Hello! I’m
Ellen Baker.
As a novelist, I tell women’s stories.
As a coach, I help rewrite them.
You’ve seen me in….
OFFICIAL BIO
Ellen Baker is an award-winning, bestselling author of historical fiction and contemporary women’s fiction about complicated families, the family secrets they keep, and ordinary women living extraordinary lives.
Her debut novel, Keeping the House (2007), won a Great Lakes Book Award. Her novels, including Summerland Cove (2026) and the Indie Next pick The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson (2024), are for readers and book clubs who love character-driven, multigenerational family stories with emotional depth and a strong sense of place. Keeping the House and I Gave My Heart to Know This were both Heartland Indie Bestsellers.
Her books are published by Mariner Books/HarperCollins (Summerland Cove, The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson) and Random House (Keeping the House, I Gave My Heart to Know This). She lives and writes on the coast of Maine.
A 2010 move from the Midwest to the Maine coast became a turning point. While continuing to write, I trained as an energy healer, intuitive guide, and mindset coach. I integrated this work with my fiction writing expertise to create my signature Identity Rewrite Method and the Next Chapter Studio for women ready to become the author of their own lives.
My third novel, The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson, set in my original home of northern Minnesota, became a 2024 Indie Next pick and a People Best New Book. My next novel, Summerland Cove, set in my beloved coastal Maine, came out June 2 and was featured in Woman’s World as one of the best books to read this summer.
As a novelist, I tell women’s stories.
As a coach, I help rewrite them.
Women’s Stories, Women’s Lives
Over twenty years ago, I dropped out of grad school with the deep sense I was meant to write stories and the big dream of becoming a published novelist. That path led to my first two historical women’s fiction titles with Random House, Keeping the House and I Gave My Heart to Know This, followed by a long season of setbacks and growth that reshaped everything…
SUMMERLAND COVE
Looking for your next book club read?
Apples Never Fall meets Maine in this captivating novel of family secrets, summer celebrations, and putting things back together again after they’ve all fallen apart.
A best new book of Summer 2026 in Woman’s World magazine.
Available in hardcover and multicast audio.
Read. Listen. Watch
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![Quick Before You Forget podcast episode graphic featuring Ellen Baker and Terence Sullivan, author of Alice of Oz.]()
Quick Before You Forget Podcast
Ellen and her client, debut author Terence Sullivan, join host Ty Schmidt to talk about their process working together on Alice of Oz, imposter syndrome, and the people who believe in us before we believe in ourselves.
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![The Summerland Cove hardcover resting on smooth beach stones.]()
Summerland Cove
A captivating novel of family secrets, summer celebrations, and putting things back together again after they’ve all fallen apart.
A best new book of Summer 2026 in Woman’s World magazine.
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![Ellen Baker speaking into a microphone to a seated audience at the Summerland Cove launch party.]()
The Women, Books & More Podcast
Listen to my conversation with Irene Rawlings on the Women, Books, & More podcast to hear more about the story behind the novel, the process of writing it, and life on the coast of Maine.
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![Illustration of a beach chair shaped like an open book beside a tote bag on the sand.]()
9 New Beach Reads for Your Summer Vacation (or Staycation)
AARP.org has selected Summerland Cove for their list of 9 top new summer reads for Summer 2026. It’s an honor to be in such great company!
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![The Midlife Edit podcast graphic for the episode "Rewriting Your Story," with guest Ellen Baker.]()
The Midlife Edit podcast
What if the key to changing your life wasn't burning it down, but making a small edit to the story you've been telling yourself? Listen to hear about how reinvention happens for women inside The Next Chapter Studio.
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![Read the Damn Book podcast episode graphic with Ellen Baker and the Summerland Cove cover.]()
Read the Damn Book Podcast
Ellen shares the inspiration behind Summerland Cove, her approach to crafting complex multi-generational characters, and the research and writing process that brought the story to life. Whether you're a fan of family sagas, women's fiction, or character-driven novels, this episode offers an inside look at the themes and storytelling techniques that make Summerland Cove such a compelling read.
Alice of Oz
I work with select clients to edit their fiction manuscripts and help bring their books to readers.
I worked with Terence Sullivan for 4+ years on his amazing dark fantasy novel ALICE OF OZ.
A gothic portal fantasy of time-bent identity, maternal magic, and a stolen legacy - where the worlds of Oz, Wonderland, and Neverland were always one story, and it was never finished.
My blurb:
“ALICE OF OZ is an incredibly fresh and imaginative epic page-turner, with amazing action and loads of magic, charming and complicated characters from princesses and witches to munchkins and dragons, despicable villains, a plucky heroine you can't help but cheer for, an enduring mystery, laugh-out-loud humor, and a sweet love story to top it all off. Terence Sullivan is a brilliant storyteller.”
Ellen Baker
The Next Chapter Studio
As a fiction writer, I've learned that by changing my character's internal beliefs, I can change the outcome of her story.
As an intuitive reinvention coach for women in midlife, I know the same is true in real life.
If you’re ready to stop pleasing everybody but yourself and defaulting to responsibility over desire, and ready to start feeling like the main character in a life story YOU are writing, I created the Next Chapter Studio just for you. It’s a space for women ready to rewrite their old stories and author what comes next from the inside out.
The first 90-day transformational journey begins in 2027. Sign up to be among the first to know when doors open.
THE HIDDEN LIFE OF CECILY LARSON
Orphan Train meets Before We Were Yours meets Water for Elephants in this compelling multigenerational novel of survival, love, and the families we make.
An Indie Next pick, a People Best New Book, and a HarperCollins Lead Read. 18,800+ reviews on Goodreads with an average rating of 3.92.
Now available in paperback.
Contact
Got questions? Want to work together? Use this form to send me a message.