Book Coaching 101, Part 5: Get Clarity on the Core Values of Your Business
Knowing your core values is critical for standing out in the marketplace and to ensure that you are running a business that is sustainable on a soul level.
One of the keys to running a successful book coaching business is knowing what you stand for.
We all love books, stories, and big ideas that impact the world, and we are all working to help writers bring their vision to life—but all that is just table stakes: the price of being in the game of book coaching.
What do you believe about writing and the creative process?
What do you stand for? And who do you stand for?
What are you for or against in our industry?
The idea here is not to be combative—we certainly don’t need any more of that in the world right now.
The idea is to have a strong foundation for why you do what you do and why you do it the way you do it.
Simon Sinek famously teaches us that great businesses start with why, and I have adopted that as a mantra in what I teach, as well. All of my Blueprints suggest that the first question we ask any writer is, “Why write this book?”
The first question I ask the coaches who come to train with me is, “Why be a book coach?”
There are many kinds of answers.
There is the external why—you are starting a book coaching business to make money, to have freedom, or because you have a talent for it.
There is also the internal why—you are starting a book coaching business to prove that you can, to do work that feels deeply meaningful, because you love the feeling of inspiring other people.
Your values sit underneath your reasons for why, or overlay them, or swirl around them. Your values are everywhere all at once and the point I am making in this post is that it pays to pin them down.
There are two primary reasons to do this. One has to do with the marketplace and the other has to do with your soul.
I’ll start by talking about the marketplace.
Values and the Marketplace
People are not just selecting a book coach because of the tasks you can help them with.
There are a lot of people who are good copyeditors. Writers can find someone to correct their commas and point out poor word choices, and AI is now doing a (frighteningly) fantastic job of this, as well.
There are also a lot of people who are good developmental editors. Writers can go onto any freelance marketplace and find an editor who can spot plot holes in a novel or errors in logic about their argument in a nonfiction book, and if they want to pay the lowest possible price, they can do so.
So why would a writer pick you? Why would they pay you?
Writers will engage with you if they trust that you can help them get what they want.
Trust is built on a variety of factors, such as clarity of the outcome you are promising, consistency in messaging about what you do, and whether or not the writer feels in alignment with your energy/vibe/values.
Are Your Values Missing in Your Book Coaching Business?
Tad Hargrave, who runs marketingforhippies.com, has a framework he calls Point of View marketing. Here is how he describes it:
Your Point of View is your perspective, your philosophy, your approach. Your niche is central to relevance, whereas your point of view is absolutely central to trust and credibility. Aside from niche, point of view is the missing element in 90% of the businesses I come across.
90% of businesses! That sounds shocking, but it checks out with what I see in the world of writer education, too.
So many book coach websites look the same and sound the same. You would be hard-pressed to know what these people stand for.
Point of view? They love books.
This is not enough.
Listen to Tad Hargrave explain POV marketing in this short VIDEO. He is not just offering generic marketing guidance. He is walking the walk—there is no missing what he believes in or why he believes it. His values and beliefs are crystal clear.
If you are attracted to and appreciate Tad’s vibe (his point of view, his values) and you need what he is offering, you will be drawn to work with him. And if you are not? You’ll go elsewhere to learn about marketing. There are a gazillion other choices.
Writers can also learn how to bring their book to life from a gazillion editors, book coaches, conferences, workshops, classes, and programs, or they can (of course!) sit at home and figure it out on their own. You have to give people a reason to work with you, and the reason is not your own success as a writer, or the number of degrees you have, or how many writers you have ushered onto the bestseller list, and it’s also not how low your prices are.
The reason people choose to work with you is your values.
How Do You Define Your Values?
Anyone who has worked in a corporate setting has probably gone through a core value definition exercise. All those core values end up kind of sounding the same: Honesty, Fairness, Integrity, Respect, blah blah blah.
Those ideas and words are a good place to start, but values need to be alive. They need to be tied to behaviors.
For a primer on why, listen to James Clear in Atomic Habits:
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity. This is one reason why meaningful change does not require radical change. Small habits can make a meaningful difference by providing evidence of a new identity. And if a change is meaningful, it is actually big. That’s the paradox of making small improvements.”
