#AmWriting

Hey writers! I’m Jennie Nash — and this is the #amwriting podcast, the place where we talk about writing all the things: short things, long things, fiction, non-fiction, pitches and proposals. 

Today, we’re going to dig into a part of the writing process that comes WAY before you write anything — which is giving yourself permission to write in the first place. 

So many writers are shut down by teachers, people who love them, critique partners, well-meaning editors and book coaches, perhaps the entire culture– and the impact of that shutting down can last for decades, if not entire lifetimes. 

In my Blueprint framework – a method of inquiry for starting a project -- the first question is why write this book? Why do you want to do this? It’s amazing to me the number of times that the deep level why has to do with reclaiming a voice that was shut down. 

My colleague and friend Julie Artz was shut down when she was 25 and 20 years later she is finally grappling with what happened – and feeling a creative spaciousness that eluded her until now. She’s been on the show before, but I invited her back to talk about this important topic. 

About Julie:

Julie Artz is an Author Accelerator-certified Founding Book Coach, a sought-after speaker and writing instructor, and a regular contributor to Jane Friedman, Writers Helping Writers, AuthorsPublish, IWWG, ProWritingAid and more. Her work as a Pitch Wars and Teen Pit mentor, a former SCBWI Regional Advisor (WWA), and her memberships in The EFA, the WFWA, AWP, and the Authors Guild keep her industry knowledge sharp. She’s built a thriving book coaching business based on her values, her editing chops, and her knowledge of story. Connect with her on Instagram @JulieArtz and download her freebie on giving yourself permission. https://pages.julieartz.com/giveyourselfpermission 

It’s hard to believe the summer is almost over, and in the next few weeks, we will be wrapping up our special Blueprint Challenge that we did here at the #AmWriting podcast. As a part of that challenge, anyone who signed up for and completed it will be getting a list of exclusive offers from Author Accelerator book coaches to help them with their blueprints.

But if, as the summer closes, you're at a point where you feel like you could use some help from a book coach, we suggest you check out Author Accelerator’s book coach directory. They’ve certified more than 260 book coaches in fiction, nonfiction and memoir, and one of them may be the perfect person to help you get your book back on track.

Head to https://www.authoraccelerator.com/matchme to find the book coach that’s right for you.

It all Started on the ‘Book

Sarina, here! This episode began in a Facebook thread. In a writers’ group, author Dena Moes R.N. expressed some concern about trying to bring a book to market during a very noisy news cycle.

I pushed back a little, given the nature of her book: It's Your Body: The Young Woman's Guide to Empowered Sexual Health. This lovely book is no stranger to politics. In 2024 it’s political to even suggest that a young woman has the right to decide the fate of her own body.

What could be more timely?

Dena and I brought our friendly debate to your door, where we cover:

* What does the election cycle really mean for books and book buyers?

* What are some elements of Dena’s story that play well with readers who are staring down the barrel at a very important election?

* Who should Dena talk to about this book, and why?

You can see some of the content Dena is working on at Instagram and Tiktok

You can find the book at Amazon and Bookshop.

Books we’re reading this week:

Dena is reading I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol and The Inner Practice of Medicine by Dr. Wendy Lau.

Sarina is reading: Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center and One Jump at a Time by Nathan Chen.

Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

Subscribe

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

Hello #AmWriters! Jess here at the beginning of a very busy fall speaking season, coming to you from the northwest corner of Indiana. I’ve talked to you before about the nuts and bolts of my speaking work, but I thought it would be fun to bring you along with me and talk about the things I pack, plan for, and think about when I’m on the road.

If I missed anything you want to learn about, head on over to the #AmWriting Facebook group and hit me up with questions!

What’s in my speaking bag:

What I found when I visited the Lafayette Barnes and Noble in search of Sarina Bowen’s books (look for the yellow pages!):

Then I went over to the thriller department and found:

And when I looked for KJ I found:

And finally, I check for my books so I can sign them, photograph the books and let readers on social media know there are signed copies at the bookstore! I was not originally face out but once I signed, the bookseller re-arranged so I could be. Loved her for that.

Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

Subscribe

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

The title of this episode comes from a great George Michael quote that Sarina reminded us of and one that I now think about all the time: People thought I wanted to be seen as a serious musician, but I didn’t. I just wanted to people to know that I was very serious about pop music.

That’s us here. We’re very serious about fun reads—and so grateful that Emily is too. This episode was recorded as Emily was releasing Book Lovers. This year, you can read her newest, Funny Story, which was just the delightful escape Sarina and I both needed this summer. And let me remind you right here that you can—and should!—also grab Sarina’s latest, the fantastic The Five Year Lie—a very very fun read.

This was a great talk and we know you’ll love it—but for your entertainment, here’s what AI had to say about it:

The speakers discussed their experiences and insights on writing and publishing, including the importance of maintaining a consistent brand, balancing creative expression with validation, and creating authentic conflicts in fiction. They also shared their thoughts on the value of joy and love in literature, and how societal pressure to produce world-changing literature can lead to a lack of appreciation for works that prioritize happiness and joy. Additionally, they discussed their favorite thriller books and the impact they've had on them, and shared book recommendations in the romantic comedy genre. Overall, the conversation highlighted the challenges and rewards of writing and publishing, and the importance of prioritizing joy and happiness in literature.

Something like that, yeah. But with more shrieking and laughing.

This discussion was so true to our hearts (KJ writing, Sarina co-signing). It’s hard to for some of us to give ourselves permission to write fun books in a world where “things we like” and especially “things women like” are often dismissed as less worthy. After Sarina reminded us of this George Michael quote—when asked when he was going to “write serious music” his response was “You don’t understand. I’m very serious about pop music.” And KJ immediately demanded that everyone read This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch which is, instead, a book about exactly what we just said. That you should read. Immediately. We’ll wait.

So how do your get very serious about writing fun reads? Emily’s insight on how to turn the seemingly small internal battles that our kind of fiction often hinges on is perfection: “you have to make things realer than real life”. For more, hit play.

Links in the Pod

#AmWriting Episode 302 with Katherine Center

#AmReading

Emily: Miss Aldridge Regrets, Louise Hare

The Bodyguard, Katherine Center

The Change, Kirsten Miller

Sarina: The Bodyguard, Katherine Center

Upgrade, Blake Couch (Emily then shouted out Dark Matter and The Letty Dobesh Chronicles with its Good Behavior TV adaptation)

KJ: This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch, Tabitha Carvan

Thank You for Listening, Julia Whelan

Emily Henry on Insta: @emilyhenrywrites

Join Emily’s newsletter: Get My Grocery List

Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

Subscribe

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

Hey writers! Maybe I say this all the time, but this episode is GREAT. Remember how in Episode 402 I asked the question for the ages: How Bad Can a Good First Draft Be?

At that point I was on a fifth draft and it was sadly still pretty “bad”— think “I built a bookshelf but one of the shelves is on the back and I don’t think it necessarily needed window shutters or a fan”. I settled in to outline, not what WAS there but what I knew SHOULD be there on both the plot (outside) and emotional arc (inside) levels. And damn if it didn’t help. It always helps.

This episode is me and Jennie talking about how I did that, why I needed to and how much it helps. Funny story: last week after the episode as i was revising I looked at one of the new scenes I’d plotted out and thought, nah. Things were running a bit long, I thought. I don’t need that.

It took 48 hours of wrestling with what came next to realize that the problem was: yes, I did need that scene. It didn’t do masses of plot work but it was huge emotionally. Put it back in and started rolling along.

Whew. Ok, episode—enjoy!

Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

Writing BFFs Alison Hammer and Bradeigh Godfrey were thirty days away from a publisher deadline for their third book when the news came down: change this book from women’s fiction to romance.

Should they do it? Could they do? How would they do it???

