I cannot make any guarantees that your work will become best-selling. I can’t promise that you will get a publisher or agent to buy your work. There is too much luck and timing involved in publishing success for me to promise any of that.

What I can guarantee is that I will support you through the revision process. I will teach you strategies that will help improve your writing. I will give you honest feedback, with kindness, compassion, and suggestions for how to improve your manuscript. I promise that I am committed to helping you write the best manuscript that you can - and that I am here to cheer on all your writing achievements, big and small.

Again, I can’t make any promises. It depends on what kind of shape your manuscript was in when we started. It depends on how the revision process goes. Like so much in the publishing world, it depends on what is going on in the market.

Even if it takes a few more rounds of revision - or possibly writing a whole other book - before an agent or publisher gives you the time of day, the skills and strategies we work on together can be applied to everything else you write in the future.

No. Someone who writes on your behalf is a ghost writer. As a coach, my job is to teach you tools and strategies that will help you become a better writer.

No. Your ideas are yours. Your book is yours. I will not try to steal your ideas. If I think your manuscript is too close to my own work for comfort, I will recommend you work with someone else.

I am also not here to take over your book or turn it into the manuscript of my dreams. I’m here to help you figure out what you want to say, and to help you find the best way to get the ideas out of your heart and onto the page.

Author Accelerator is a company established by Jennie Nash with the mission of professionalizing the book coaching industry and creating a world in which writers can get better help. Author Accelerator offers courses, book coach matching services, and also certification for book coaches.

I am an Author Accelerator certified book coach. That means I have been professionally trained and demonstrated my skills to the satisfaction of a board of other professionals. I also continue to have access to the wealth of knowledge and resources from other Author Accelerator coaches.

Author Accelerator only certifies coaches who they believe have the skills and integrity to help writers do their best work. By choosing to work with an Author Accelerator coach, you are choosing someone who you know has been trained and vetted.

Truant Pen is my company name. It comes from the first sonnet in Sir Philip Sidney’s “Astrophil and Stella.” Sidney lived and wrote in the 16th century, and this particular poem is about writer’s block! I love the reminder that for as long as there have been storytellers, they have struggled with finding the right words. Even the greats have had writer’s block and imposter syndrome!

Critique partners can be wonderful - I love all of mine! If you have constructive relationships with your critique partners and you feel like you are getting everything you need by working with them, by all means, continue to do so! You are probably learning a lot from critiquing their work, just as you are learning from their feedback.

But, even if you have great critique partners, a book coach offers something different. When we talk, we will be 100% focused on your work. I have trained and practiced as both a book coach and a teacher. I offer a professional’s perspective on what makes stories work. I have more than a decade of experience offering feedback that doesn’t just tell you my opinion, but invites you to ask your own questions, learn, and solve manuscript problems.

Are you:

• A YA author

• Who writes speculative fiction (fantasy of all stripes, science fiction, supernatural, paranormal, or alternative history)

• And is stuck in a revision?

If you said yes to all three, you are the kind of writer I am best suited to help. (If you said no to some of the above but are still interested in working with me, I would love to hear from you too!)

In a coach, do you want someone who:

• Is an experienced educator

• Gives feedback that is warm

• But also honest and demanding

• Will be a champion for your work and love it as much as you do

• While also having high expectations for you and pushing you to grow as a writer?

If that sounds GREAT to you, the next step is for you to fill out my contact form and schedule a free curiosity call. This is a no-obligation opportunity for us to meet and determine if we think we can work well together.

As a high school teacher and YA writer, YA speculative (sci-fi, fantasy, alternative history) is a sweet spot for me. I have a BA in history with a focus on the Modern Middle East and I have a particular knowledge and interest in Asian and African histories. I’m also a champion of LGBTQ+ novels for teens.

I'm not a good fit for stories about suicide, abuse, sexual assault, or stories where animals or young children are in extreme, prolonged peril. I applaud you for wanting to explore these important topics for teens, but I cannot go on that journey with you.

I’m also not a great fit for:

• Adult novels (except some New Adult)

• Erotica

• Romance

• Middle Grade novels

• Picture Books

• Nonfiction or memoir

• Graphic novels

• Poetry or novels in verse

Line and copyediting are granular, sentence level edits. Things like helping you reduce your adverbs, rephrase sentences for poetic flow, or just make sure your commas are all correct. It is extremely technical, and not what I am trained to do. If you want a line or copyeditor, you can find many excellent ones for hire at EFA and ACES, both of which are professional organizations for editors.

My feedback is focused on big-picture, story level concerns. Rather than suggesting “fixes,” my feedback is designed to help you come up with the solutions that help you tell the story you want to tell.

Yes!

I use a platform called 17Hats to manage contracts, send invoices, accept payments, and schedule appointments. You can pay me securely with your credit card there.