mission and background
Everyone has a story. I love to help others trust in their own essential voice and to make meaning from their experiences. As a facilitator and guide, I seek to create nourishing spaces where deep personal inquiry can meet a broader awareness of the larger systemic realities that shape our lives and how we are all interconnected. As an editor, I see myself as a collaborator with you, offering my intuitive and craft-based feedback, but reminding you that you are the authority on your own work - you get to decide what resonates or not. In my classes and as a coach, I encourage brave and vulnerable sharing through writing, listening, and witnessing. As we call forth specific memories and details and ask authentic questions, together we can seek to hold the messy complexity of our evolving selves— and each other— with compassion, kindness, and care.
“Anne’s wise and generous teaching helped me find my voice as a writer. I’ve learned how to dig deep beneath the surface of my life, to alchemize fear and pain into story.”
Since 2006, I’ve worked with writers of all experience levels, whether in groups or one-on-one. Centering the voices of Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, Arab, and other marginalized people, I aim to create welcoming, anti-racist spaces, centered in embodied awareness and choice, for people to learn and grow together. Many of my current classes are held exclusively for women and nonbinary writers (reserving at least one half of the spots for BIPOC), or for specific groups (e.g. mixed race people). However I’m happy to offer coaching, developmental editing, and other occasional workshops that are open to anyone. Past examples of workshops held through Hugo House have focused on creative nonfiction, collage memoir, and generative courses to help folks build a writing practice. I’ve also offered unique courses for mixed-race people, womxn and non-binary writers of color, Asian Americans, mothers, writing/mindfulness retreats for women at the Whidbey Institute, drop-in writing circles, and writing, art, and mindfulness community-based workshops for democracy. Since 2020, I’ve been teaching primarily on my own; current offerings can be found below. I’m also available to tailor a custom-made writing workshop for your organization.
“Anne’s beautifully constructed courses provide a motivating container for each writer’s unique development, from the complete novice to the already published author. Her own participation in the course also enriches the risk-taking and courageous vulnerability needed to bring forth whatever needs to be known to or learned by the writer.”
“Rarely if ever are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” – bell hooks
upcoming community writing workshops:
Cultivating Compassion, Connection, & Resilience in Times of Upheaval
A Weekly Drop-in Writing and Mindfulness Circle
for women and nonbinary writers
Spring Cycle: April 25 – June 20, 2025
Fridays, 10:00 – 11:30 am Pacific on Zoom
By donation: Sliding Scale $20-$50 suggested offering via Venmo (@anneliukellor, LLC); all are welcome regardless of ability to pay
Email: alkellor@gmail.com or use my website contact form to receive the link
How can we cultivate more joy, intuition, awareness, self-compassion, and tools for resilience in these polarized and frightening times? This spring and summer, join us for this series of embodied writing workshops. Each week we will engage in brief mindfulness practices; read poems or short prose pieces together; and freewrite from prompts designed to help you access your own vital feelings, memories, stories, questions, and reflections. Themes we may explore include: self-compassion, community, relationships, grief, healing, activism, interconnectedness, paradox, and more. Guiding inspiration will be shared on screen each week via the work of visionaries such as Prentis Hemphill, Thich Nhat Hanh, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ada Limon, and more. Bonus follow-up prompts will be shared as well, but there is no homework or pre-readings.
Just come as you are, commit to your writing practice, connect to community, and bring more aliveness into your day. Together we will explore how to stay engaged with our minds, bodies, hearts, and wider circle of relations through deepening our intuition and practices.
The suggested sliding scale donation of $20-$50 per session honors that this work supports my livelihood, while also striving to invite in folks who normally cannot access these kinds of workshops. It is my hope that many can offer more, in order to offset those of you who cannot.
This fee structure is my way of practicing trust in the gift economy, and how we can learn to receive and pay it forward in our own capacities. You are welcome to pay for the whole series right away (appreciated!), or on a week-by-week basis (via Venmo, @anneliukellor_LLC). Other donations are always welcome if you want to help support the work I do in community. Thank you!