In this episode, Jennie Nash digs into this juicy question.

Books mentioned in this episode:

The Beach Trap

The Comeback Summer

Until Next Summer

Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

Hi! Jess here. I just finished Catherine Newman’s new novel Sandwich, and I’m feeling a lot of feelings. I expected Sandwich to be great because I love everything Catherine Newman writes, but it was a balm for a wound I did not realize I was nursing.

That’s what I love about books. Our feelings about them are highly personal and subjective. Some of my favorite books possess little literary merit but have found a place on my list of essential re-reads based on their emotional, temporal, or geographical entanglements.

Sandwich is a town on Cape Cod, where the bicep would be if the Cape were to let up on tricep day. A big part of my childhood was spent in a lovely house on Corn Hill in Truro, the second to last town on the very tip of the arm, where the Cape would wear her watch if she cared about the time.

When I was very small, my parents rented with friends, but when their best friend, Richard, bought our favorite of the hilltop houses, it became our second home, the place where my most visceral, cherished, rose-tinged memories were formed. The pine floors were soft under my feet, the sound of the bayside waves constant and gentle, and the light of the morning sun in the front bedroom remains my favorite filter.

When the house burned in the eighties, we all wept as if a family member had died. My father oversaw its reconstruction down to the perfect placement of the toilet. In a house bursting with actors, musicians and other sorts of wonderfully loud and dramatic guests, it was the only place one could be alone to lean on the windowsill looking out at Provincetown, down at the rock that emerged at low tide, and the cute boy from the cottage two doors over.

Richard died in 1992 and he took the magic of that house with him. We tried, we really did. We agreed to think of it as a new place, a future place, but our last gasp visit ended in an explosive family fight that served as final punctuation on that chapter of our lives.

Cape Cod has changed since the seventies and eighties for everyone, of course. It’s fancier, more curated. Less wild and dangerous, more pruned and planned. Everyone knows where the hidden freshwater pond is, and they are all there, all the time.

I mourn the loss of what Cape Cod was to me, but Catherine Newman brought it back for me while I was immersed in her words, and for that, I am grateful. Her novel bears little resemblance to my lived experiences, and yet it evoked moments and images that resonated deep in my body.

That’s what great books do for us. They help us feel things we thought we’d lost. They describe the things we lived and how they felt.

Read Sandwich. It will likely be something completely different for you than it was for me, but it will be something beautiful, nevertheless.

And with that, here’s our episode with Catherine Newman about genre-hopping and writing all the things.

“We’ll be tending our wounds. And we’ll be as young and as whole as we’re ever going to be.” - Catherine Newman, Sandwich

#AmReading

KJ: Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Recipes for a Beautiful Life by Rebecca Barry

Jess: Sure Shot by Sarina Bowen

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Missing You by Harlan Coben

Catherine: Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige

The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia

Original shownotes:

Why stick to any one genre? Our guest this week is Catherine Newman: memoirist, middle grade novelist, etiquette columnist and now the author of How to Be a Person: 65 Highly Useful, Super-Important Things to Learn Before You’re Grown-Up. While she’s at it, she writes a cooking blog, co-authored a book on crafts for kids and edits ChopChop, a kids cooking magazine. And she pens frequent funny essays for everything from O to the New York Times to the Cup of Jo website. In other words, she’s putting a pastiche of writing together and making it work with an insouciant disregard for any and all advice about self-branding or owning an niche or sticking to one topic or identity.

In fact, I’d argue that “insouciant disregard” might just BE her brand.

This episode also includes the immortal words “I’ve never had to kill anything during the podcast before,” uttered by Jess—so that’s a reason to listen right there. But there are plenty of others—this is a real nitty gritty episode on building a career and getting things done.

Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

It’s SO SO EASY for creatives to get caught up in chasing after praise and approval to boost their own mood and productivity. How can we spend less energy "borrowing self" from other people's reactions, and more energy pursuing what's important to us? KJ asks Kathleen Smith, author of True to You: A Therapist's Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself, to help us find our true writer-selves at all the moments when all the other opinions and demands and pseudo-beliefs beckon. The goal? Hanging up a mental sign that says “currently closed to imaginary commentary.”

