“Are book doulas a thing?” asks a writer I know. “I’d love to get one.”
Book doulas are a thing, because where there is a need, there is a service. Traditionally, they were non-medically trained professionals who cared for the emotional wellbeing of women in labour. These days, doulas are used in many other contexts where you may need someone to ease you through a process and provide emotional support, for instance abortion, divorce, death – and, now, for writing books.
Distinguishing themselves from agents and editors, book doulas offer a sort of coaching service, a kind eye to reassure nervous authors who are having trouble getting their book published. Ariane Conrad, who calls herself an “editorial coach and consultant, AKA book doula”, refers to her services as “bookbirthing”.
“I take my time getting to know you, your project and your voice. I listen and focus deeply. Committing your ideas, experiences or life’s work to writing can be intimidating. I will reassure you,” writes Ariane on her website, in the warm and fuzzy tone common to many birth doulas.
Editor, writing coach and book doula Ali Lawrence says the service involves: “Meeting my clients where they are most vulnerable – needing guidance, support, encouragement, empowerment, accountability – and helping them to achieve their book goals.”
Lawrence, who says the term “really resonates for me when thinking of the creative process of book writing”, stresses: “I’m not a publisher, I’m not an agent. I’m a partner in reaching your book goals.”
Bethany Beams, meanwhile, offers the service for both books and babies. Her website explains: “I can help with just about anything, from editing and proofreading to cover design and interior formatting, for both physical books and ebooks.” In short, a book doula can be anything you need her to be.
But is it all marketing rubbish? When I describe book doulas to other writers, most take issue with the basic analogy. As a mother and writer myself, I agree that giving birth is most definitely more painful than producing a book.
Many other writers I spoke to dismissed book doulas as an expensive luxury – and they don’t come cheap, though they are nowhere as costly as I expected. Conrad doesn’t share the prices on her website, but Beams does: designing a book cover costs $400 (£307), the same for an ebook will set you back $250. A whole self-publishing package is $1,000, which includes cover design, editing and proofreading of up to 300 pages, and design and formatting for CreateSpace and Kindle.
Lawrence offers two different monthly plans, which range from $400 to $600, which pay for some phone consultations, editing and feedback, as well as “unlimited” support via email. In comparison, basic editing services usually cost around $30-$40 per hour, although you can pay much more than that).
But book doulas seem to be having something of a fertile moment and it is likely they will multiply. Even if it means more competition for her, Lawrence hopes so. “I think too often we expect that we have to do every hard or big thing in life on our own in order for the outcome or result to be ours and ours alone. This is a dangerous expectation, and the more often we can allow ourselves to be supported, the more often we will succeed in one piece.”
Having just spent months working on a self-published book, and having used a (birth) doula when my son was born, I can see the appeal. But whether they’re fairy godmothers or just a load of marketing nonsense, that’s for you to decide.
