RECOMMENDED COACHES
Our carefully curated coaches offer manuscript assessments, developmental editing, and coaching. The goal of working with one of our approved coaches/editors is always to get your manuscript publish-ready. Many of our coaches are certified through Author Accelerator, and all of them have been hand-picked by Publisher Brooke Warner for their excellence and proven work with many of our published authors. If you’ve already been through our submissions process and we’ve placed you on the coaching track, after you complete your work with one of our recommended coaches, we invite you to resubmit directly and we always waive the submissions fee.
KATHLEEN FURIN
Kathleen Furin earned her MFA from New York University and also has an MSW from Temple University. She is the recipient of the 2022 Eludia award for her story collection Last Sunrise, which is forthcoming from Sowilo Press, and has published work in American Literary Review, Permafrost, Philadelphia Stories, Literary Mama, and Midwifery Today, among other journals and anthologies. She began book coaching in 2017 and has a passion for helping clients get under the surface as they develop their work. Kathleen is an Author Accelerator-certified coach.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise: women’s fiction, historical fiction, memoir, romance, books about trauma, identity, inclusion, and maternal and child heal
JODI FODOR
Jodi Fodor is a developmental and line editor with a BA in psychology and an MFA in creative writing. A professional writer since age twenty-one, she joyfully taught writing for twenty-five years and brings that joy to coaching authors, guiding them from early drafts through polished manuscripts. Jodi developed the content of her education/humor book, SAT Word Slam (Adams Media) into an award-winning iOS and Android app. She’s also a dialogue specialist who works with authors to ensure that when their characters speak, readers listen.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise: memoir, fiction, humor, education
AMY TIPTON
Amy Tipton was a NYT bestselling literary agent for years before launching Feral Girl Books, her hands-on editorial boutique. Before going Feral, Amy was a top-performing literary agent at Signature Literary Agency and Fine Print Literary Management, and she was an assistant at JCA Literary, Diana Finch Literary Agency, Gina Maccoby Literary, and Liza Dawson Associates. As a literary agent, Amy represented numerous award-winning authors, including Edgar Award winner Courtney Summers, Stonewall Prize winner Kirstin Cronn-Mills, and prolific writers such as Amy Reed, K. Ancrum, and others. As a member of Sisters in Crime, Amy mentors aspiring crime fiction writers and helps writers at an annual romance writers boot camp. Across all her work, Amy blends creativity, passion, and market savvy, helping women (and women-identifying and enby and GNC) writers shape their stories and sharpen their voices to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise: Thriller, suspense, mystery, crime fiction, horror, darker fiction, dark comedy, women’s fiction, rom com, both adult and YA. (Amy is passionate about representing the voices of the marginalized and disenfranchised, and loves to bring authentic disabled and LGBTQIA + and BIPOC issues/characters to life.) Amy does not do nonfiction or memoir.
GRANT FAULKNER
Grant Faulkner is a widely anthologized writer, editor, and writing coach with over twenty-five years of working with authors at all stages in their work. He has written novels, short story collections, and a memoir. He is also noted for his books on writing, Pep Talks for Writers and The Art of Brevity, and his essays on writing have been published in The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, and Lit Hub. Grant works to support every author’s vision for their story and believes that nourishing a creative mindset is key for success in any creative endeavor. Grant has engaged in hundreds of discussions about creativity and writing with the authors who are guests on the Memoir Nation podcast.
BRIDGET BOLAND
Bridget Boland is an award-winning published author, editor and writing coach with over twenty-five years experience supporting authors in taking their manuscripts from idea to published book. The author of two novels and a memoir, she has supported hundreds of writers with their projects, using mindset tools to help her clients write the best books they can with joy and ease.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise: fiction (general, contemporary, women’s fiction, mystery, thriller, horror, romance, young adult), memoir, and nonfiction/business (on topics including self-growth, health and well-being, spirituality, creativity, business and leadership)
BARBARA BOYD
Barbara Boyd has collaborated with authors on more than two hundred books in the role of book coach, developmental editor, or ghostwriter on topics that include leadership, finance, marketing, health and wellness, agriculture, technology, and memoir. Barbara helps writers clarify and express their ideas, ensuring rich and cohesive content that engages the reader. She intuitively encourages clients to improve both the structure of their work and their writing style, gently and firmly nurturing writers until their goal is reached. Barbara is an Author Accelerator-certified coach.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise: narrative and prescriptive nonfiction, business and leadership, health and wellness, memoir
HEATHER MARTIN
Heather Martin became a professional writer and editor in the early 90s, after earning a bachelor’s in English from Wittenberg University and a master’s in journalism from Northwestern. During her newspaper career, she loved coaching reporters through the interviewing, writing, and revision process to help them tell clear, compelling stories—especially long-form features. Working with writers to apply literary techniques to their nonfiction is one of her favorite things to do. She also writes workplace development curriculum and loves to help authors in genres such as business and personal development find fresh ways to make their manuscripts stand out on a crowded bookshelf.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise: Memoir, poetry, personal and team development, leadership, general nonfiction
ADAM PRINCE
Adam Prince earned his B.A. from Vassar College, his M.F.A. from the University of Arkansas, and his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. His award-winning fiction has appeared in The Missouri Review, The Southern Review, Narrative Magazine, and Sewanee Review among others. His story collection The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men is now available from Black Lawrence Press. Over the course of twenty years in teaching and developmental editing, Adam has come to believe that revision is a matter of following our stories rather than trying to control them. We think we’re shaping the work, but the work has a shape of its own. His job is to help you find it.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise: Literary fiction, poetry, sci-fi, fantasy, thrillers, memoir, books from academics wanting to go mainstream.
MARNI SENEKER
Marni Seneker has been a full-time book coach, ghostwriter, and editor since 2017. Marni helps authors sharpen their book concept and define the problem their book solves. From there, she coaches authors to develop a manuscript that delivers on reader transformation. Her superpower is helping charismatic thought leaders bring their magnetism to the page. Marni is an Author Accelerator-certified book coach.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise:
AMY BERNSTEIN
Amy L. Bernstein draws on a three-decade career as an award-winning journalist, executive speechwriter, and communications director in government and nonprofit organizations to help aspiring authors pursue their best path to publishing a nonfiction book. As an Author Accelerator certified nonfiction book coach and award-winning novelist, Amy taps a firm grasp of the publishing industry, knowledge of research strategies, and a love of storytelling to help transform raw ideas into polished book proposals or marketable self-published books.
Subject/Genre Interest/Expertise: authors whose voices are under-represented in commercial publishing due to their race, gender identity, neurodiversity, culture of origin, or other factors; authors transitioning from academic to commercial publishing; also humanities and social sciences, politics and government, physical and environmental sciences