Ongoing scholarship fund:
For most classes (outside of the new drop-in series, or the fundraisers, I am able to offer 1- 3 partial scholarships in the amount of 50% or 75% off the base price. Even if the formal application period has passed, if you would like to attend and cannot afford the full tuition, please do reach out as some funds may become more available on a rolling basis.
I strive to make my offerings accessible to as many people as possible, so please only apply for these limited scholarships if you cannot find a way to attend without aid (e.g. via a payment plan). These scholarships are offered via my own limited funds as a self-employed writer/business owner, and through the donations of my community via annual fundraising. While many of us may be on a tight budget, there is a difference between those who might have some savings, ways to borrow money, and/or stable employment, versus those who are living check-to-check with no money to spare for extra expenses beyond essentials.
The amount of scholarship money I am able to offer each term corresponds to the generous donations of my community.
To offer a donation towards the scholarship fund at any time, you can Venmo me @anne-liu-kellor or email me for other options. Thank you so much for your generosity! Your support helps to keep my classes affordable to those with less resources (who are primarily women of color). We all benefit from learning in environments that are more economically, racially, and culturally diverse.
“There is beauty yet in this brutal, damaged world of ours. Hidden, fierce, immense. Beauty that is uniquely ours and beauty that we have received with grace from others, enhanced, reinvented and made our own. We have to seek it out, nurture it, love it.” – Arundhati Roy
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2025-2026 yearlong cohort applications are now available!
Yearlong Creative Nonfiction Manuscript Program for Women and Nonbinary Writers
(In order to create an affinity space for those most harmed by misogyny to share their vulnerable stories, all are welcome except cisgender men)
Online, September 2025 - August 2026
Applications Due by August 4th, 2025
Scholarship and Early Bird Applications due July 14th - apply now!
Do you want to write and publish a book-length memoir or collection of essays? Do you seek motivation to generate or revise your writing each week, and to envision your book’s overall structure? Do you want to be co-inspired by and held accountable in an intimate writing community?
This 11-month program (late-September 2025 – early August 2026) is for 6-8 women and nonbinary writers who are dedicated to making progress on their nonfiction book-length manuscripts (memoir, essay collections, or other literary nonfiction). It is also for those who want to develop a sustainable writing practice and be supported by a small group of creatives who understand what it takes to commit to your writing goals.
Building Blocks of the Program:
Writing can often feel like a solitary endeavor, but this program’s cohort model interrupts isolation and builds community. People accepted to the program agree to fully participate in each of its building blocks, which are summarized below.
· COMMUNITY: As participants, we want to be in regular contact and creative exchange with others online, and understand the reciprocal learning and value in giving back to this community through thoughtful, rigorous feedback and exchange.
· PRACTICE AND PROCESS: We understand that writing a book is not a linear process and involves a willingness to experiment with freewriting prompts, mindfulness exercises, and sharing openly about our own embodied awareness, self-care practices, and creative play.
· READINGS, CRAFT, AND INSPIRATION: We are eager to learn from styles or genres that may fall outside of our own, and to stay open to how diverse forms can inspire and inform our process.
· IDENTIFYING PATTERNS AND GOALS: We are willing to look at all the layers of hope, fear, comparison, self-limiting beliefs, trauma, resilience, and resolve that feed into our writing life and progress, and to learn how to work gently with our deep-seated patterns.
· EXPLORING PATHS TO PUBLISHING: We seek to share our writing with the world, even if that process can unfold slowly in our own time. We are open to learning how building a literary community is just as important to the publishing process as is learning about the nuts and bolts of the industry.
Sounds good, but how far along do I need to be on my project?
Perhaps you have written some essays and want clarity on whether to work towards a collection or a memoir. Or maybe you have mapped out a structure for your manuscript, or even completed a first draft, but need motivation to take it to the next level.
