About me, Donna

Here’s what I know about you

You’ve written (or you’re finishing) a book you’re genuinely proud of. You poured your expertise and lived experience into every chapter, and you want it to bring in aligned clients, speaking opportunities, and the kind of credibility that opens doors.

But the publishing and launch part? That feels murky, overwhelming, and weirdly high-stakes.

You’re scrolling advice threads at midnight. You’re second-guessing every decision. You’re terrified of missing something critical or handing your money to the wrong people.

And underneath all of that, there’s a quiet voice asking: What if I do all this work and nothing happens?

I get it. Because I’ve guided over 100 women through exactly this moment—from first-time authors to seasoned experts who just needed someone to say, “Here’s what to do next, and here’s why.”

What makes my approach different

Most book launch coaches work with either fiction authors or business book authors, but not both. I do both—and that dual lens is your advantage.

Romance readers are the most discerning, market-savvy audience on the planet. If your cover is off or your book description feels generic, they’ll scroll past in half a second. Working in that ultra-competitive space taught me how to position books so they get noticed, read, and shared—not just published and forgotten.

I bring that same story instinct and marketing precision to your business book. 

I also spent 25 years in the social justice non-profit sector, which means I care deeply about ethics, power dynamics, and informed consent—whether we’re talking about advocacy work or choosing a book formatter. You’ll never feel pressured, manipulated, or talked into services that don’t serve you.

A bit about my story

I live in a village of a few hundred people (and an almost equal number of dogs) in the Pacific Northwest, where I served as a volunteer firefighter for several years. Those years taught me how to stay calm when everything around me is chaos and how important it is to stop and really listen to someone who’s in distress. They also revealed that I’m claustrophobic—funny story for another time.

I’m a #1 Learner on Clifton Strengths, which means I spend way too much time researching things I’ll probably never use—and then turning what matters into frameworks you can actually follow.

My hair is fuchsia. I swore in my punk rock days that I’d never go wild with colour once I went grey, but apparently I’m willing to break my own rules when it feels right. (And seeing myself on Zoom as many hours as I do a week … I needed to see joy, not grey!) 

And when I was 22, I bought a one-way ticket to Paris after discovering my boyfriend had been cheating the entire time we were together. That flight left two days later. I stayed for six months and learned something critical: sometimes the bravest thing you can do is choose yourself and figure out the rest later.

That’s the energy I bring to your book launch. You’ve already done the hardest part—you wrote the book. Now let’s get it into the world in a way that grows your business without burning you out.