My friend Dan Blank (
)has a methodology that ties your values and what you believe in to the actions you take to connect with the people who are going to buy what you make or offer.Dan’s business is helping writers with their book marketing and launch strategies. He believes in human-centered marketing, which is not about getting likes and views. It’s about authentic connection to people who care about the same things you care about. He also believes that this kind of connection takes time to build—one small interaction at a time.
In this short description of Dan, you can see clearly what his values are. I happen to know that Mr. Rogers is one of his heroes. That quiet, steady, not-going-to-twist-your-arm, not-going-to-fall-prey-to-any-marketing-trend energy is what defines Dan. I have been in a tiny mastermind group (it’s just us) with Dan for ten years (I think?) and he has not once wavered from these values in all that time. Not once.
It’s admirable and it’s why writers come to him. They understand what he stands for and they trust him to help them do the work they need to do.
The method that Dan uses to help writers get clear on how to connect with readers (what to post about, what to offer them, how to engage with them) is 100% relevant to book coaches, too. It starts with an exercise he calls Key Messages. Your Key Messages are a manifestation of your values.
Dan writes:
I have found that we aren’t always sure what we want to say. Even to ourselves. Again and again I will work with a writer who will define their Key Messages, yet a week later they will make a statement such as, “Oh, and the absolutely biggest thing my writing is about is redemption.” I’ll check their Key Messages and say, “Well, the word redemption doesn’t appear anywhere on your Key Messages.” Oops.
This is a process, and it takes time. To know what we want to share with the world, how we can connect in a meaningful way, and feel a sense of authenticity in how we share. Likewise, this is a process of identifying what you want to say to others, and knowing what will resonate with them. This is different from an elevator pitch — some pithy statement that you hope is clever, and grabs people’s attention. Key Messages help you go deeper and focus on creating the moments, conversations, and experiences you hope for.
You can hear Dan talk more about Key Messages HERE and HERE
Define Your Values
Write a one-page manifesto.
Why are you doing this work? Why does it matter to you?
What do you care about in terms of who you coach or what you coach? Is there a reason your focus is on speculative fiction, or memoir, or romance, or wellness? Is there a reason you focus on serving women, or marginalized people, or educators?
What do you care about in terms of how you coach? What do your packages, your prices, and your way os helping writers say about what you believe?
What is your point of view about writing, the creative process, and publishing?
Get up on your soapbox and get fiery!
What makes you crazy about learning to write, getting books into the word, and writers and the whole business of helping people raise their voice?
If you write this manifesto, you will begin to see shape your business. You will have answers about your ideal clients, the services they might need, and even how you might need to set your prices.
Your values will lead the way
This is How Running a Values-Based Book Coaching Business Looks
I said above that strong values help guide your marketing. I’m going to share the words from the home or about pages of several Author Accelerator certified book coaches to show you what I mean.
From just a few sentences, you can get a clear sense of what these coaches believe and who they serve.
You can feel that they are working in alignment with their values.
And just like we saw with Tad Hargrave above, it’s easy to see why someone would choose these coaches, and why someone might not.
Hi! Welcome to Skysong Editorial.
I am a book coach and editor who is drawn to stories that are heartfelt and hopeful. The kind of story that has a pervasive sense of generosity or positivity, like sunshine through a canopy of trees. If you’ve got a story like that, let’s talk. I love to coach fantasy, science fiction, adventure, and slice-of-life. Stories that feature resilient characters and healthy relationships are a plus.
Bonus points if there’s a dragon.
Your book may revolve around trauma, or spirituality, or travel, or health and wellness. Maybe you’re writing about motherhood, matriarchy, menstruality or menopause. My superpower is helping you find the heart of your story—and tug on your readers’ hearts while you’re telling it.
But maybe you lost your mojo. Maybe you got lost in the weeds. Maybe you tried to put everything you know (or everything that happened to you) into one book. Writing a book that people love is no small feat! It’s even harder when you don’t have a roadmap. I can help. I’ll light your way with proven frameworks that help you write your best book.
You want to write books. You want to make an impact. But it’s hard. You have less energy than other people, so you can’t write as often as others. You feel less of a writer because of it. You have the drive and desire to write, but you’re stuck in a place of fatigue, uncertainty, and pain. But here’s the good news: you can write and you don’t have to do it alone!
