In Progress
Authors developing a book idea or writing an unfinished manuscript.
More Than Encouragement. A Plan for Your Book.
Writing a book takes more than someone telling you to keep writing. Sometimes you need help figuring out what happens next, why a character isn\u2019t working, where your story loses momentum, or how to turn an idea into a complete manuscript.
RFP Publishing’s writing coaching provides individualized guidance, practical assignments, manuscript feedback, and focused conversations about your book. Each session is designed to help you solve specific writing problems and identify what to work on next.
How Your Coaching Sessions Work
First: We assess where you are.
Before your first session, you can submit existing writing, notes, outlines, or simply an idea. Your coach reviews the agreed materials, identifies your starting point, and prepares an individualized development plan.
Next: You work toward a specific goal.
At the end of each session, you and your coach agree on a practical next assignment. You complete that assignment at your own pace.
Then: We review and discuss your progress.
When your assignment is ready, you submit it for scope confirmation, pay for your next coaching stage, and schedule your session. Your coach reviews the agreed materials and prepares feedback before meeting with you.
Finally: We determine your next step.
Each session builds on your progress, helping you develop the story, address problems, and move toward your writing goals.
What Might We Work On?
Starting with an idea? We might develop your premise, logline, central conflict, and major characters before outlining the story.
Writing fantasy or science fiction? We might work through worldbuilding, character backstories, magic or technology rules, and how those elements affect the plot.
Struggling with structure? We might map the major turning points of your story, develop a twelve-step adventure framework when appropriate, and build a chapter-by-chapter outline.
Already writing chapters? We might examine pacing, character motivation, dialogue, scene development, and what your next chapters need to accomplish.
Have a completed draft? We might identify structural weaknesses, prioritize revisions, and create a manageable rewriting plan.
These are examples, not a fixed curriculum. Coaching is adapted to your genre, experience, existing material, and stage of development.
Typical investment
Quoted individually
Feedback covers up to 30,000 submitted words, provided in agreed batches.
Estimated timeline
Six months.
Eight sessions and developmental feedback on up to 30,000 submitted words are included. No additional sessions or manuscript reviews are included.
In Progress is a fixed six-month engagement for authors who are still writing: an idea on the page, a partial draft, or a book that has stalled. The work is practical and scheduled — sessions, written feedback, a story plan, and milestones that keep the manuscript moving. Development and Production are separate services, quoted separately when the manuscript is ready for them.
Included in In Progress
- Eight scheduled 60-minute coaching sessions.
- Developmental feedback on up to 30,000 submitted words, provided in agreed batches.
- A written story-development plan.
- Writing milestones and accountability.
- A final progress assessment.
Not included
- Ghostwriting.
- Unlimited manuscript reviews or sessions.
- Copyediting, cover design, formatting, or publication.
- Guarantees that the manuscript will be completed or published.
Your responsibilities
You write the manuscript and attend the scheduled sessions. Feedback applies to the words you submit in agreed batches, and progress depends on the work you complete between sessions.
Pay as You Progress
The writing coaching program offers six coaching stages at $400 each, totaling $2,400 if you complete all six.
There are no automatic monthly payments. Your first payment covers your initial assessment and coaching session. After that, you work on your agreed assignments at your own pace. When you’re ready for another stage, you submit your work, confirm its scope, and pay before your coach begins reviewing it and preparing for the next session.
You aren’t required to purchase all six stages, and there’s no fixed six-month completion deadline.
Each stage includes the review, feedback, and coaching session specified in your individual agreement. Coaching does not guarantee completion of a manuscript within six stages.
FIT
Is RFP Publishing the Right Fit?
RFP Publishing primarily works with authors of novels and other prose-driven manuscripts, including fiction and selected nonfiction.
Our services are designed for text-focused books. We do not currently offer production services for children's picture books, heavily illustrated books, or projects requiring specialized illustration and page design.
Every project is considered individually, based on its scope, editorial needs, subject matter, and fit with RFP Publishing's services and professional standards.
07 / FIRST CONVERSATION
Start With a Conversation
Not every writer needs the same kind of help. Some need accountability. Some need craft development. Some need an honest manuscript assessment. Others simply need help deciding what comes next. The first conversation is designed to understand your project, goals, experience, and where you feel stuck.
Request a Project Quote