Book Coach Spotlight: From Digital Marketer to Book Coach

What is the path to becoming a book coach? Author Accelerator Certified book coaches answer 7 questions about their journey. Today, we feature one of Author Accelerator Impact Fellows, Isaura Martínez

Isaura Martinez, who lives in El Salvador, has just started her book coach training.

1. What led you to book coaching? How did you hear about it and how did you know it would be a good fit for you?

I never knew “book coaching” was even a thing when my coach, Emmy Hernandez, mentioned to me she was the curator of an anthology called “Brave Women Stand,” which shares the experiences of professional and incredible women leaving toxic relationships behind. Amazing authors signed up to be part of this book, but some of them were having a hard time structuring and writing their chapters, so Emmy brought me on board and offered them the option to book calls with me to get them started. Ten women took on this opportunity and I helped them structure their chapter but at the same time, offering a safe space for them to share what they needed to share. Then, I decided I wanted more of this! Combining my passion for writing and communications with coaching to help others share their story and make a positive impact is a dream come true. 

2. How has your background prepared you to be a book coach? What skills/talents/experiences feel most relevant?

My passion for books and writing has always been there, so that led me to study for a Communications degree when I was 18. According to a vocational test, I had a good chance of succeeding as an engineer, but to this day, I’m 100% sure I wasn’t into that. Then, digital marketing came into the picture, and I built a career working with clients from different industries and countries, learning all the ways to market a business in the digital landscape. Still, through blogging, editing, copywriting, and email marketing, my passion for connecting people through writing opened a space in the work I did. Words have always been, and will always be, part of what I do and who I am.  

3. What is your relationship to reading, writing, and/or creativity? What kinds of books do you read? What other creative work do you do?

Reading was my favorite hobby from a very young age. First, fairytales, then books about science, history, mythology, and fiction (especially the classics) were some of the first genres I explored. Then, a new world started opening in front of me, more books to read, and especially, writing poetry and short stories. But my creative writing has been put aside, until now, when I share on social media some of my reflections about books I read, life, and anything I feel like writing about. I try to keep myself sharp and my creativity flowing by reading books about business, marketing, self-help, coaching, personal development, as well as fiction and stories. Another way to channel my creativity is painting, something I’m just re-discovering after many years. 

4. What is the last best book you read?

On the non-fiction side, Cultura & Cash by Giovanna Gonzalez. In a very engaging way, she shares the challenges Latina women often have when managing their money and trying to juggle family and cultural expectations, and why a lot of the financial advice out there doesn’t work with women raised in a more collective culture. And on the memoir/biographical side, The Society of the Snow by Paolo Vierci. That book talks about the young boys that had an airplane accident in the Andes mountains in Chile in 1972, everything they had to do to survive such an ordeal, and all the lessons and perspectives this experience left in them and their families, something that now they share with the world. The Netflix movie is amazing, but if you can, please read the book 🙂

5. What do you believe will be your biggest challenge around being a book coach and what are you doing to address it? 

Even though publishing books has existed forever, book coaching is still fairly new, at least to many authors. So, it’s a challenge to educate authors on the value of book coaching and the gap we fill in the process. Most publishing houses, whether big names in the industry or independent companies focus on editing and book promotion, which are important, but book coaches (and many authors) know it’s not just about “writing” the manuscript and that’s it. It’s way more complex than that, especially because writing can be an emotional process that brings back memories and, through writing and the guidance of a book coach, they not only write—they heal. So this is something I plan to focus on when talking to potential clients and on my marketing channels. More authors need to know this is available for them to finally write that book and share their message with the world.

6. Who do you think your ideal client might be and how do you expect to serve them?

Niching down has always been hard for me as my creative and exploratory nature takes me in different directions, but most of my clients have been women from a variety of cultural and professional backgrounds who have something to share with the world in the personal development space: health, relationships, business done in a more aligned way, and more.  

7. What impact do you hope to make in our industry?

If someone feels called to write a book, there is a message in there to share because the world needs it. Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book Big Magic talks about the “collective” nature of the ideas that come to us. Just like they come to us, they may come to others as well, waiting to be developed; if someone who heard “the call” doesn’t do anything with the idea, someone else will. I believe it happens with books too: there’s a message the world needs, and sometimes the authors may hold themselves back because of limiting beliefs that are there, whether they’re aware or not. So as a book coach, I want to contribute to bringing “out” those ideas, those messages, that someone needs to read and hear. Authors need to know we all need their books, in one way or another.

You can find Isaura at:

• www.imcomarketing.com 

• Instagam English: @isawritingcoach

• Instagram Spanish: @isamartinezcoach 

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Isaura is one of three Impact Fellows going through Author Accelerator’s book coach training in 2024. I’ll be featuring the two others soon.