Hi everyone,

Welcome to those of you who have recently subscribed – to my delight, new editors and coaches are signing up every day. I really hope you find it useful. The community space will be launching in the next week or so, so please keep an eye out for that.

I was at the CIEP conference at the weekend and after a couple of days processing it all, I thought I’d tell you my takeaways as far as coaching is concerned. I have to confess that the thought of talking (or hearing) more about AI is about as appealing to me as listening to Donald Trump talking about autism, but I know as a professional I do have to be aware of changes and keep track of how they’ll impact my business.

The good news is that as coaches we are probably the last editorial pros that will be threatened by AI. The consensus is that proofreading will be first to be impacted, that the most objective services are most at risk. You could ask Chat GPT to coach you through your first draft I guess, but anyone who wants that type of input, isn’t a client I’d want.

As far as I’m concerned, coaching is growing exponentially in this AI era as clients come to value the human connection more and more – and editors try to find ways to stay relevant. Even more encouraging to me is that professional organisations like the CIEP are starting to comprehend its value. When I first started coaching, around eight or nine years ago, it was pretty lonely. It was slightly more common in the US, but I didn’t know anyone who provided the service, there were no specific courses, it wasn’t recognised as a core skill – it actually still isn’t, but I’m working on that! – and I had to educate authors about it so they understood why they needed it. Now, it is my most requested service and the majority of my clients understand the luxury of it. So I hope you’ll join me in feeling optimistic about the future of writing coaching and support my efforts to have it regulated (as much as possible), to provide training, to promote its value, and to create a supportive community similar to those we have as editors.

Thank you for being part of it!

I’d love to hear more about what you need to help you on your writing coaching path. And questions for future newsletters are very welcome!

Aimee

Aimee Walker Editorial (AWE)

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