Kathleen Smith PhD, LPC is an author, licensed therapist, and expert on relationship systems with degrees from Harvard University and The George Washington University. She is the author of Everything Isn’t Terrible: Conquer Your Insecurities, Interrupt Your Anxiety, and Finally Calm Down, a funny, practical guide that breaks down psychotherapy concepts into accessible stories of change and True to You: A Therapist’s Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Starting Being Yourself.

She also writes a weekly therapy newsletter, The Anxious Overachiever, —and clearly we all need THAT.

#AmReading

Kathleen: Wild Rituals, Caitlin O'Connell

KJ: The Creative Pragmatist, Amy Smilovic (largely unobtainable, so check out her Substack here.)

Find Kathleen via her website, Facebook, or Instagram

Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

We only meant to dissect the success of the writer from this NYT piece briefly, but it turned out we had a lot to say. No, we can’t all imitate her (nor do we want to) but there are things to be learned here. And things to be learned by checking in on your goals at mid-year! How’s it going out there?

LINKS

New York Times: How a Self-Published Book Broke ‘All the Rules’ and Became a Best Seller

The Atlantic: The 24-Year-Old Who Outsold Oprah This Week

The Nothing Sells Books but Books Still Sell essay and episode #401

Not linking to the workbook we discussed bc I have my doubts…

Not linking to the TT stuff either so sue me.

Start Where You Are, Meera Lee Patel

oh OKAY I’ll link to the workbook:

The Shadow Journal, Keila Shaheen

Rachael Herron’s Ink in Your Veins Podcast Ep. 183 with Jennie Nash

Sarina’s latest book, The Five Year Lie

Jess on Instagram and TikTok killing it

Funeral in my Brain, Lisa Levy (coming soon!)

2024 Words

KJ: Unapologetic

Sarina: Abundance

Jess: Recreate/Recreate

Jennie: I… do not remember. (It was Zone of Genius)

#AmReading

Jess: Ali Hazelwood’s Not In Love, Funny Story by Emily Henry

KJ: I Hope This Finds You Well, Natalie Sue

Sarina: The Paradise Problem, Christina Lauren

Jennie: They’re Going to Love You, Meg Howrey

An #AmWriting Success Story, Episode 404

Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

The Blueprint is a process of inquiry that ideally happens before you start to write a book, but is also incredibly effective before you start to revise a manuscript or if you happen to be stuck writing chapter three, or thirteen, or thirty-three over and over again.

Jennie created the Blueprint and KJ is both a fan and a book coach who is certified to teach it. In this short episode, we chat about why the Blueprint is so great and why it would be great for you to do it with us this summer!

Do The Blueprint With Us This Summer!

Starting July 2, we’ll be walking you through the 14 steps of the Blueprint over 10 weeks. Some of the steps are very short and we combined them into one episode.

Every episode speaks to fiction writers, memoir writers, and nonfiction writers. There are workbooks, and you will get a link to the digital download of the Blueprint book of your choice.

We’ve also invited four Author Accelerator coaches to host weekly AMAs (ask me anything) and write-alongs so you can ask questions, block off time to write, and meet other #amwriting listeners who are working on their projects, too. You can meet Amy Bernstein, Candace Coakley, Sara Gentry, and Stuart Wakefield in this post.

If you finish your Blueprint over the summer, you will be eligible to win a review from either me or KJ. (If you missed the #AmWriting Success Story about the writer who won the Blueprint Sprint grand prize in 2022, give it a listen. It’s very inspiring! It’s right HERE.)

To play along, you must be a paid subscriber.

Once you pay, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple!

Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

* Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

* Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, that’s fine — just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).

I want to join the Summer Blueprint Sprint!

I want to invite all my writer friends to join me!