The ideal participant has taken at least a few classes and knows something about craft and the revision process; most will be working at a MFA level. However, perhaps you’ve been scribbling in your journal for decades—you may be self-taught and know more than you think, so don’t rule yourself out either.
Folks working on memoirs or more personal essays will probably feel the most aligned with the readings and cohort, however so long as you are open to experimenting with memoir writing, the writing you do for your final manuscript can be varied in nature (e.g. research-based, hybrid, etc.).
Ultimately, participating in this supportive community of writers will help you understand what it takes to complete your manuscript, within the timeline that your story and your body demands.
This program will offer you:
· The accountability and continuity that goes beyond sporadic workshops.
· The benefits of ongoing mentorship and community without the rigid schedule and expense of an MFA.
· The attention of an experienced editor to read your entire manuscript, and give you feedback on both the parts and the whole.
· A guide who values embodied awareness, connection, compassion, vulnerability, and self-reflection, encouraging you to tap into your intuitive wisdom, pacing, and voice, over formulas or timelines imposed from the outside.
· A guide who centers writing from BIPOC and other marginalized communities, and who employs a trauma-informed and anti-racist lens.
· A deeper understanding of your own intentions, goals, gifts, challenges, needs, and the core themes in your work, as well as a framework for how to stay true to your goals after our official time together ends.
Workshop Dates and Times:
· August: Scholarship and rolling acceptance notifications begin; deposits are due two weeks after acceptances are emailed in order to hold your spot.
· September: On-boarding coaching calls and group email introductions prior to the first required Orientation Session on Saturday, September 27th, from 10 – 1:00 pm PT on Zoom.
· October and November: We will kick off our program by meeting on Zoom almost every week to jump-start connectivity between participants and individual productivity on our projects. By December, we will scale back to two meetings a month, one on a Saturday, the other on a Wednesday; Saturday sessions will then primarily become workshop/craft-focused sessions where we critique each other’s work, and Wednesdays will be focused on generative exercises and discussions of readings, craft, and the writing life. Every session will also include a check-in to support each other’s processes and progress in community. Dates can be found below.
In total, participants will be expected to attend:
- 11 Saturday sessions; 10 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PT: September 27, October 25, November 22, December 20, January 17, February 14, March 14, April 11, May 2, May 30, June 27.
- 15 Wednesday sessions; 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. PT: October 1, October, 15, October 29, November 5, November 12, December 3, January 7, January 28, February 25, March 24 (TUESDAY exception), April 22, May 13, June 10, July 8, July 22
- Recordings will be available and missing a few sessions is okay, however participants are expected to prioritize attending most of the sessions live.
- An optional but encouraged In-person Celebration will take place Saturday, August 8th, 2026, in Seattle at Anne’s house. This includes a Friday night meet-up for dinner, and a Saturday potluck lunch gathering with participant readings, rituals, and reflections. (Lodging is not provided, but folks often help each other out with lodging and carpooling to encourage everyone who wants to attend to be able to.)
Summary of Mentorship Offered:
· 5 individual 45-minute Coaching Sessions with Anne, taking place every two months
· 27 Workshop Sessions (generative, process-oriented, and craft-based) with community members
· Weekly readings, assignments, and prompts posted on Slack, as well as regular check-ins on questions and process; assignments are often tailored to meet student needs or interests, utilizing both a planned and emergent curriculum.
· Rotating peer accountability partners. Pairings each month with a new partner to encourage regular checking in, and to offer each other brief feedback on free-writes or assignments, including a monthly phone call.
· Detailed feedback from Anne and community members on three 20-page (5,000-word) submissions, as well as a few other assignments (e.g., a 2,500 word piece (plus revision) due in October; a synopsis and outline due in early 2026; and a query letter or other short “flash” piece due in the spring); I will also read and comment briefly on your weekly free-writes posted in Slack, time and length allowing.
