What Is the Difference between a Book Coach and an Editor?

One of the most common questions book coaches get asked is: how is a book coach different from an editor? As I discussed in a previous post, it’s understandable without prior knowledge to think “book coach” is just a fun name for “editor,” but it’s actually more complex than that.

For starters, we should review what an editor does, and the types of editors that exist. On the basic level, a copyeditor works only on grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You would typically hire a copyeditor when your book, essay, etc. is in the later stages and only needs minor details checked. You don’t want to hire a copyeditor too early, when so much of the text is likely to change. A line editor, while often lumped into the same job description as a copyeditor, is different in that they focus more on the style and sentence structure rather than specifics in grammar/punctuation. Reedsy provides a good comparison of these two roles.

There’s also proofreading. People outside of the editing and publishing world tend to think proofreading and copyediting are one and the same, but they’re not. Proofreading’s purpose is in the name: proof. At this stage, you’re looking at the literal page proofs for any technical goofs, ugliness, or last-minute typos that somehow made it this far into the printing process (it happens, we’re human). If you were on the traditional publishing route with your book, you wouldn’t typically hire a proofreader as it would be taken care of on the publisher’s end. If you’re self-publishing and overseeing the entire technical and design processes, hiring a proofreader could be enormously helpful in making your book look as professional as possible.

Developmental editors do the work that is most frequently compared to what book coaches do. Developmental editors take a broader look at your book, making sure your argument is supported, your narrative is fully developed, and your structure is sound. This is the kind of editor you would hire early on in the writing process when your first draft is complete. When I was working in publishing, this was the kind of broader editing the acquiring editor would do. (I imagine in larger publishing houses, this is not the case. But in smaller companies, editors wear many hats.) Literary agents can sometimes request developmental edits as well, if they believe your book would be better marketed with some tweaks to the overall structure.

So, if you read my post about what book coaches do, you know there is some of that developmental work involved for sure. When working through, for example, an accountability coaching package in which the writer sends a few chapters per month/week/etc., the book coach would provide the writer with ongoing feedback on the larger narrative structure of the book and what the writer should be revising on a broader scale. However, a book coach’s work with a writer can start much earlier in the writing process.

Say you want to write a book, but you have five different ideas. You’re not sure if they could all function in the same book, a few books, or five different books. Your book coach can start with you at the idea stage, working you through a set of exercises to help you organize your thoughts and decide exactly what you would like to accomplish. Your coach can then guide you through the process of structuring your book chapter by chapter in a way that’s designed to keep you from getting stuck along the way.

To sum things up, the key differences between a book coach and an editor are these: editors largely work on a more polished (at least, structurally) version of your book while book coaches guide you from the early stages. An editor is looking at all of the ways to improve the text (either on a micro or macro level, depending on the type of editor). A book coach will help you hone your craft more generally as a writer, offering resources, advise, and insights along the way. You will want to work with an editor to discuss technical, concrete solutions for the text whereas a book coach is holding your feet to the fire to get the initial work done.

Book coaches are also unique in that they help writers develop book proposals and pitch plans, which editors can certainly help with, but they are mostly just concerned with text-related issues. Book coaches are expected to keep up with the market and know what a writer should be doing to promote their book.

One more thing to keep in mind as well is that pricing may vary with hiring an editor vs a book coach. Editors can charge by the word/page/hour while book coaches often price by package, because the amount of work isn’t merely dependent on the length of the book. Editors may have pricing packages as well, but it depends on who you hire.

You can clearly see that neither job is more important than the other, since they serve very different purposes. What’s critical is that you understand which professional you need to hire at which stage of your writing/publication process. The best of us don’t do this work without help.

If you’re curious, Author Accelerator has a helpful blog post that breaks down specifically the differences between a book coach and a developmental editor.

As always, if you’d like to learn more about book coaching, please reach out for a free thirty-minute discovery call!

Featured photo by Suzy Hazelwood.