Want to write a better book?
Let’s assume that a better book is one that:
a.) You actually write instead of just talking about it;
and
b.) Grabs the reader and causes them to grab their friends and say, “You have to read this book!”
In order to write a book that makes an impact, you need to think before you write.
You need to know what you want to say, who you want to say it to, why you want to say it, and how to give it structure and shape.
Writing anything before you do that foundational work is a waste of time.
I know, because I created a company that certifies book coaches. I am in the business of figuring out how to help writers do their best work and for the past 14 years, I have been obsessing about that question.
The Blueprint for a Book method is the answer.
The Blueprint method leads you through the deep thinking you need to do to write a better book.
You can learn about the method on your own or get Blueprint coaching from one of Author Accelerator’s Certified Book Coaches.
Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book
Top book coach Jennie Nash teaches you how to define a winning idea, pin it to the page, and pitch it to the people who can bring your book to life.
" Jennie Nash may just be the best nonfiction book coach around. She offers up a proven method that helps writers to find their voice, identify their readers, hone their message, and organize their thoughts. Jennie is something of a magician. Her clients consistently produce excellent proposals sure to garner attention from literary agents who can help them to land that coveted publishing deal. I will recommend this book to all my clients." —Joelle Delbourgo, President and Founder, Joelle Delbourgo Associates Literary Agency
Would you start a business without understanding your customer? Or launch a new product without studying the competition? Of course not, but this is exactly what many experts, educators, and entrepreneurs do when they decide to write a book: they leap over the fundamentals and go straight to putting words on the page. The result is a half-baked book that doesn’t capture their brilliance and will never get the attention from agents, publishers, and readers that it deserves.
Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book is a step-by-step process for defining your big idea, developing a compelling book proposal, and making the pitch to the industry professionals who can bring it life. It’s where vague “I want to write a book someday” sentiments turn into “I love this book and I am writing it” proclamations. All you need to take advantage of the Blueprint is a book idea you want to share with the world, an audience you hope to reach, and the willingness to figure out the best way to pin that idea to the page.
Jennie Nash is the creator of the book coach certification program at Author Accelerator and has taught hundreds of book coaches and thousands of writers how to use the Blueprint for a Book system to help them produce their best work in the most efficient way. She is the author of Blueprint for a Book: Build Your Novel from the Inside Out; Read Books All Day and Get Paid for It: The Business of Book Coaching; and eight other books.
“This process saved me YEARS of bumbling about in the dark!” —Michelle Dempsey-Multack, podcaster and author of Moms Moving On: Real-Life Advice on Conquering Divorce, Co-Parenting Through Conflict, and Becoming Your Best Self
"Jennie's Blueprint system makes writing a lot less painful and a lot more productive." —Michael Melcher, partner and executive coach at Next Step Partners and author of Your Invisible Network: How to Create, Maintain, and Leverage the Relationships That Will Transform Your Career
“This is my fourth book, and I’ll never write another book without Jennie Nash’s Blueprint. It’s worth its weight in gold.” —Monica Holloway, instructor at the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension and author of Remarrying Michael: My Second Marriage to my First Husband
“The Blueprint showed me that it wasn’t enough just to teach my readers a new mindset and a new skill: I also needed to tell a compelling story.” —Dan Blank, founder of wegrowmedia.com and author of Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience
“Jennie’s value doesn't just come from knowing the nuts and bolts of writing, it's from coaching ALL sides of what a book entails from her head and her heart. She brings out the best of both from the writer.” —Jenn Lim, co-founder and CEO of Delivering Happiness and author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact
“I originally assumed I could do some internet research and write a proposal on my own, but I was completely wrong. I never would have been able to get a book deal, let alone write my proposal, without this book. It set me on the path to success.” —Becky Vieira, Instagram influencer and author of The Baby Will Be Just Fine! The (Not So) Selfish Mom’s Guide to Surviving the First Year
The Original Blueprint, For Novelists and Memoir Writers
How to write a novel in the most efficient way by tackling the hardest part before you start to write, from top book coach Jennie Nash
“This process makes me want to write, and it makes what I’m writing better. I read it before every draft. It’s that good.” —KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times bestselling author of The Chicken Sisters
Whether you’re writing your first novel or your tenth, there is a temptation to pin it to the page before it disappears. It’s such a brilliant idea and you can see the whole thing shimmering in your mind, just out of reach. Maybe you do some work on character development and plotting, but you’re a racehorse at the gate, ready to run, ready to write.