· One full manuscript review in the late spring/early summer on up to 80,000 words, plus a 1- to 2-hour follow-up meeting. (This includes a 10-15 page letter commenting on your manuscript’s overall strengths, structure, flow, narrative arc, themes, voice, style, craft issues, marketability; light line edits that correspond to the letter; and a follow-up meeting to discuss the feedback and next steps. A more detailed edit or second pass can be requested for an additional fee.
· Discussions on submitting work to lit journals and publishing options (e.g., blogs/Substacks, self-publishing, hybrid/partnership models, small presses, or seeking an agent to pursue a larger press)
· Conversations around what it takes to build a sustainable writing practice and life.
Writing a book can take a long, long time. If you have the time and motivation, maybe you can finish a draft in a year. If your material, life, and body demand more time (likely), that’s okay too; most books need to go through many drafts and years of editing. Figuring out how to write the book you need to write is about more than discipline and craft. Working within this container for a full year can help you uncover your deep-seated habits and beliefs, and slowly start to shift your awareness around what it means to live a creative life—to commit to your goals, to allow them to shift if need be, and to be kind to yourself as you learn how to allow your voice and stories to be deeply witnessed and seen.
Community Participation Expectations:
· As the facilitator, I strive to create a cohesive cohort of writers who share comparable levels of experience, insight, and/or dedication. Although some may be farther along when it comes to page counts or workshop/craft experience, others might offer powerful fresh voices, dedication, and perspectives from which we can all benefit.
· At least half the spaces will be reserved for BIPOC writers.
· By participating in this cohort, you are making a commitment to your creative life—and to nurturing the work of others. The ideal participant will commit to an average of 3+ hours a week of cohort engagement (e.g. joining Slack conversations and accountability check-ins, reading weekly assigned pieces, experimenting with and posting excerpts from your freewrites, and preparing thoughtful feedback for your peers prior to each critique workshop), in addition to time that you spend revising and crafting your manuscript, although naturally there will be overlap between the assignments and what you determine belongs in your book. On weeks where we are workshopping participants’ work, you can expect to put in around 4 hours of reading and reflecting on peer’s work, plus 3 hours of workshop time.
· In summary, to get the most out of all that this cohort can offer, you should be able to imagine carving out at least 7 hours a week for your personal writing and cohort-related time, or much more. While most people in the cohort are also working full-time jobs, the people who get the most out of this yearlong experience are those who figure out how scale back on other commitments to devote your best energy to your writing.
· This program is for those who are actively seeking intimate engagement within a small community, and who feel comfortable sharing your vulnerable full self with others. As trust is gradually earned and deepened, our support of one another grows. Prior to confirming registration and payment, I will send you a list of community-fostering, anti-racist, and trans-inclusive agreements for review, to make sure you feel aligned with the kind of container we are building. Please let me know if you have any questions ahead of this, which we can discuss in a discovery call (email me to schedule one).
Sliding Scale Investment:
I offer three levels of payment from which you can self-select, aligned with evolving models of equity that push back against the idea of: same price for all = fair. We all know that we are living with vastly different income levels and intergenerational wealth and safety nets. My hope is that by offering more options, we can all help each other create a more equitable world.
Pay-it-forward (I have more than enough resources and would like to support the larger community in accessing the benefits of structured, guided writing mentorship): $8500
Sustainer (I can invest in the program at this level, which supports Anne earning a living wage in Seattle and represents the “fair market” price): $6700
Supported (I need a reduced fee to attend and will benefit from the community’s support): $4900
*** Payment Plans Available! ***
Scholarship Applications Due Monday, July 14, 2025
Each year, based on the donations that I receive via fundraising to support BIPOC and other marginalized communities (e.g., queer, disabled), I strive to offer 1-2 need-based scholarships that can cover 50-75% off the program fee at the supported level. While many of us are on tight budgets and could benefit from paying less, please only apply for the scholarship if you would otherwise not be able to find a way attend.
