Fiction Writing Tools

Creativity Coaching

2026-10-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to S.A. Soule's Creativity Coaching!

I help fiction and nonfiction writers turn inspiring ideas into finished books with clarity, confidence, and creative momentum.

Whether you’re starting fresh, working through a draft, or ready to take your writing to the next level, I offer encouraging coaching and practical support to help you move forward with purpose and excitement.

For the past 15 years, I’ve worked in the publishing industry, helping writers develop their ideas, strengthen their craft, and move closer to publication. As a creativity coach and the author of a bestselling series on writing and publishing, I’ve become a trusted, respected voice in the writing community. I bring that experience, insight, and encouragement to every writer I work with.

Ready to get started? Let’s bring your book to life.

Explore my services and see how I can support your writing journey. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

~ Sherry, aka S.A. Soule

2026 business hours and communication response times are Monday through Friday, 8am–2pm PST. Messages received outside of these hours will be addressed the next business day. Unavailable on weekends and all major holidays (including Friday the 13th, Winter Solstice, International Women's Day, Halloween, Spring Equinox, Samhain, and Hecate Night.)

Random Tips From Someone Who Learned It All the Hard Way

2026-08-24T14:58:38.011-07:00

Here are some random tips about writing and publishing that I've picked up on my own journey.

I made so many mistakes when I was starting out way back in 2011. Before that, in 2009, I tried the agent route and came close a few times — full-manuscript requests and everything. My writing was still unpolished, but apparently I give good query letter. When that didn't work out, I decided to self-publish and never looked back.

1. Google your pen name before you commit to it.

Before you settle on a pen name (or even your own name), search for it online and on Amazon and see what turns up. My caution comes from watching this go badly for people: names collide way more often than you'd think. If someone's already publishing under a name close to yours, readers will mix you up. They'll leave reviews for their book on your book's page, and they'll email you asking when the next installment of a series you didn't write is coming out. And if their backlist runs at a very different heat level than yours, congrats — you've just inherited an audience that's about to be either confused or very disappointed.

Then there's the practical side. Are the domain and the social handles still available? Can readers actually find you when they type your name into a search bar, or does a dentist in Ohio own page one? (No shade to dentists.) A name nobody can find is a name that works against you every single day.

(BTW, look up the Armentrout/Armintrout saga as a cautionary tale.)

2. Research your titles, too.

Same drill for a book title or a series title. Be careful about anything that might be trademarked or copyrighted, and avoid anything too closely related to a project Disney owns. Disney don't play.

And you really don't want KDP deciding whether you were in the wrong, because their policy is guilty until proven innocent. Somebody files a complaint, and KDP can terminate your entire account over it — every book you've ever published, gone in a single second. You find out from the email they send afterward. Then you get to explain yourself to a support inbox that answers in five business days with a form letter, and reinstatement can take weeks, assuming it happens at all.

You'll probably get it sorted eventually. You'll also lose weeks of your life and age about four years.

Remember Cockygate? One extremely common adjective in a romance title turned into a legal circus that swallowed months of a lot of authors' time. Run your title through the free USPTO trademark search first. Five minutes now beats a cease-and-desist later.

3. Your cover is doing most of the selling.

Study the top 100 in your genre. (Some books get miscategorized, so not everything you see there truly represents your genre — use judgment.) Then get a cover that looks like it belongs on that shelf. Readers shop by pattern recognition, and if yours doesn't match the visual language of the genre, they'll scroll right past it. Matching what's trending makes marketing so much easier.

Can't afford a fancy cover designer? There are plenty of affordable ones out there who do solid work, and premades are a great option too.

If you have no design skills, please don't do it yourself. I'm begging you. We can always tell.

4. Get eyes on the manuscript that aren't your own.

Hire a developmental editor. Can't afford it? Then find a good CP (critique partner) and some beta readers. But only exchange with writers and readers who actually read and write in your genre. Your literary fiction friend will tell you the ghost is a metaphor for grief. Your mom will tell you it's perfect. Neither one is going to catch that your third-act romance beat is off-balance.

Also, protect the file while you're at it. Have beta readers sign a simple agreement, or send the book out through BookFunnel so it's watermarked with their email address. Most beta readers are lovely humans who'd never dream of leaking your work — the watermark is for the one who would, and you won't know which one that was until it's already on a pirate site. It costs you nothing and it sets expectations up front.

5. Read, read, read your genre.

Know thy tropes. Study how bestselling authors craft their work, and get specific about it — why did that chapter ending make you turn the page, and where exactly did she plant the clue? Take courses and read craft guides.

I'm constantly studying to stay up-to-date and improve my skills, because the market shifts and what worked three years ago doesn't always work now.

None of this is the glamorous part of the job. But every single one of these lessons cost me either money or a small piece of my sanity, and I'd rather you keep both.

Here's the good news: you don't have to get it right the first time. You just have to publish and learn faster than you mess up. Now go write.

~Sherry (aka S.A. Soule, Creativity Coach and bestselling editor and author)

The AI Debate Is Tearing the Writing Community Apart

2026-06-27T10:07:01.540-07:00

Hello fellow writers,

Gonna bring up a controversial topic today...which could cost me clients, friends, and connections in this industry, but I am tired of watching writers tear each other apart.

So, I’ve stayed quiet about AI for a long time. Not because I don't have thoughts (believe me, I got 'em), but because this topic has turned into one of those conversations where no matter what you say, someone is ready to burn you at the stake.

As someone who has been cyber-bullied over AI art, I know the hurt people can cause and how quickly online attacks can damage a career, a reputation, and a person’s peace of mind.

In my opinion, readers and authors are having two completely different conversations. Most readers seem to only care about two main things: whether the story is good, and whether it delivered what it promised. Authors, on the other hand, are mainly concerned about how AI is affecting the publishing industry, and those conversations matter because no one should be dismissed for having real concerns.

I get why the authors who don't use AI are afraid of what it could mean for publishing, so I understand the fear that books could be devalued, creative work could be exploited, and an already difficult industry could become even harder to survive in.

But what I’m seeing now, though, goes way beyond defending the craft. I’m talking about the bullying, the blacklisting, the public shaming, the witch hunts, the demands that authors prove they are “real” writers, the harassment campaigns, the screenshots, the pile-ons (often without knowing the full context or facts of the situation), and the way people are being treated like criminals based on suspicion, rumor, publishing too often, or someone’s personal opinion of what their business process should look like.

That is not about protecting books or the writing community; it is just hurting a lot of innocent people.

The part that weighs on me most is knowing that some writers are hiding behind new names, leaving communities they once loved, or feeling like they have to film themselves typing just to prove they wrote their own book.

Personally, it is none of my business how another author runs their business or what tools they use to create their art, and frankly, I do not care. I don't believe anyone should be openly punished, judged, or shamed. Instead, we can chat about ethics and where publishing is headed without acting like authors owe anyone a backstage pass to every tool, draft, editor, grammar checker, or business decision behind their books.

All I'm trying to say is, it's okay if we disagree about AI, have strong opinions, or draw lines for our own businesses and reading choices, but we should be able to do that without destroying each other in the process.

We need to stop acting like cruelty is the same thing as integrity.

Before joining the next pile-on, maybe we should ask ourselves whether we are actually helping the writing community or simply making another author afraid to exist in it.

~Sherry