This book is an argument to stop and define the foundational elements of your story before you keep writing – which means understanding your motivation as a writer, considering your reader’s expectations, and making sure your story has a solid structure that will hold up inside and out from beginning to end. This clarity is what gives a novel its power and a writer their confidence.
Jennie Nash is the creator of the Book Coach Certification program at Author Accelerator and has taught hundreds of book coaches and thousands of novelists how to use the Blueprint for a Book system—and the Inside Outline at the heart of it — to help them produce their best work in the most efficient way.
“Jennie Nash turned me into a plotter and changed the way I think about approaching any new project. I’m an Inside Outside outline fan for life!” —Alison Hammer, author of You and Me and Us and Little Pieces of Me
“If you are about to start writing or revising your novel – hold up! You need this book before putting fingers to keyboard. It’s a step-by-step design-your-novel manual that encapsulates the most important aspect of great story-telling: how to reach deep into your writerly heart and into the heart of the story you want to bring to life.” — Janet Fox, author of The Artifact Hunters
“I will sing the praises of the Inside Outline forever. It’s f*ing genius.” —Carla Naumburg, author of How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t With Your Kids
“The Inside Outline is making writing easier. I can focus more on the writing rather than discovering what the scene is about when I’m creating it. Why isn’t every writer using it? Instead, people are plonking down good money to be told ten key steps in writing dialogue or setting a scene. I’m so grateful I’m no longer one of them.” — Kate Kimball, first-time novelist
Courses and Coaching for Novel Writers
The Inside Outline course — if you just want to zero in on this powerful little tool at the heart of the Blueprint.
Blueprint for a Book course — if you want to dig deeper into all the Blueprint steps.
Get coaching on your Blueprint. Get matched with a certified book coach at AuthorAcclerator.com. The matching process is done by a human and costs $25. There is no obligation to work with the coach we match you with.
Interested in Becoming a Book Coach?
The nuts and bolts of how to run a succesful book coaching business, from Author Accelerator founder and CEO Jennie Nash
There's a new player in the gig economy that's perfect for people who love books. It's called book coaching, and you really do get to read books all day and get paid for it. A book coach is a strategic professional who guides a writer through the creative process of developing a book — helping them define the project, design the best narrative structure to tell their tale, and build both their confidence and their editorial skills as they write forward. Part project manager, part editor, part cheerleader, being a book coach is intellectually stimulating, soulful, satisfying work that you can do on your own time from the comfort of your own home. In Read Books All Day and Get Paid For It: The Business of Being a Book Coach, Jennie Nash, a multiple six-figure book coach and the founder and CEO of Author Accelerator, shares the nuts and bolts of the book coaching business — touching on everything from pricing and processes to marketing and mindset. Jennie has trained more than 50 book coaches in how to coach fiction and nonfiction writers, and now she is sharing her secrets about how to run a successful side hustle or full-time book coaching business.
"Jennie Nash is the SuperWoman of book coaches. She is bringing dignity and skills to this wild west profession and this book is one of her many stellar contributions. Set up your business with your eyes wide open and all the info and skills you need. As generous and smart as Jennie herself." -- Jen Louden, bestselling teacher and author of Why Bother?: Discover the Desire for What’s Next
"Jennie Nash is utterly brilliant, scary savvy, and the reason my book coaching business is successful beyond my wildest dreams. Her advice is pure gold! I'll always be in awe of her -- she rocks!" -- Lisa Cron, story coach, author of Story or Die, Wired for Story, and Story Genius
For years, Jennie Nash and I have had weekly private business strategy meetings where she shares the exact details of her business. Revenue, salaries, strategies, processes, all the secrets of how she grows and manages a multi-six figure business. To my surprise, she is now sharing these same things in a book that just anyone can buy. Read Books All Day and Get Paid For It isn't some vague pitch for how to be a book coach: it is an MBA for writers who want to understand how start a business from scratch. Honestly, I'm shocked at the level of details she shares in here on the process of book coaching, marketing, pricing, packaging services and so much more. What's more, she doesn't present it as one-size fits all, but instead allows the reader to personalize her advice in a Choose Your Own Adventure manner. It took me years and thousands of hours in conversation to learn from her total editorial and business genius. But you? You just have to spend a few hours reading the book, and then implementing her advice." -- Dan Blank, author of Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience, founder of wegrowmedia.com
Book Coach Certification Course
The Book Coach Certification Course in Fiction or Nonfiction — learn how to support writers and manage a book-length project.