Early Bird Deadline: Monday, July 14, 2025
Early Bird Applicants who are accepted to the program will receive a $200 tuition discount, so don’t delay! Your timeliness helps me a lot in planning for the cohort and anticipating my own fundraising needs.
Final Application Deadline: Monday, August 4, 2025 (by the end of day)
To Apply: Please email me at alkellor@gmail.com or use the contact form on this website and request the application.
The application consists of six questions, along with with a 10-page (2500 word) max. writing sample, to be emailed to Anne in a single Word or Google doc document. The Scholarship Application questions are included in the application, for those interested, and consist of an additional two questions.
Also, if we have never met before, or only briefly, a 30-minute discovery call with me is required, either prior to or right after submitting your application, so we can get a better sense of who we are. I will email you my availability after you reach out.
Please let me know if you have any questions before applying or after (alkellor@gmail.com). I know it is a big commitment, and I want to make sure that it is a great fit for us all. I look forward to hearing from you!
Testimonials from past cohort participants:
“This experience has been Amazing. Nourishing. Pushing, gently nudging, exactly as much as I want to be pushed to grow. If you are looking for a cohort of creative nonfiction writers with an incredible teacher/mentor/coach, check this out.” – Krista Hanson
“In the year since this cohort began, I now know what my book is about and believe in what I am writing… I am making connections between the parts of my book that are basically blowing my mind... Anne has always been a nurturing teacher who gives me space and encouragement to develop my own voice while also giving me some guideposts to stay on track. Writing a book is so freaking hard, and Anne has helped it be much less isolated and way more exciting! - Katie Howard
“Being a part of Anne's program has allowed me to begin and complete a first draft of my memoir-in-essays, which is certainly something I could not have accomplished if I was working independently. The growth that I've experienced in my writing from Anne's guidance and the program has been transformational… Anne is a tremendous guide who creates a safe and encouraging space.” - Jenny Sadre-Orafai
“Anne's yearlong cohort has been a revelation! The combination of her knowledge, guidance and encouragement paired with the forming of such a supportive community of women writers has been instrumental to my work this year. I began with a string of essays and ideas and I'm leaving with a rough draft of my first memoir - something I wasn't even sure was possible this same time last year. I am so grateful for Anne's mentorship and wisdom, and I'm so happy to have found friends in this group who will continue to support my writing in the future.” - Samantha Chagollan
“Anne is masterful at holding a container of safety, creativity, and growth in which we feel seen, heard, respected, and flourish as writers. She really seeks to understand and accommodate how we each receive coaching and instruction. The cohort has been such a bright light in a sometimes difficult year.” – Amabel Narvaez
“I hadn’t realized, before, how much I had taken in of “best practices,” many of which have served to constrict my imagination rather than give it wing. Anne expanded—exploded!—my sense of what’s possible with the memoir form. Her mastery of group facilitation provided our cohort a rare opportunity to join as strangers and come out the other side as deep collaborators and trusted friends.” – Leticia Lopez
“Through many excellent readings, homework, free writes, the support of a group, and accountability check-ins, I now have a viable draft of a traditional memoir. My path has become clearer thanks to a year of concentrated focusing on craft." – Julene
“Joining this writing group was one of the best experiences of my life. Anne is gifted at creating a space of safety, open-heartedness and vulnerability where we were invited to explore areas of our lives to write into. The readings and teaching she shared were thoughtful and inspiring - I learned much more than about writing, but an exploration of life with a group I grew to care deeply about, as we shared a year of our lives together.” – Lenna Liu
“I wrote a book this year, and it's because of Anne Liu Kellor. She is a master at creating a framework of accountability and a community of support, and her insight as an editor and writing coach is invaluable. She is clearly on a spiritual path not just to write but also to lift up other writers.” – Norea Hoeft
“Anne Liu Kellor's CNF manuscript cohort transformed me. Where I had little confidence in my voice and story, my writing self emerged into an emboldened extension of my life's purpose, equipped with an invaluable set of tools, practices, and relationships to inspire me. Every step of the cohort journey I felt held, valued, and improved by the compassionate and insightful leadership of Anne and my colleagues. Through this cohort, I am changed.” – Alayna Erhart
For more student and client testimonials, and frequently asked questions, keep scrolling down or feel free to reach out.
