About Me
Welcome! I’m Katya Fishman.
I help people write and get their stories out into the world as a writer, book coach, and self-publishing consultant. I can help with any step of the book-writing process, from book idea all the way through production.
Warm-hearted healers, adventurers, innovators, and downright inspirational people keep showing up at my virtual door. As a lifelong learner, seeker, and mystic at heart, I create experiences that tap into both the practical and the creative, balancing the nitty gritty with the magical, and trekking the depths that facilitate deep transformation.
My Story
As a first-generation American born to a Russian and Ukrainian, I was mesmerized by the tales I heard growing up. The stark cultural differences between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. were fascinating, the twists and turns were entertaining, and the insight into my family members’ past drew me. More than all of that, it was the act of ritual storytelling that showed me how impactful it is to openly reflect on the stories you tell yourself about your life: how they make you feel, how you feel about them now, how they inform who you are and the decisions you make today.
The story I told myself in college was: I’m going to be a teacher and education is going to save the world. I still believe the latter part of that statement but life had other plans for me. At twenty-one years old, I was diagnosed with a serious chronic health issue that made the intense energy and time demands of teaching an impossible route for me.
Getting sick turned out to be one of the greatest blessings of my life because it forced me to create my own path and find work I love. That path has been anything but linear. I have been a part-time teacher, school cofounder, curriculum developer, researcher, editor, journalist, and now writer, coach, and consultant. I have studied Ayurvedic Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ancestral Healing, Astrology, Mythology, Depth Psychology and Dreamwork on my path to healing and all these fields of study contribute to how I view the human story.
I believe that the lessons we learn, the challenges we face, and the beauty we experience in this life are all material for transformation. That’s the magic in being alive and I want to nurture this feeling in as many people as I can. I do this by helping people tell their stories and get them out into the world.
You might want to leverage the power of your story with a big idea book or maybe you want to capture a story that passes down your family legacy or you might be driven to tell your own story simply to better understand yourself—either way I can help you write your book and guide you through publishing options, whether that means getting your book into the hands of as many readers as possible or just printing twenty copies for your closest family and friends.
As a fully location-independent business owner, I get to work with people from all over the globe. I’m currently based in Idaho and I regularly explore the beauty of the Pacific Northwest with long stints in Oregon and Washington throughout the year. I spend my days cooking, gardening, practicing Yoga, hiking, reading, and writing.
In The News
Learn more about how I work with authors to self-publish their books in this podcast episode
Check out an interview I did with Mystic Mag
Learn more about my health journey in this heal.me article
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
— Henry David Thoreau
How I started doing this work
background
I graduated college on fire for education and madly in love with teaching. I taught and developed curriculum for multiple grade levels and went on to cofound a private, university-model school in Boise, Idaho. When I experienced a life threatening Crohn’s flare (a serious autoimmune condition), I had to pivot away from the stresses of teaching and create a new type of work situation for myself.
I founded my own business and started working on various creative projects. I began as a research assistant and quickly moved into ghostwriting, editing, and project management roles. Writing, communication, and organizational skills had a place in every project I took on.
Shortly thereafter, I landed my first paid ghostwriting memoir project and knew instantly that I had found one of my niches. Years later, I now get to spend my days helping people share their experiences and knowledge with the world through books and other creative offerings.
“Nothing excites me more than helping extraordinary people share their valuable work with the world.”