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.
“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
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
“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
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 and frequent editorial feedback to finish their manuscripts
Book publishers that want to better leverage BookTok to promote their titles
Nonprofit literary organizations that want to educate their audiences about book publishing and digital media
“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
How to Work with Me
I am currently booking projects for February 2025, including:
Book proposal development
Full manuscript critiques
Book launch strategy & influencer outreach campaigns for books coming out in 2025
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.