“No one cares much whether you write or not. You just have to do it. For a long time I thought it mattered. I thought my success in writing would finally win me love. This wasn’t a conscious wish, but it was a strong one. Below that desire I found a cleaner one, a more grounded one: I wrote because I wanted to, because I wanted to step forward and speak.” - Natalie Goldberg, from Wild Mind
“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” - Toni Morrison
workshops in 2026 (exact dates to come):
Both/And: Reading and Writing the Mixed-Race Experience
As multiracial people, it can be hard to know where we belong. In conversations around race, our perspectives often get overlooked or we may feel pressure to simplify our experiences. This class will hold space for mixed-race people to share freely about our evolving, multi-layered identities in a respectful environment. Each week we will read and discuss a diversity of essays/memoir excerpts, and free-write from prompts that explore topics such as: coming of age, messages we learned about race, whiteness, colorism, privilege, silence, non-binary thinking, community, and belonging. (Registration will open in late February.)
Maximum number of participants: 16
Who is this workshop for:
This workshop is for any adult who wants to explore their mixed-race experiences. While you might not publicly call yourself mixed, it is still a part of your personal identity that you seek to unpack and explore through writing.
Transracial adoptees or Latine people who might share similar experiences or questions about their multi-layered identities and origins are also welcome.
This workshop is not for those who don’t identify as mixed on some level, such as parents of mixed children, although your interest is appreciated.
This workshop is for those who are willing to embrace paradox, complexity, questions without definitive answers, and how multiple truths can co-exist at the same time.
Workshop Intentions:
To create a space where mixed-race folks can write freely and listen to each other’s writing about our identities, memories, experiences, feelings, questions, ideas, and more.
To recognize that there are a multitude of identities and experiences that exist under this umbrella of being “mixed,” and to begin to name some of the layers of convergence and divergence amidst us.
To read and discuss a variety of readings by folks from diverse racial backgrounds (including monoracial folks) that explore topics like race, racism, whiteness, privilege, paradox, identity, family, community, and more, using them as jump-off points to express our own ideas on the page.
To generate lots of raw material and deepen our writing practice.
To build trust, community, and a space where we can lean into challenging conversations where we might disagree, but can respect group agreements and compassionate communication.
Although this is not a craft-based class, we will also dip into discussing the process/craft of writing personal essays and memoir, looking at topics like: free-writing; scene, summary, and reflection; point of view (writing in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person or in past or present tense), and more.
Folks are invited to optionally prepare a draft to submit to Anne for feedback and/or to engage in a 1:1 coaching call for an additional fee.
Recordings of sessions are provided if you need to miss a class, but ideally you should foresee being able to come to the majority of the sessions in person. (The continuity of having the same group of people there each week, building on shared conversations and insights, is an essential component to building mutual trust and understanding. With that said, I understand that unexpected needs arise and welcome you to keep showing up the best you can.)
What you receive:
Ten weeks of 2-hour workshops held by a skilled facilitator and writing guide.
Weekly emails that recap what we cover in each session, along with homework readings, writing prompts to try at home, and a chance to exchange your writing with others, if desired.
Resources for further learning will be offered.
A complimentary copy of Anne’s memoir, Heart Radical, mailed to your home or to a friend if you/they live in the U.S.