What you will not get is:
Strict deadlines
Nasty feedback
Judgment of your ideas, work, energy levels, mental struggles or cancellations
Instead, you are welcomed into a warm environment, perfect for nurturing fragile stories and writers!
I believe climate change is real and that no human is illegal. That love is love, that women’s and trans rights are human rights, and that Black Lives Matter. And that children deserve diverse books. As a result, I devote my attention and my intention as an author, editor, and book coach to creating, promoting, and publishing books that reflect these values. Because stories change lives.
Book Coaching for Holiday-Themed Romance Novels
Create Story Magic by Combining Classic Tropes with a Holiday Setting
Amidst a winter wonderland, a Christmas sleigh ride ignites passion and turns enemies to lovers.
Explosive fireworks illuminate a stolen kiss between best friends on the Fourth of July, sparking a fiery romance.
Masked strangers dance, unaware of their true identities, at a captivating Halloween Masquerade Ball.
Do you love, love, love the holidays and romance novels as much as I do?
If you do, then this could be the start of a beautiful relationship.
The clients who land on your website may spend less than 30 seconds there. Will they know what you stand for? Will they get your point of view?
Knowing What You Stand For Is Not Only Good For Your Clients. It’s Good For Your Soul
Values are what will keep you going when the going gets tough—and if you are running a business, the going will get tough.
A few years ago, people on the internet came after me for what they claimed were predatory practices. They didn’t know what they were talking about and were spreading misinformation about one of my programs, but it didn’t matter; there were nasty accusations and business repercussions I am still feeling. It was horrible.
Integrity is a core value of what I do. I will not make promises I can’t keep. I will not offer products or services unless I know them to be effective and useful. I will not participate in the “write a bestseller” culture that teaches unsuspecting authors to game the Amazon algorithm and think they have achieved something important.
I have come to this stance after more than 30 years in this business. I have come to it after seeing so many businesses that take advantage of writers’ desires and their naivete about the way publishing works.
A former client of mine once called me out on something I did that was out of integrity. She was upset about how I handled a story about our work together—and she used the word “integrity” in calling me out because she knew that it is something I talk about all the time and something I stand for. She knew what my point of view was and she had heard my key messages. I could not sleep for weeks, because she had gotten under my skin, and I was hellbent on defending myself. Eventually, I saw that she was right. After not apologizing and refusing to make a change, I apologized and made a change.
So this big online fracas hit me right where it hurt the most. A lot of people I didn’t know were questioning my integrity. I could hardly see straight. But the people who know what I do and how I do it—who know how I actually conduct myself in life and business—brought me back to myself. Their clear reflection of how I live my core values saved me.
My values also save me when I am just spinning in my own head.
Right now, I am in the middle of finishing a year-long curriculum for Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification in Memoir—and I am drowning. I have shot more than 120 videos, many of which have before and after case studies attached to them, each of which requires permission and formatting; and I have built 12 new frameworks for coaches to help writers, each of which requires explanations and illustrations. It’s been a heavy lift. It has been an unpleasant few months as I claw and scratch my way to “the end.”
The only thing saving me is that I know exactly why I am making this very dense and robust course. It’s because my commitment is to offer a training program that gives people everything they need to be a great book coach. I am not going to certify book coaches who don’t know how to research agents or who don’t understand how to write an effective editorial letter or who haven’t actually coached a writer.
My mission is to set the standard for excellence in this industry, so if I am feeling a few months of despair over building a new course—so be it. I am doing it this way because it’s what I believe is right.
Every day I wish I were selling something that was simple and easy—that didn’t take the time, energy, and commitment my courses take (for me and for the people who go through them.) I may one day add such things to my offerings, but my core program reflects my core values and beliefs.
There is an alignment between my work and my values, which brings me a certain measure of peace when times are tough.
Make sure there is an alignment between what you believe and what you are doing, too.
Thank you for the kind and generous mention!!!
Thank you for this important post. It comes as I've been dragging my feet for months after getting certified last summer. A lot of my hesitancy is around defining what kind of coach I want to be. All this info is so helpful.
PS - I hope you can get some rest soon.