A Free Ebook for Nonfiction Writers
How an entrepreneur, executive, or educator can turn their expertise into a book that makes an impact. These are the initial steps to go from idea to book.
The process of turning an idea into a book is one that has always fascinated me. From a reader’s perspective, a book is a linear experience: we start at the beginning and read to the “the end,” and along the way, you hope to learn something that will transform us. But writing a book is a completely different undertaking. It is chaotic and messy. It is iterative and circular. A book coach helps guide this process so that it is as efficient as possible.
In this free e-book, I walk readers through the first steps of moving from idea to book. There are nine steps. Doing them will help you to know if you have a book in you, if you are ready to devote time and energy to it, and if I might be the coach to help you.
Coaching for Nonfiction Writers
I specialize in coaching writers on nonfiction book proposals. Click HERE to learn more.
A Book for All Writers
Solace for the hard times in the writing life and inspiration to keep going.
The possibilities for agony and defeat lurk everywhere for a writer — at the start of the process when a book idea is forming in your mind and doubt is pounding on the door; in the middle of the process when you begin to show your words to the world and fear gnaws at you like a disease; and at the end of the process when you hope your work will find an adoring audience and must come face to face with how much greed and envy have taken up residence in your heart.
It can be a brutal business.
In The Writer’s Guide to Agony and Defeat, book coach and author Jennie Nash takes you inside 43 of the worst moments in the writing life. The enlightenment gurus say that you should “feel what you feel” and this book is designed to help you feel the gut-wrenching misery of the writing life – and then get over it.
Fiction & Memoir by Jennie Nash
I wrote my first memoir — Altared States: Surviving the Engagement — when I was 25 years old. It’s cringy to read now that I’m in my late ‘50s but it’s the book that started my career and so I love it. Crown, a division of Random House, published it, and it was excerpted in Brides and Cosmopolitan.
The Victoria’s Secret Catalog Never Stops Coming (And Other Lessons I Learned From Breast Cancer) has more than 100,000 copies in print thanks to a three-year promotional campaign I did with Ford Motor Company and Komen Race for the Cure.
Raising a Reader is a sweet memoir about my desperation to have children who loved to read. It’s a bit confused — is it self-help? Memoir? — which is part of the learning that transformed me into a book coach.
I began writing fiction with a book about a cancer survivor who falls in love with a house. The Last Beach Bungalow was such a thrill to write. I did a promotional tie-in with Benjamin Moore paints that was one of the highlights of my career. We had a blast doing book talks in paint stores all over California and the Pacific Northwest.
The Only True Genius in the Family is a story about creativity, expectation, and raising your voice — a topic that has been close to my heart forever. The family in the novel are visual artists because watching someone write is about as boring as it gets.
The Threadbare Heart is a story that is also about creativity, expectation, and raising your voice. It gets into love and loss like The Last Beach Bungalow too. It features a fabric collector who lives on an avocado farm in the hills of Santa Barbara, my hometown.
Perfect Red was a book I wrote to try to break out of the midlist. I wanted to write a big, juicy “book club” book and I studied the books that were in that rarefied air to see what they were doing that I wasn’t doing. I tried to “copy” that and although the book is good and I am proud of it, it is not my favorite. It was not the favorite of the publishing industry, either. What happened to it is a long, sort of sad story that ended with my self-publishing it — and doing a poor job of that. The very good news, though, is that this is the book that made me into a great book coach, which is how I now make a living and find so much joy,