Stay tuned for more updates… As I’ve been busy finalizing edits on the Both/And anthology (inspired by this class and forthcoming with Beacon Press in fall of 2026), I’ve had to postpone the 2025 iteration of this annual workshop. But come 2026 and beyond, I will be ready to start offering it again - and more iterations of it! For example, I’ll be available to offer 2-hour or 1-2 day writing and discussion workshops for organizations exploring themes around mixed-race identity and belonging.
Members of the 2022 - 2023 Yearlong Creative Nonfiction Manuscript Cohort in Anne’s yard for the final in-person celebration.
Members of the 2023 - 2024 Yearlong Manuscript Cohort at the final optional but encouraged gathering in Seattle.
What students are saying
Coaching & Editing Services: frequently asked questions
How do we know if we’ll be a good fit? Do you offer free consultations? What is your discounted package rate?
Yes! If you are interested in exploring working with me for a coaching/editing package, I am happy to provide a free 20-minute phone or Zoom conversation. Otherwise, we can email first and see if a call is needed. I can also email you my coaching and editing informational sheet with current rates. My current package rate is $150/hour, with a limited number of sliding scale packages available for BIPOC, queer, or disabled womxn.
What does a typical coaching/editing package look like?
Many clients opt to work with me initially for a 3-4 month block. This can include: an initial coaching call and brainstorming/goal-setting session; then, each month or so you send me a pre-agreed number of pages and I offer you global big picture feedback and line edits, depending on what stage your work is in. You might also opt to receive regular email check-ins or prompts, to meet over zoom each month for a coaching call, or to simply bookend your package with one final call, at which time we can decide to renew our contract if desired. Altogether this will equal 10+ hours of my time, at my discounted package rate, for $1500 (paid in 2 installments).
What if I’m not ready for a full package? Do you offer feedback on individual pieces or one-time calls? What is your hourly rate?
While I prefer to work with writers who would like to sign up for a 3-month or more coaching/editing package, or to edit book-length manuscripts, I am open to offering one-time sessions or providing feedback on individual essays, memoir, or other forms of creative nonfiction. My editing hourly rate is $160 an hour; zoom coaching is $180, or feel free to ask about a limited number of sliding scale slots, for which I can typically offer 1/3 off.
How does coaching differ from editing?
While many editors can give you feedback on the craft of your writing, oftentimes what gets in the way of a writer’s progress are: ideas the writer has about the value of their voice and story; fear of other’s judgment; patterns of procrastination and perfectionism; or concerns over time and money. These blocks are intimately related to our capitalistic, patriarchal society and ideas that we are “not good enough” or that there are not enough resources for everyone to share their voice and to create. As a coach I can help you to identify some of your core beliefs that may hinder your progress in establishing your own thriving writing practice. I can help you tap into why you love to write, why it is valuable to set your own standards of “success,” and what gets in the way of embracing the practices that give you life.
Do you edit full manuscripts?
Yes! I love working as a developmental editor on memoirs, essays, and other creative nonfiction manuscripts, including hybrid works. I embrace both letting the writing and story inform what kind of structure to employ, as well as outlining— knowing that the outline will continue to evolve. I believe in letting the book become what it wants to become, and I will offer insight into how this corresponds with the publishing industry's preferences. I also offer light copyediting that can help you strengthen your prose or otherwise shape the flow and readability of your chapters. Ultimately, I see myself as a collaborater with you, and while I may have strong ideas for your work, I encourage you to tap into your own intuition about which parts of my feedback resonate and which might not.
I charge by the hour and can offer an estimate once I see a sample pages or two. (Most manuscripts from 30k - 100k words will need anywhere from 10-20 hours on a first pass.) If your manuscript needs more work at the core level, my first pass will focus on larger take-aways and structural suggestions, with few line edits. If your manuscript is further along and structurally sound, my feedback can focus more on chapter-by-chapter and line-by-line details. Depending on how what stage your manuscript is in and your overall timeframe and budget, I can either aim to give more detailed feedback at the onset which will take longer, or to limit my comments to my core suggestions during my first pass - and then leave it up to you whether you'd like me to give it another look. I ultimately want to give your manuscript the time it needs, and the right amount of feedback for you to take it to the next stage on your own with my support. If I can tell as I dig in that I'm going to exceed my estimated quote, I will let you know before I proceed to do so. Please email me for my current rate sheet or for more information.
