Natasha asked all the right questions, helping me dig to the core of my story and heart of my characters. She not only helped with the technical aspects, she was, and still is, a constant encouragement to me as a writer, even offering notes that boosted me out of the inevitable writer’s funk.
Group Author Coaching
Build a writer support system, demystify the business side of publishing & receive personalized guidance to the next step in your writing career.
- Sixteen weekly lessons tailored to Uninitiated writers. Includes: deep dive into mindset and career clarity, foundations of building an author platform, book marketing basics, revisions with beta readers, querying, the agent/author relationship & more.
- Small group format ensures you receive personalized feedback.
- Sessions conducted online via Zoom Thursdays at 7 p.m. CST.
- Open coaching allows you to learn from what your fellow writers are going through.
- Opportunity for full or partial critiques.
- Option for monthly payment plan.
Book a FREE Zoom discovery call to experience a coaching session and make sure our program is the right fit for you and your career.
SESSIONS BEGIN THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY AND FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST.
One-on-one Coaching
Experienced TCA coaches provide you with one-on-one coaching to help you level-up your creative career. Weekly sessions, focused on your vision for your creative career, provide: accountability, craft knowledge, brainstorming, resource recommendations, mentorship, mindset transformation tools and more.
- Jessica Conoley provides business, creative life, and writing craft* coaching.
- Natasha Hanova provides creative life and writing craft* coaching.
Book a Discovery Call with your preferred coach to experience a FREE forty-five minute coaching session and discuss your goals.
*Rates are contingent upon weekly editorial feedback needs of the client. Coaches provide quotes for services once your discovery call is completed.
Jessica Conoley, Founder & Content Creator
Jessica Conoley is the unusual creative hybrid who loves the business side of her creative career as much as the writing side. Her fiction ventures into fantasy worlds, but her analytical mind is firmly rooted in the reality of what it takes to be a paid working creative. At TCA she combines her preferred creative mediums to simplify and demystify business at every stage of a creative career. Her goal is to provide step-by-step guidance so creatives can stop worrying about all of the business stuff they’re supposed to do and focus on creating and enjoying the work they love to do.
Jessica graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in English literature. She spent the first twenty years of her working life in corporate environments. In telecommunications, she learned about sales and leadership. Banking taught her the intricacies of finance. Years in insurance honed her skills in contracts and negotiation. And while each corporation expanded her skills, they were all creative deserts.
Jessica went searching for a more fulfilling career, met with a career counselor, paid $600 to a research institute, and drove to Texas to be led back to a childhood passion—writing.
While continuing her fulltime corporate work, she entrenched herself in the writing community. She sold her first essays and flash-fiction pieces to literary journals and local publications. To learn more about the publishing industry, she volunteered for Whispering Prairie Press, a Kansas City-based literary non-profit. Jessica became president of the organization and enjoyed the firsthand experience of growing a small business, watching the financials grow from a deficit to a surplus, and building a supportive community. As managing editor of Kansas City Voices, she gained insight into the publication process and experimented with marketing tools and resources as she grew the magazine’s reach.
In 2015, five years after taking those research tests, Jessica left her corporate job and stepped away from her non-profit and managing editor work. She assumed it would be a temporary break from corporate, but as requests for editing, speaking, and consulting rolled in, she reveled in the complexities of being a working creative. In 2017, she signed with Kneerim & Williams literary agency for her fantasy novel, The Color Eater. Her editorial business and coaching services continued to evolve. In 2021, she niched down her focus and launched The Creative’s Apprentice so she could specialize in teaching creatives the art of business. In 2022, she earned her Life Coach certification from Evercoach by MindValley and became a certified Six-Phase Meditation teacher. This allows her to holistically coach clients through their business and personal growth as they pursue their creative visions.
Learn more at jessicaconoley.com
Natasha Hanova, Group Apprenticeship Coach & Content Editor
Natasha Hanova is the ambivert creative who loves imaginative problem solving and discussing the craft with others. She writes sweet and evocative romance with a dark twist. Her experiences as a biracial Black woman fuel not only her storytelling, but her endeavors to lift and support other marginalized writers. At TCA, she applies her decades of experience to guide creatives to hone their craft, provide accountability, and encourage creatives to expand their vision for their career by imagining bolder. As a Content Editor, Natasha wants your manuscript to shine. This may include smoothing out plot issues, fleshing out flat characters, ramping up the tension/conflict, enriching your setting, and/or worldbuilding. Her goal is to collaborate with creatives in finding their manuscript’s voice.
Natasha has wanted to write books since elementary school when she would recycle cereal boxes to make book covers for the stories she wrote. Unfortunately, she bought into the starving artist myth. Natasha earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications Arts. She worked in the marketing department of a bank for years; however, the written word has always been her passion. Natasha sought an outlet for her creative spirit and joined a writers group to hone her craft. She spent most of her free time writing or reading, attended multiple workshops, and networked with other creatives at writers conferences where she could often be found huddled in a corner with a small group of people chatting about their work. When someone dubbed her a plot whisperer in 2016, she realized how much she enjoyed working with writers to finesse their projects and decided to offer her services to a broader audience as a content editor.
In 2012, a small press released her debut, Edge of Truth, a diverse YA speculative fiction novel. Her work also appears in a number of anthologies. Natasha has taught writing workshops to both children and adults and has presented at writers conferences. She is a past Conference Chair of OWFI and also served as Prose Editor for Kansas City Voices Magazine.
Natasha’s love of crochet has shown her similarities between yarn art and writing: it takes dedication, determination, and resilience to get through to The End. Similarly, her journey in the query trenches is one of persistence and perseverance. Natasha is now represented by Amy Giuffrida.
Learn more at: www.natashahanova.com/
Jessica is such an incredible mentor and coach! Her feedback on all aspects of my manuscript was concise and constructive and made it so much stronger. I am so grateful for Jessica’s professional guidance, both on and off the page, in helping me get me this far in my career. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to not only strengthen their writing but also for those trying to navigate this challenging career path.
Natasha’s thoughtful balance of critiquing strengths and weaknesses was just what I needed. I was very pleased with her approach and her work and will be returning to her for my future projects, including my next book.
Through Jessica’s mentorship, I gained the tools I needed to have conversations with industry professionals including the questions to ask and the positive signs (and red flags) to watch for. (…) My debut novel will be published by a Big 5 house in 2022, and I am certain Jessica’s mentorship played a role in my success.
Discussions with Natasha left me inspired and ready to tackle the hardest but most rewarding revision I’d ever done. This resulted in a wonderfully complex and twisty book which I am so proud of, and I’ve never felt that about my books before. Natasha encouraged me, and more importantly, believed in me to make that happen. I cannot recommend working with Natasha enough.
Jessica was my writing coach leading up to the publication of my debut novel, and I credit her for many of the healthy writing and entrepreneurial habits I have now. She has a wealth of knowledge and is the encouraging coach you want in your corner!
Agent Offer Coaching
Many creatives go into an agent offer call nervous because they don’t want to “mess up” the chance for representation. Agent offer coaching prepares you for this career-changing call. Leave coaching with the tools to determine if this agent offer is the best fit for you.
Includes:
- Forty-five minute Zoom coaching prior to your agent call. We will clarify your needs & wants from an agent, cover how to solicit counteroffers, and compile a detailed list of questions for the call.
- A list of 50+ interview questions to help you brainstorm and prep for your call.
- Add on: follow-up coaching through agent deliberation period, including discussion of agent contract concerns.
- Add on: follow up coaching in the case of multiple offers allowing you to weigh the pros & cons of each agent & their agency’s contract.
