You’ll get a regular Write Big episode tomorrow!
Hi!
As you may know, after ten years of #amwriting, KJ, Jess and Sarina are moving on to other endeavors and have handed the reins of the podcast to me. I’m honored—and very excited—to carry it forward.
For the past nine months, I’ve been trying things, listening to what resonates with you, and weighing my own energy and my options for what #amwriting could become.
And I’ve landed on a new plan.
The goal is to keep the spirit of what #amwriting has always done—help writers get their best work done—and to offer more ways to see your own work more clearly.
This is one of the hardest things about being a writer. Is this working? What’s not working? Is the problem on the page—or in the way I’m thinking about the book? Am I solving the right problem? What should I do next?
There is endless writing advice out there. What I want #amwriting to give you is something different: the chance to listen to writers work through real problems, hear the thinking behind the solutions, and get better at seeing and solving problems in your own work.
And this is work I know how to do. I’ve trained more than 400 book coaches and spent years developing frameworks for coaching writers through the decisions, problems, and stuck places that come up as they make books. That means I also have a deep bench of skilled Author Accelerator certified book coaches I can bring into #amwriting.
I think that puts me in a unique position to make a different kind of writing podcast—one built around showing you what good coaching looks like in action and helping you become better at thinking through your own work.
You’ll continue to get free #amwriting episodes every week, including Write Big, my episodes about what it takes to do your best work and keep doing it; and Margin Notes, short episodes that take a close look at a particular question, problem, or moment in the writing life. That is where I will often have guests join me.
And, I’ve started writing the Substack posts each week as mini lessons for those who want to read rather than listen. Before, they were generic summaries and no one wants to read that.
But a big part of this new #amwriting is now going to happen for paid subscribers.
Why I’m asking you to pay $8/month
BookLab and Hot Seat Coaching take real time, effort, and energy to produce. They involve reviewing work, preparing for coaching conversations, bringing in the right coaches and guests, recording, editing, and producing the episodes.
I love doing this work. I want to do more of it. And I need the support of paid subscribers to make it sustainable.
So I’m making BookLab and Hot Seat Coaching part of the paid #amwriting membership.
If you want to get better at seeing your own work clearly, making stronger writing decisions, and knowing what to do when you get stuck, I’m asking you to support this work by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s $8/month.
For $8/month, here’s what you get
* All the regular weekly #amwriting episodes, including Write Big and Margin Notes.
* BookLAB — We take apart real submissions—first pages, book jackets, query letters, and more—to see what’s working, what’s not, and why. The more you learn to see in someone else’s work, the more you can see in your own. I plan to share a BookLAB episode each month.
* Hot Seat Coaching — Listen as real writers work through real writing challenges with me and Author Accelerator certified book coaches. You’ll hear not just what they decide to do, but the thinking that gets them there—so you can get better at working through your own challenges.
* The complete #amwriting archive — Ten years of conversations about virtually every stage of the writing life, organized by topic so when you hit a problem, you can find the conversations that can help. (This will take us a little while to organize but we’re already working on it!)
If you want to do more than listen, you can come further into the work.
Annual — $80/year
Annual subscribers get everything in the $8/month membership for a more affordable price, plus:
* Attend our monthly BookLABs live on Zoom. Join us each month as we work on writing in real time. Raise your hand to share your first pages, book jackets, query letters, and other work for possible coaching and feedback
* BookLABs will happen on zoom. We’ll email links out before each episode. Times of these sessions will vary but the next three will be:
* Thursday, Oct. 15 at 9 am PT
* Thursday, Nov. 19 at 9 am PT
* Thursday, Dec. 17 at 9 am PT
* Get private recordings as I do a last-pass read-through of my forthcoming book, Write Big: 7 Questions That Will Change Your Writing Forever. I’ll read the book and decide what to change or tweak as I go, sharing the process with annual subscribers.
For writers who want even more access and coaching:
The #amwriting Writers’ Room — $180/year
Get in the room where we do the work.
Writers’ Room members get everything in Annual, plus invitations to join me and Author Accelerator certified book coaches for more intimate coaching experiences throughout the year, including Blueprint challenges for starting and revising a book.
We’re kicking off the Writers’ Room with something I’m especially excited about: the very first Write Big Coaching Sessions.
This will be a five-week experience where we’ll work through the seven questions at the heart of my forthcoming book, Write Big: 7 Questions That Will Change Your Writing Forever.
* Before each call, you’ll receive a private audio episode of me reading a chapter.
* The live calls (Pacific Time) are:
* October 19 — 8:00 a.m.
* October 21 — 4:30 p.m.
* October 26 — 8:00 a.m.
* October 28 — 4:30 p.m.
* November 2 — 8:00 a.m.
* November 4 — 4:30 p.m.
* November 9 — 8:00 a.m.
* November 11 — 4:30 p.m.
* Then we’ll come together on Zoom to write, talk, and work with the questions.
* We’ll have a private Slack channel throughout the five weeks for questions and conversation, and a community manager who will help direct the conversation and connections. We’ll also post recordings there, so it’s okay if you need to miss some of the live calls.
You’ll be part of the very first cohort to experience the book this way. You’ll help me choose the book jacket, and I’ll include your name in the acknowledgments of the finished book.
The idea is to use these seven questions to look closely at your own writing and writing life: what you want, what you know, what’s getting in your way, and what you want to do next.
So you can decide how far you want to come into the new #amwriting:
* Keep listening for free.
* Get better at seeing and solving writing problems for $8/month.
* Bring your own work into the conversation for $80/year.
* Get in the room and get coached for $180/year.
I’m really excited about what we’re building next—and I hope you’ll come with me.
Thanks for your support!
Jennie
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