What is a developmental edit?
In a developmental edit, I will write you a long (e.g. 10-20 page) letter summarizing your writing and book’s overall strengths and weaknesses, and naming what I think your book is about, whether speaking to its narrative arc and guiding core questions, and/or pointing towards underlying imagery and weaving of themes. I will analyze your book’s overall structure, paying close attention to its first 50 pages, order of chapters, and overall shape (e.g. hero's journey beginning, middle, and end or braided/collage/non-traditional structures or flow between separate essays), as well as its voice, tone, point of view, and balance of scene, summary, and reflection. I may suggest potential alternate ways of structuring that may better pull readers in and that highlight your book’s thrust and meaning, or marketability. I will point out any larger craft issues and strengths, and offer light corresponding line edits (more line edits if time allows). I will summarize my main takeaways of what to prioritize when tackling your next round of revisions, after which we can discuss whether you want to send me another draft where I can review how your changes are working, as well as zero in on key copyedits - or if you feel ready to move on to a professional copyeditor/proofreader for that final fine-detail review that one would need prior to self-publishing, for example. Essentially, I will offer you the most thorough feedback and concrete suggestions I can at this stage in your writing, giving you personalized craft advice within my letter, while also guiding you towards being able to tackle your own edits and intuitive choices as you take your manuscript through the next stages to come.
What is the difference between a manuscript evaluation a developmental edit, or copyedit, or proofread?
You might think of a manuscript evaluation as a cliff notes version of a developmental edit. I used to offer evaluations until I realized that if I'm already spending that much time with your work, I want to give you my full strategical feedback and not leave you guessing about how to go about 'fixing' the issues I might point out. With that said, I can still aim to limit the initial scope of my feedback if you are on a budget and don't want to go beyond X number of initially contracted hours. As such, I often suggest that folks start with a 10-hour package in order to obtain my package rate, for if there are any hours not used, we can always use them towards a coaching call, synopis edit, or revisions. This article does a nice job of explaining developmental vs. copyedits vs. proofreads, and comes from a great, trusted resource for writers on all things editing and publishing.
Do you offer scholarships?
Yes! I offer a limited number of partial scholarships to each of my workshops or programs, most of which are funded by my annual asks of my community, i.e. they are mostly funded by former students who want to pay it forward and give others the gift of professional writing mentorship and community. I also offer sliding scale coaching and editing packages each year to BIPOC or other marginalized femaile-identified writers with financial need. Please don't hesitate to ask me about this.
How can I help more BIPOC and other marginalized (disabled, queer, etc.) writers access your classes and services?
I now have an ongoing scholarship fund that anyone can donate to at any time, which goes towards funding several need-based scholarships (at 50% and 75% off) for marginalized writers accepted into my yearlong manuscript program, as well as a few partial scholarships for each of my 9-12 week sessions. You can Venmo me @anne-liu-kellor,LLC (picture is of me with red leaves) to donate. Any amount, large or small, is greatly appreciated.
I am heartened by the newly emerging models of sliding scale fee structures that seek to rebalance access and equity, and I continue to evolve my own learning and practices to make my offerings more available to those without financial means, while still paying myself a living wage as an independent artist and teacher living in an expensive city (Seattle). This requires that more of us with privilege step up and recognize the value in freely offering more resources to others in order for our collective communities to become more diverse, liberatory, and anti-racist. Unlearning capitalistic norms and becoming more generous by recognizing our true means is a lifelong evolving practice that ultimately gives back to our own wellbeing and humanity. Thank you for learning alongside me!
