About Anne
Anne Carley Creative
My work with clients is all about creative coaching and editing. We focus on the lived experience of being a creative person, and the power of writing to change the lives of authors and their audiences.
In 2012, I began coaching writers through my company, Chenille Books. In 2021 I relaunched as Anne Carley Creative. Same person, same mission.
The writers and other creative people I work with are great! Every project is different, and every client brings their own mix of circumstances, purpose, and outlook to our shared space.
Read some testimonials from satisfied clients here.

Anne Carley – Bio
I’ve always been fascinated with words. These various accumulations of letters hold so much power, and influence everyone in countless ways. Books were my close companions when I was little. In high school, I wrote for and then edited the school paper. I worked my way through college proofreading books for a law publisher, and preparing a music teacher’s manuscript for publication. As a history major, and later as a music conservatory student, I sensed that some of my best work involved the integrating of information and nuance into new written work.
After college I moved from the Midwest to New York City and worked my way into arts management. From there, it became possible to start a fine arts consulting business that I ran for many years, where I managed private collections of art. Writing was often at the heart of this work, when my words could bring three or four different parties with divergent interests to an agreement. Writing these agreements required listening carefully, working purposefully, and drafting precisely.
On the side, I went back to school to study music. Raised in a musical family, I wanted to learn more about the language and theory of music. I began writing music, paying close attention to lyrics.
A few years into running my own business, I put myself through law school because those agreements I was drafting kept passing muster with the legal experts. I considered for the first time the possibility that I could become one of them. In my third year at NYU Law, I won an ASCAP Nathan Burkan award for a paper on the uneasy fit between copyright law and minimal and conceptual art. An edited version of that paper was published in ArtForum magazine, and I began to write for publication. Then, at the dawn of the dot-com era, I edited an online magazine addressing issues at the intersection of arts and technology. Our small staff was distributed across the country, and our contributing writers sent in their work from around the globe. I understood the possibilities of the internet to sustain collaboration and co-creation, for staff and readership alike.
Moving to Charlottesville, VA in mid-life, I considered my next professional steps. I noticed that the best aspects of my working life all involved the power of words – to reveal, to influence, to engage, to entertain, to advocate, to connect, to empower, to improve lives. Starting in 2012, I committed to working with writers and other creatives – providing coaching and editing services that give their words more potency and polish. I enjoy this work immensely, and am grateful for the life experiences that prepared me for it.
Education includes a BA in History from Indiana University, coursework toward a BS in Music from Brooklyn College (NYC), and a JD from New York University Law School. Studied with songwriting teachers Bob Franke, Charlie Murphy, and Rosanne Cash. Learned from Eric Maisel about creativity coaching and course creation.
Prior Work Experience (in NYC) includes being a manager at the Dia Art Foundation, founding an arts management consultancy, and practicing intellectual property law.
Books include FLOAT • Becoming Unstuck for Writers, and the accompany deck of FLOAT Cards for Writers; CALM • Bold Creative Confidence (forthcoming), and The FLOAT Journal (forthcoming).
Book Chapters for publications include:
The Coach’s Guide to Completing Creative Work: 40+ Tips for Working with Procrastination, Perfectionism and More (Eric Maisel and Lynda Monk, editors; Routledge, 2023),
The Great Book of Journaling: How Journal Writing Can Support a life of Wellness, Creativity, Meaning, and Purpose (Lynda Monk and Eric Maisel, editors; Conari, 2022),
Transformational Journaling for Coaches, Therapists, and Clients: A Complete Guide to the Benefits of Personal Writing (Lynda Monk and Eric Maisel, editors; Routledge, 2021), and
#MeToo: Essays About How and Why This Happened, What It Means and How to Make Sure It Never Happens Again (Lori Perkins, editor; Riverdale Avenue Books, 2017)
Blog posts for websites including JaneFriedman.com and PsychologyToday.com, as well as regular posts for BACCALiterary and here at Anne Carley Creative.
Articles for publications including ArtForum, Estate Planning, NonProfit Times, Virginia Educational Leadership.
Instruction including my course, 30 Days Toward Becoming Unstuck; serving as a three-time instructor at Barbara Grenoble’s summer Orff Certification program in music pedagogy at the University of Denver; private music instruction.
Talks and Workshops for hosts including US Trust (NYC), College Art Association (Boston), Westchester (NY) Arts Council/American Council for the Arts, Virginia Festival of the Book (Charlottesville), Jefferson-Madison Regional Library (Charlottesville), Virginia Writers Club (Charlottesville), SWAG Writers (Staunton, VA), Baine’s Books (Appomattox, VA), Over the Moon Books (Crozet, VA), American Orff-Schulwerk Association (Pittsburgh).
Editing and Advising with writers of memoir, self-help, music pedagogy, business, healthcare, theater education, generational trauma, ecofiction, personal organization, global politics, sales, family history, political humor, social policy, learning disability, poetry, and more. Through the writer group, BACCA Literary, I’ve also critiqued narrative nonfiction, educational theory, and Young Adult fiction. Through the songwriting community, I’ve critiqued many varieties of lyrics.
Community co-founding the writer group BACCA Literary in 2011, creating and leading Publishing Community Roundtable from 2014 to 2022, and a local book group since 2020. Participating in song circles with fellow Rosanne Cash songwriting alumni for over 20 years.
Recordings in instructional video, audiobook, podcast, radio essay, audio guide, and music media.
Fellowships The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) has welcomed me as a composer and writer.