Note: If you’re interested in one-on-one manuscript work, I currently have a wait list while I try to make my next deadline. If you’d like to get on the wait list during that time, click here.

Editing, Coaching, & Teaching

I have over 25 years of experience teaching and coaching adult writers in creative writing at the college and postgraduate level. It's my mission to help you avoid the mistakes I made (often over and over!). In a supportive and safe environment, I offer editing and coaching services to writers wishing to revise a book, work on a short story or essay, develop a story idea, and/or simply create a sustainable writing practice.

Erika Krouse is the best teacher I have ever been privileged to study with; I am just sorry I didn’t enter her orbit until I was almost 50 years old. She has coached me privately, taken me on as a Book Projecteer and inspired me in short and longer Lit Fest classes and never been less than brilliantly prepared for her presentation, including writing exercises and craft handouts that continue to help me. I have recommended her classes many times to friends and strangers I encounter at Lighthouse because I know she has something to teach about writing to everyone, from her colleagues through advanced to beginner students.
—Ellen Anderman, novelist

Short Story/Essay Help

Have a short story or essay that isn't quite “right" yet? I can help you uncover the story's assets and liabilities, and find solutions to your narrative problems. For short stories and essays, I offer a markup, report, and 1:1 consultation about the story’s assets, issues, and possibilities.

Erika Krouse is one of the best readers you could ever hope to find. She has a uniquely deep way of approaching a piece of writing, pulling out its most powerful themes, and pointing the writer in the direction they were always meant to go. 
—Amanda Rea, whose work has appeared in Harper's, Best American Mystery Stories, and the Pushcart Prize anthology

Erika has critiqued several of my stories and essays. Her keen eye and honest, specific feedback has become crucial to my revision process. She’s awesome!
—Jenny Itell, whose work has appeared in Witness, Crazyhorse, and Colorado Review

Book Help

I work with writers’ book-length works in the following genres: novel, memoir and other creative nonfiction, short story collections, and essay collections. I offer two main levels of help for book-length works:

Full Manuscript Analysis and Revision Plan

I provide a full manuscript analysis for writers who have completed a draft of a book and need editorial feedback. Each manuscript analysis includes: 1.) a manuscript read and light markup, 2.) an extensive written report about the book's strengths and weakness, with suggested solutions for issues, and 3.) a one-on-one consultation.

First Pages + Outline—Analysis and Writing/Revision Plan

Many writers write the beginning of a novel/memoir, but encounter narrative obstacles/blocks when they try to move forward. No fear! Send me your first 5-50 pages and an outline for the rest, and we'll map a story path that creates its own momentum, both for you and for your reader.

Coaching on Writing Your Book

See “Coaching” below.

When Erika sent me the comments on my book manuscript, I actually cried because no one ever has given my writing that kind of incisive care and attention. She's a very analytical reader, as well as a compassionate one, and this enhances what she offers as a teacher and as a writer. Erika is the real deal, and I'm a huge intellectual snob and don't say that very often. I feel so lucky to get to work closely with her and will always be proud to name her as one of my important writing teachers who helped me discover and develop my voice.
—Mary Catherine LaMar, memoirist

Coaching Services

Either locally or via Zoom/phone, I meet individually with writers who need help with:

• Story/idea development for short stories, essays, novels, memoirs, or other creative nonfiction.

• Creating an efficient and effective writing process, based on your life and needs.

• Writer's block and inspiration

• Overall education in story, narrative structure, or story design.

• Magazine and book publishing strategies and plans.

I don't know where I would be without Erika! Certainly, I would have a lot of jumbled words and no plot. She has helped me to uncover what my story is actually about and to incorporate dynamic storytelling elements that emphasize my personal style while always moving the story forward. That help has saved me at least seven more years of floundering and not knowing how to write a book. Erika's expertise is invaluable, as are her incredibly personalized consultations — she reads your work intently, listens to you thoughtfully, and helps you come up with a plan that will work for you. She is an incredibly compassionate and cool person to boot. You'd be crazy not to hire her! I love her!
—Kelly Baug, novelist

Nonfiction Book Proposal Help

Even if your nonfiction book is already written, it is often difficult to get it published without a book proposal to accompany the manuscript. I help clients revise their nonfiction book proposals for the following kinds of books:

• Memoir/autobiography

• Biography

• History

• Expository nonfiction

• Any narrative/creative nonfiction.

We work on the proposal’s overview, sample, outline, author information and platform, and complementary titles. We address the proposal’s language as well as the book’s overall positioning and marketing strategy, to maximize chances for ultimate publication.

I keep Erika's contact info taped to my computer. Literally! She's been my go-to writing coach for over ten years and I can't say enough good things about about her brilliant, insightful, tactful feedback--oh, and her sense of humor, too. She'll even help you craft a revision game plan and hold your feet to the fire. It doesn't get any better than that when your writing runs amok.
—Pamela Kenney Basey, novelist

One- or Two-Year Book Mentorship

I offer one- or two-year book mentorships to writers I have worked with before. In these mentorships, we follow a strict-yet-customized curriculum to help you achieve your book-writing goals. The curriculum for this mentorship is based on the mentorships I offer through the Lighthouse Writers Book Project. It is most suitable for writers who want close one-on-one mentoring but do not want/need a community-based program (such as the Book Project). We can customize this mentorship to closely fit your writing goals and needs.

Erika mentored me for two years during my participation in the Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop in Denver. With her outsized compassion and wit, she guided me to breakthrough a great deal of my own self-doubt and defeatism as a writer. Erika read more pages of mine than I thought was humanly possible. She pitched her feedback, not to the place I was as a writer but to the place she believed I could be. I feel very grateful for Erika’s commitment to helping me be a better writer.
—Kirk Thoreson, novelist

Retreats and Conferences

I teach fiction and nonfiction workshops and craft classes at domestic and international retreats and conferences, such as The Himalayan Writing Retreat, the Lighthouse Grand Lake Retreat, Writers in the Sky, the Writers at Work Conference, and other places.

Erika Krouse knows story. You see that in her prolific repertoire, and you can feel it in her teaching and editing. She sees story in places it’s eluded the writer with a stack of hard work poised over the recycle bin. She can find the thread that brought the words to life, and then got lost. Her critique of my novel-in-progress was thoughtful and specific, drawing both detail and big picture into view. Erika brought back my delight in my own story.
—John Holley, novelist

Erika is wonderfully encouraging and so smart about story. I find myself reaching for the tools and advice she has given me whenever I am stuck.
—Eleanor Brown, New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters and The Light of Paris

Lighthouse Classes

I teach regularly at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, CO, and at Lighthouse North in Louisville, CO. For a list of upcoming Lighthouse classes, please click here.

My writing—and my understanding of writing and the novel-writing process—improved dramatically during my time with Erika Krouse as my mentor in the Lighthouse Book Project. She is incredibly thorough, thoughtful, organized, and generous with her knowledge and feedback. She set the bar so high that she’s probably ruined me from wanting future workshops. I have an incredible toolkit at my disposal now that I’ll be able to access for the rest of my writing days.
– Allison Johnson, novelist

Private Classes

I provide customized private craft and process writing classes for small groups, either locally or via Zoom.

Literary Gun for Hire

Have a need that's not listed above? Contact me!

Erika's editorial comments consistently help me see my writing projects more clearly. I can always count on her to offer up constructive advice that not only identifies the issues in my work, but helps me understand how to fix them.
—Rachel Weaver, author of Point of Direction, an Oprah Mag Top Ten Pick