career coaching

Level up your writing career with one-on-one coaching and expert book publishing advice.

 

I work one-on-one with ambitious writers who are serious about building a career in a competitive industry.

I also consult on the creator economy for publishers and nonprofit literary organizations. I am a sought-after expert on the literary side of BookTok.

I am one of the few coaches who is a working writer. I’ve published five books in three categories (memoir, fiction, and poetry), and written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Allure, ELLE, AirMail, and The Cut. I have over a decade of experience working in media and publishing, beginning at The New Yorker. I closely follow changes in the book publishing and media industries (e.g., BookTok; Substack) so that I can give my clients the most relevant, honest, and up-to-date career advice. My clients have sold projects to imprints of Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster, as well as Audible, Bloomsbury, The Experiment, MIT Press, Quirk Books, and Zibby Books.

What I OFFER

  • Results-driven one-on-one coaching

  • Professional editorial feedback

  • Book proposal development

  • Platform building strategy

  • Influencer outreach

  • Actionable publishing advice

  • Referrals to literary agents

“Leigh Stein lay her hands over mine and helped me shape this story into something that was ready to sell, sort of like the pottery scene in Ghost, but with a book.”
— Gila Pfeffer, author of NEARLY DEPARTED, available now from The Experiment
“For decades, I wanted to write a book about the class action lawsuit I brought as a young lawyer during the ‘80s farm crisis. Leigh took my idea and helped me turn it into a book proposal. Leigh also connected me to the literary agent who sold the book. Without Leigh’s advice, editorial skill, and publishing industry insights, The Farmer’s Lawyer would never have existed.”
— Sarah Vogel, author of THE FARMER'S LAWYER, available now from Bloomsbury
“Working with Leigh was a dream. I showed up in her inbox knowing that I wanted to transition from academic writing/publishing into writing for a wider audience. She took me from someone who didn’t know what a book proposal looked like to someone who got a book deal for an edited collection, figured out the query letter, wrote a second book proposal, and now has an agent and a memoir forthcoming from Avid Reader Press. She called it a memoir before I even knew I was writing one. Grateful to have discovered her and her talent for navigating the publishing industry!”
— Chris Belcher, author of PRETTY BABY, available now from Avid Reader Press

PORTFOLIO

“Leigh Stein is the most encouraging, intelligent, informed, and all-around masterful developmental editor I have ever encountered.”
— Sonya Huber, author of seven books
“For years I’d been slogging away on my first work of fiction (a satirical millennial workplace novel), my frustration, burnout, and despair growing with every draft that saw my vision go unfulfilled. And then came Leigh. Her astute, intelligent appraisal of my manuscript, advice, edits, and, perhaps most important of all, her genuine enthusiasm for the project, not only steered me in the right direction, but stopped me from giving up completely. Almost a year to the day that I first met with Leigh to discuss my manuscript, I signed with a literary agent, and we’re preparing to submit to publishers. I doubt I would be able to say that today if I had not sought her help.”
— Erin Van Der Meer

WHO I WORK WITH

  • Upmarket and literary novelists

  • Memoirists working on memoir+

  • Experts who have built platforms around their core ideas

  • Academics who want to share their unique expertise with a wider audience

  • Authors with literary representation who need a fresh perspective on their book proposal or novel manuscript

  • Authors with books under contract who need coaching to finish their manuscripts

  • Publishers that want to better leverage BookTok to promote their titles

  • Literary organizations and MFA programs that want to educate their audiences about book publishing and digital media

 

how to WORK WITH ME

I am currently booking projects for March 2025, including:

  • Book proposal development

  • Full manuscript critiques

  • Book launch strategy & influencer outreach campaigns for books coming out in 2025 and 2026

My expertise is in the adult trade market; I do not work on books for children or young adults.

I’m not able to take on any projects about trauma or grief at this time.

Get started. Apply to book an intro call.

Please note: Leigh Stein provides services as a book development expert and will perform to the best of her abilities, but there is no guarantee of literary agent representation, or of publication.