Brian Wood-Koiwa, Story Kraken Author Coach

You’re writing something dark, weird, disturbing. Maybe it’s a brutal grimdark epic, weird fiction that lives in the liminal space between real and cosmic horror, a sprawling city or other environment that is a major character. Whatever it is, you can’t quite articulate what the story is.

I am an author as well. I publish speculative fiction, specifically dark fantasy and weird fiction, via my Substack UrbanWeird Chronicles, which you are welcome to read at urbanweirdchronicles.substack.com. Thus, I understand the unique characteristics and quirks of the darker fantasy sub-genres.

This is not a one-time editing service. I will guide you through the most important and messiest phases of your work by asking the questions you may have not even thought to ask yourself yet. I will read your pages and come to our sessions loaded with questions to, for example, crack open a stuck plot, reveal what a character is really after, or expose the possibility of chapter eight feeling more at home in a different locale in the book or even in a different novel. We talk, push, and figure it out together through the process of question, reflection, and discovery then repeating that process until you feel comfortable and proud of what you have created.

Sessions are held via video call, async recordings or emails whenever time zones make scheduling a nightmare, or, if in Tokyo, in person. Between sessions, you write. You send me pages. I read and come prepared. We keep moving, progressing.

Who This Is For

• Speculative fiction writers at the very beginning of their story or well into the chapters who feel lost or stuck

• Writers who’ve finished a draft and know something is wrong but can’t name it

• World-builders who need someone to stress-test their logic before they go further

• Writers who are desperate for feedback from someone who understands the genre

• Writers working in English as a second, third, or fourth language

  I want to work with you. I've spent almost twenty years helping non-native English-speaking researchers and scientists write in English. Writers in a second language often over-correct to safe, flat prose out of fear of getting it wrong — a real problem in a genre that runs on strangeness. The way you use English is frequently the most interesting thing on the page. My job is to help you tell the difference between the strangeness that's working and the strangeness that isn't.

Story Kraken isn’t for writers who have completed their book and are ready to seek representation or a publisher. My interest is the storminess before that.

What You Get

• A thinking guide who reads speculative and weird fiction as a craft tradition.

• Sessions structured around your story’s specific problems, not a generic checklist.

• Questions that do the work, not answers that make you dependent on me.

• A natural path into the professional manuscript editing phases either with me (at rates lower than the standard market rates) or with another editor when your story is ready.

While my editorial background is significant, Story Kraken is a new endeavor. Therefore, I am offering Story Kraken at a launch discount for the first 3 ‘Founding Authors’ (Once the founders have signed on, the fees will return to normal.) In return for the discounted rate, I ask, if satisfied, for a brief testimonial.

The basic flow is as follows.

1. A free 30-min discovery call (preferably video call) to see if we are a fit for each other and talk about your project.

2. If we fit, we then decide on your personal coaching regimen based on where you are in your process and in your path of becoming the author you want to be. Are you at the first ink stage: ideation or maybe basic outline; the swell stage: well on the way and need guidance through the turbulent swells; or the breach stage: your project is almost ready to breach and see the world.

   What it costs:

   Founding Author Rate: $185 USD/month — 35% off for the first three writers. After that, $285/month.

   Each month includes:
   • Up to 4 one-hour video calls every month (no rollover)
   • Up to 50 pages a week, read closely before each session
   • Unlimited email between sessions

   Three-month minimum to start. After that it's month to month, and you can finish at the end of any month.

   If you have any questions regarding the above or anything else about Story Kraken before you decide if you want to book a discovery call, feel free to send me an email.

Confidentiality is of course central to my practice. Your manuscript and discussions are treated as strictly private and are never shared, retained beyond the scope of the project, or used for any purpose other than the agreed coaching work.