Grackle and Grackle offers writing coaching and editing for your literary projects.

Grackle eating worms in 19th century illustration

  • What is Coaching?

    At its most general, writing coaching describes a one-on-one relationship between a coach/editor and a writer. The circumstances and needs of different writers vary widely and so the best way to figure out how I can work with you is to have a thirty-minute phone call where you describe your needs and I can offer a few options. If you write in a genre where I know of another writer who would suit you better (maybe you’re a poet, maybe you write in a specific sub-genre I’m not familiar with) I will set you up with one of our highly experienced studio writers. In most situations, however I, Miah Arnold, will coach you.

    Schedule a call to discuss your project.

  • Why do I coach?

    As a naturally earnest and interested person who looks forward to the surprises and the puzzles of life, I coach because I love it. It’s like being a therapist, except we’re not talking about a set number of archetypes and situations that plague your life. We sift through entire new worlds, new constellations of characters and their problems, and we’re trying to make sense of them in the best way possible, the one that will connect with and ignite readers from all kinds of backgrounds.

    In coaching, I help people forge ahead when the going gets tough, and remind them what’s marvelous about their work (even if it still needs hard work) and why it’s important.  It’s satisfying to help writers set goals and expectations and help them meet as systematically as a cross-country coach.  And I love how coaching is also just being that friend, maybe the only friend, who is hanging on every word of a new project, who is dying to hear what happens next, who is there to help you talk it all out, who you dare talk to about this wild dream you have set out to make reality.

  • What does it cost?

    Coaching costs vary depending on the intensity of work required for each project, and I am always willing to work with a writer who needs a reduced rate. In general, coaching costs about $150 an hour for the time I spend reading, responding, and then talking with you about the writing. Some projects have flat fee. Proofing and copyediting we charge by the word.

    Black birds in a row on a wire.

Some of the ways we help writers and the estimated costs:

  • Fine-tuning essays or short stories.

    For writers looking for line-edits and copy-editing for something they’ve finished, or maybe who are several drafts in but feel there’s something missing. We typically meet at least twice.

    🐦‍⬛ This ranges from $150 to $400 depending on the length of your work and the number of meetings.

  • Writing a book proposal.

    Writing a good book proposal for a nonfiction book is a genre in and of itself. We would meet a few times and talk through what makes good proposals, and I’ll share proposals that have similarities to your project with you. If you’re just setting out, I’ll talk you through writing your own; if you have one ready, we’ll keep hammering it out until we’re sure its something that will shine. 

    🐦‍⬛ $600 for a one-off book proposal, including up to 4 meetings and extensive feedback.

  • Coaching you through beginning a long project.

    Many of our students arrive knowing what story they need to tell, but they’ve never written a book before. How do they find the right way to tell their story? Should it be fiction or memoir or informational? Where do they begin? We introduce people to a number of methods contemporary writers use to help them conceive of and plan out their stories. The world abounds with books and systems that promise the one true way – but not all books work for all writers. We’ll help you find the system(s) that work for you. Then, we’ll talk it out, read outlines and drafts, and help writers discover where the book they’re meant to write begins.

    🐦‍⬛ $150 a week, or $200 every two weeks.

  • Coaching you through the first draft.

    This involves developmental editing and some old-fashioned cheerleading. Our goal is to get writers to a finished, well thought-out first draft that doesn’t read like it was rushed or hurried. As our students move forward, we’ll talk out problems they have in terms of story, character, narrative structure, pacing. We read drafts, and sometimes read revisions of drafts, but here our biggest goal is to get writers to the end of their first draft. Along the way we help our writers discover what their strengths are and how to lean into them, and what weaknesses need to be worked through so they become muscles.

    🐦‍⬛ $150 a week, or $200 every two weeks.

  • Editorial assessment for people with a finished draft.

    In this case, a writer arrives with a finished a draft of a long project. But how to revise? Where to begin? We’ll read the full draft and give you an honest, full assessment of where it stands. We provide about 5-8 pages of written feedback that analyzes the strengths and weaknesses in plot, character arcs, themes. We’ll point out missed opportunities and moments of true greatness where you shouldn’t change a thing. This does not involve deep editing. We’ll meet once or twice.

    🐦‍⬛ $100 per 10,000 words for a novel or memoir.

    🐦‍⬛ $125 per 10,000 words for specialized nonfiction.

  • Developmental editing for people with a finished book.

    A writer arrives with a finished book and wants us to roll up our sleeves, make extensive comments as we read, and plan to work through this draft over a course of time. We think about plot, character, structure, and make suggestions. We give extensive annotations throughout the book, chapter notes, and an extensive editorial letter. We meet many times over the course of months throughout the whole process.

    🐦‍⬛ $200 per 10,000 words for the letter, commentary, and first four meetings.

    🐦‍⬛ Meetings after that are $100 weekly, $150 every two weeks, or $175 monthly.

  • Copyediting & Proofing

    Copyediting: A writer wants us to help make their prose work harder on a line-by-line basis. We make sentence level edits, margin notes throughout the manuscript to explain significant edits, and a light editorial letter explaining tics, strengths, and patterns worth breaking.

    🐦‍⬛ 3 cents a word.

    Proofing: Everything is done! All this writer wants is to be sure there are no mistakes in spelling or phrasing.

    🐦‍⬛ 2 cents a word.

Schedule a call with to discuss the specifics of your coaching needs.

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