real-Time Problem-Solving with Authors

Late afternoon is dedicated to coaching calls. Normally, I cap these at one per day. But because I prioritize supporting returning and ongoing clients, today I have two so I can meet with an ongoing client instead of leaving him waiting.

The first client is untangling a tricky plot issue as he nears the end of a round of revisions. We discuss everything from Save the Cat!’s beat sheet to Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting, Claire Keegan’s novellas to The Office, even the Barbie movie and Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Somehow, this wide-ranging conversation works: By the end of the session, we seem to have made a breakthrough about the book’s themes and what they mean for the plot’s direction. The author sees a new way forward, and it’s one neither of us were expecting.

The second client is newer, just beginning to implement feedback from my initial manuscript evaluation. We talk through her revisions, and I plan to send her some in-manuscript notes over the weekend, to help guide her forward. My favorite discovery that we make is that all her themes can be unified under a single umbrella theme, which should help her create a framework for determining which story elements are most essential to her book, and which can be discarded.

These are my favorite moments as a book coach—when an author suddenly sees their story’s path illuminated, and I see that discovery light up their face.

Evening: Admin, Reading, and Rest

After coaching, I make dinner, then work on some admin: sending out Zoom links, returning projects to clients, and responding to more emails and potential-client inquiries. I also catch up on a few Substack posts on publishing and writing. I’m still feeling fresh, so I do a little more line editing, then remember to do my physical therapy exercises and set everything up for tomorrow’s run.

To wind down, my husband and I watch part of a David Attenborough documentary (our usual late-night fare!). Then I fall asleep to an audiobook. Usually, the books I fall asleep to combine professional research with fun reading. Tonight, I’m starting Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House. I put it on my to-reads after Timothy Hickson’s On Writing and Worldbuilding made me hungry to delve into some fantasy and sci-fi. Unfortunately, I don’t make much progress: five minutes in, I’m asleep.

The Blend of Editing and Book Coaching

So what does an editor and book coach do all day? The work is a mix of detailed manuscript editing, real-time coaching, and guiding authors toward breakthroughs. Some hours are spent reading quietly; others are spent in animated discussion with clients. Every day looks a little different, but all of it centers on the same purpose: working with authors through that transformative process during which their books become the best they can be.