Writer. Coach. Editor.
About Josh
My first job was selling huckleberries in rural Montana. The quality of my hand-picked berries brought a premium price at restaurants in Missoula. The same work ethic and care has defined everything I've done since then.
My clients benefit from my twenty years of experience in publishing and editing. But I also offer a lifetime of navigating cultural differences, seeing myself differently in the mirrors of other places, and learning how to make the strangeness of my story meaningful -- even familiar -- to those who might think they have nothing in common with me.
How can I help you tell your story?
My Story
1975
Born in NW Montana. Steeped in the wild from the start.
1980
Started kindergarten knowing how to read. Bored stiff!
1985
First year of Little League. Baseball was my first love. Well, maybe books before that.
1993
Graduated from Troy High School. College-bound. Pre-law. Serious as can be.
1997
First-gen college grad in beautiful Tennessee. English major. Grad school here I come!
2005
My last year with the USFS. Pictured here in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.
First-gen PhD. Fortunate to land a faculty position at Central College in Iowa.
2012
Linden is born in early spring. Named for the national tree of the Czech Republic, which legends say can spontaneously burst into song.
2014
My first book is out in the world! Later shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize.
2015
Many good years as an English professor teaching everything from salsa making to memoir writing to archival research.
2016
Tula is born on a lovely spring day. Named for my favorite heirloom tomato.
2018
Touring Red Cloud, Nebraska, with my seniors. Willa Cather for life!
2019
Selway is born. My best buddy. Named for my spiritual home in Idaho.
2021
Resign my position in Iowa for a family move to Pennsylvania. Begin rebuilding a new home. Which, for me, means a garden.
2021
Writing life stalls in isolation. My Substack, "The Recovering Academic," is born. Now a bestseller, chosen twice as a Featured Substack Publication.
2022
Begin writing features for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
2022
Two students from an online writing class ask if I offer coaching. I will for them! My private practice begins.
2023
Second try at a Pennsylvania home, this time as a single dad.
2024
Establish my first LLC. Discover the joy of teaching all over again with my clients. Begin to hope again.
Nigel Beale's Biblio File Podcast
Joshua Doležal on
being a 'Book Coach.'
What’s a book coach? We met via Zoom to answer this question. Topics discussed include: the roles of a book coach and the qualifications you need to be one; writing tools that Josh recommends his clients use; the concept of defamiliarization; horror films and the element of surprise; three-step strategies for drafting manuscripts; Lisa Cron; James Paterson; turning points, resolutions and reckonings; tent poles and cairns; the importance of discovering things while you write; literary agents; advice for me on my podcast catalogue “book” project; Sting's backlist; pertinent questions to ask yourself if you want to write a book, such as: ‘why are you writing this book?’ and ‘why should readers care?’; plus, much more.
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