Suzanne Lieurance is an award-winning author, freelance writer, ghost writer, writing coach, speaker, online content creator, and CEO of WritebytheSea.com. She has written over 40 published books and her articles and stories have appeared in various magazines, newsletters, and newspapers, such as Family Fun, Instructor, New Moon for Girls, KC Weddings, The Journal of Reading, and Children’s Writer to name a few. Her mission as a coach is to help those with a passion for writing become the writers they’ve always wanted to be.
Suzanne Lieurance, Writing Coach, Freelance Writer, Author
Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
For years, I was a classroom teacher who loved to write. Then one day I decided to leave the classroom to become a fulltime writer. I also became an instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature and I worked with over 800 students teaching a correspondence course (everything for the course was done via snail mail back then) called Writing for Children and Teens.
These days, I’m mainly a writing coach, author, and online content creator. I live and write by the sea on Florida’s beautiful Treasure Coast with my husband and business partner, Adrian.
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
Since I live and write on the Atlantic coast of Florida, I named my business, Write by the Sea®. I help clients become the writers they’ve always wanted to be. I do this through group coaching and one-on-one coaching programs and other courses and materials offered online at the Write by the Sea Writers Academy.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
I target my business towards people who want to get published and make money writing. And since there are dozens of ways to get published and make money writing, I help people discover the path that is right for them.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
There were two pivotal moments in my life that led to me starting my coaching business. The first was when my book Kidding Around Kansas City was published by a traditional publisher. This gave me the confidence to write more books (under contract from traditional publishers). The second pivotal moment was when I learned the school where I was teaching would be closing at the end of the school year and I was to be reassigned to another school in the fall. It’s tough changing schools, and I had done it many times. This time I decided to try to replace my teaching salary over the summer as a fulltime freelance writer. That’s what I did, so I never returned to the classroom.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?
Publishing is such a slow industry. It can take years to find an agent or publisher and then a year or longer to see a book published once it accepted by the publisher. I wish publishing could move at a faster pace.
You’re both a published author and a writing coach, so, in your opinion, do all writers need a writing coach?
Maybe, maybe not. But I think every writer could benefit from working with a writing coach.
In fact, if you look around at the top performers today in any field—sports, sales, or even coaching itself—you’ll find that almost all these top performers have at least one thing in common. They all had a coach at one time or another in their professional careers. Whether your field is golf, tennis, running, sales, business management, or writing, a coach can help you perform at a much higher level.
So, how does a good writing coach help a writer perform at a much higher level?
There are dozens of ways, but here are some of the basic ones:
1. A good coach keeps the writer motivated.
Since the writer will have to report regularly to the coach, he’ll get constant feedback and encouragement, which will keep him motivated to achieve his best.
2. A good coach offers the writer a system for success.
With a system in place, the writer will be more likely to stick with writing. Plus, he won’t be taking just a hit-or-miss approach to success.
3. A good coach will help the writer learn to plan.
The coach will help the writer set goals that are realistic and design training that will help the writer achieve those goals. In other words, a good coach will keep the writer focused.
4. A good coach will offer the writer professional advice.
After a while, the writer won’t rely on the coach for every decision he makes about his career or performance. But he’ll still want the coach around when he needs a little professional advice.
5. A good coach will help the writer get beyond certain plateaus.
Working alone, the writer might feel stuck at a certain point in his career. But a good coach will help the writer overcome those plateaus and move ahead to the next level of performance and accomplishment.
6. A good coach will help the writer accurately evaluate his progress.
Sometimes it’s difficult to evaluate our own progress. We tend to focus on the negative, and only see our faults and failures. A good coach will help the writer see things more realistically.
7. A good coach will make the process enjoyable and interesting.
A coach will help the writer design a working schedule that won’t overwhelm him, so he’ll enjoy the entire process of achieving his best.
There are dozens of writing coaches today, what sets you apart from all the other coaches?
Well, for one thing, I offer a variety of coaching programs for writers, and there are a couple of things I do as a writing coach that I think I probably do better than most any other coach.
The first is—I give each of the clients in my coaching programs lots of individual attention, which includes phone calls and emails, and I provide them with all sorts of helpful resources for improving their writing and building their careers and/or businesses. Each of my clients receives constant one-on-one attention, so they don’t get stuck trying to reach their goals.
Also, I can take care of the (often tricky) technical part of building an online author or freelance writer platform, so my clients don’t freeze up at this stage and never get to the writing part of building their careers or businesses. Most other writing coaches tell clients they need to create an author or freelance writing platform, but it’s up to the client to learn how to set up a site, install plugins, an opt-in box to build a mailing list, etc. and this can be overwhelming to anyone without any technical knowledge or experience.
The next thing that sets me apart as a writing coaching is— together each client and I set up an individual weekly or monthly plan, so the client knows exactly what to do each weekday to reach his or her goals. And I hold the client personally accountable each week for sticking to this plan. It’s so easy to lose focus on your goals—especially if you’re a new writer—but that doesn’t happen with my clients.
What’s the best way for a writer to see if you are the right coach for them?
The best way is to subscribe to The Morning Nudge (it’s free), which I send out via email every weekday morning. It includes writing tips and words of encouragement to help writers start writing and continue writing. Subscribers also gain access to my private Resource Library for Writers, which contains dozens of materials, and new items are added all the time. The Nudge helps writers get to know me and gain firsthand knowledge of my expertise in writing and publishing.
For writers who want a taste of my coaching, but don’t feel ready for my one-on-one programs, I offer The Monday Morning Shove. It’s a live, weekly group coaching program, via zoom, which includes a private Facebook group.
