Academic Book Coach
& Developmental Editor
Jenn McClearen, Ph.D.
I help scholars build a writing practice that moves the book forward—sustainably and on their own terms.
You became a scholar because your research matters—and the book is where that impact lives. What you need now is a way to write it that fits your actual brain, your actual workload, and the full life you're living alongside it.
That's a different problem than most writing advice is designed to solve. And it’s precisely the one we can work on together.
I’m an academic book coach and developmental editor who helps scholars make steady, sustainable progress on books that matter. I know this work intimately from the inside.
Hi, I’m Jenn.
I earned my Ph.D. from the University of Washington, held a faculty position at the University of Texas at Austin, and published my own academic book while navigating many of the same pressures my clients face. I later left faculty life to support scholars in doing research that makes an impact in society.
My feminist and cultural studies training shapes the lens I bring to this work. It helps me see academic writing struggles not simply as personal failings but as shaped by the power and pressures built into the academy. That’s why I help clients build writing processes that are more humane, sustainable, and resistant to the publish-or-perish grind.
Together, we design a realistic book-writing process tailored specifically for you.
My approach combines two things most scholars struggle to find in one place: the strategic support of writing coaching—structure, accountability, and mindset work—and the editorial expertise of developmental editing—argument, voice, and organization.
We work together to map out the arc of your project, break it into manageable stages, and work through the roadblocks so the book gets written in the life you actually have—not the one you're waiting for.