Open Book with Narratively Academy

Thanks so much to everyone who joined our live chat on Friday with Creative Nonfiction founder Lee Gutkind and New York Times features writer Steven Kurutz.

Steven has written so many fantastic articles over the years, and it was incredible to get his insight into how to find great stories—and figure out how and where to tell each one.

(We had a few technical difficulties which meant Steven had to be off-camera, but we rolled with it!) Click play above to listen to the full conversation.

We’re making this video free to all. If you like it and want to see/read more from Narratively Academy, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

What an honor it was to chat with Caroline Rothstein and hear all about how she handles the logistical, creative and emotional complexities of working on multiple writing projects at once. Even if you’re not an essayist-poet-performer-educator-filmmaker-screenwriter-playwright-novelist like Caroline is, if you always wish you had more time and energy to get creative, her insights here are gold. We’re making the full video free—click play above to watch, or listen in your favorite podcast player.

If you’re inspired to get even more insight from Caroline, her signature class, Deeply Personal: Writing First-Person Essays on Raw and Difficult Topics starts next week.

It’s been so wonderful to see the writers in this small workshop class develop close relationships while they explore writing *those* kinds of pieces — the ones you always want to write but that require a push to figure out how to tell them in the right way.

You may have noticed that this video with Kern Carter was one of our top 10 most-read Narratively Academy posts of the year, and it’s not hard to see why. We really appreciate it when a successful author can be wholly honest and transparent about all of the ups and downs of the industry, and Kern is nothing if not that. Kern has landed six separate book deals (yes, we said five when we promoted this chat; and yes, as he revealed in our live video, he landed yet another one since then!)

Next week at Narratively Academy, Kern will teach Telling Your Story: The 90-Minute Seminar for Kickstarting Your Memoir. He’s also one of the mentors for our 2026 Narratively Book Incubator. Kern is such a generous, kind and knowledgable writer, and we’re very lucky to have him as such an active member of this community. For our last post of the year, we decided to make this full video free to all.

Kern chatted with us about why he felt self-publishing was the perfect way for him to “practice in public,” how he crafted a pitch that got the attention of an agent, what happens after you sign a deal with a major publisher, and how he made the agonizing decision to walk away from one of his deals. Kern’s candor about how it all goes down is helpful advice for writers at any stage of their publishing journey. Click play above to watch the full conversation.

Ready to start writing your own memoir? Join Kern on Tuesday, January 6 for Telling Your Story: The 90-Minute Seminar for Kickstarting Your Memoir. He’ll talk through how to find your voice, identify the parts of your life worth sharing, and ensure that your memoir connects emotionally with readers. This fun, fast-paced 90-minute seminar will get your memoir juices flowing first thing in the new year.

And if you’re thinking about going all in and finally writing that book in 2026, don’t miss your chance to meet Kern and our other 2026 Narratively Book Incubator mentors on Wednesday, January 6.

All the info about the 2026 Narratively Book Incubator can be found here.

Happy New Year!

I could sing Christopher Blackwell’s praises all day long. He’s a beautiful writer — he won the 2023 Narratively Memoir Prize, after all, for his moving essay, “Chaos and Noise: One Man’s Harrowing Stint in Solitary Confinement” — a podcaster, executive director of an organization that works to empower incarcerated people, co-author of a book about solitary confinement and so much more. All while being incarcerated at a prison in Washington state, no less. But it’s not just that he does all these things — it’s that he does them all with passion, heart and intention.

I was lucky enough to get to chat with Christopher for an Open Book episode about how he manages to be such a prolific writer from where he currently is, the range of writing he does and where his ideas come from — plus, his own words of wisdom on how to write a deeply moving memoir essay. (And his advice is seriously gold.) Give it a watch or a listen just in time to submit something of your own to this year’s Memoir Prize, whether it’s an essay that just needs a quick dust-off and polish, or something you’ve been thinking about for weeks and are finally ready to just.bang.out. Head here to submit your piece to the 2025 Narratively Memoir Prize contest by EOD today! And, go…

To watch all of our Open Book videos — and access everything else Narratively Academy has to offer — become a paid subscriber today. ❤️

For someone as successful as Susannah Cahalan — she’s among a small pool of writers who actually once got to answer the question everyone always ponders, Who would play you in a movie? (Chloë Grace Moretz!) — she’s very humble. She’s this year’s Narratively Memoir Prize judge, and she’s not doing it merely as a favor — she genuinely can’t wait to read your memoir stories. Truly!

Susannah joined me in conversation for a live Open Book episode where she spoke openly about her experience writing her acclaimed memoir Brain on Fire, how it’s led to her illustrious career and subsequent books, what makes memoir stand out for her, plus what writers might do that will earn them bonus points. Don’t take my word for it — click play above to watch or listen to Susannah enthusiastically speak about what lights her up in memoir and answer audience questions to boot! (And then submit your essay to the 2025 Narratively Memoir Prize contest here by December 7!)

To watch all of our Open Book videos — and access everything else Narratively Academy has to offer — become a paid subscriber today. ❤️

While we have you… Wednesday is just around the corner, and you know what that means: Writers’ Room! If you’re anything like us, you’ll need this writing session more than ever as a chance to get something done before jetting off for the long holiday weekend. East Coast team: You’re in luck this week, as multi-hyphenate writer-artist-poet-performer-filmmaker and longtime Narratively alum Caroline Rothstein will be bringing her unique pizazz as a guest host this week. And West Coast team, you’re in luck, too, because Narratively Academy editorial director Brendan Spiegel Spiegel always brings his unique pizazz, which if you’ve ever joined, you know. 😉

Reminder about the details: Writers’ Room is a virtual space for members of our community to meet up to share and write together, and it takes place every Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. ET and again at 8 a.m. PT. You can choose to join whichever time works better for you — or even for both.

Click this Zoom link to join us for either session on Wednesday.

(If you are asked for a passcode, enter 824784)

Want to receive text message alerts each week when we’re about to begin Writers’ Room, or add this weekly event to your calendar?

8 a.m. ET Writers’ Room: head here to (very easily) sign up for text alerts, and here to add the 8 a.m. ET Writers’ Room to your calendar.

8 a.m. PT Writers’ Room: head here to sign up for text alerts and here to add the 8 a.m. PT Writers’ Room to your cal.

Click play above to watch the full conversation. Thank you for your support!

Last week, we had the absolute pleasure to speak with the three past winners of the Narratively Memoir Prize, Laura Green-Russell, Christopher Blackwell and Lisa Williamson Rosenberg…all at once. They each shared about the process of writing their essays, the starts and stops, the editors and mentors who played a role, the expectations they had (and didn’t have…at all). It was eye-opening and encouraging all at once. It made us want to get out there and write new pieces of our own, or refine old ones we’ve been meaning to work on. Perhaps this chat will do the same for you, whether you’ve been thinking about submitting to the 2025 Narratively Memoir Prize and you’d love some inside tips, or you’re looking to polish a new essay and could simply use a push.

If you missed it the first time, or you just want to glean the great advice these three shared all over again — and we don’t blame you — you can tune into the full recording of this conversation above. This, and all of the recordings in our Open Book Live video series, are available to Narratively Academy paid subscribers. Enjoy!

It’s no secret that we’re massive storytelling fans here at Narratively. When we’re not commissioning and editing stories, we’re reading essays, novels, and memoirs, listening to podcasts, and sinking into the couch (ideally with a kitten on our lap and tea in hand) to binge the latest streaming gem. My favorite shows and movies tend to start as the kinds of stories we already love: Slow Horses (originally a gripping spy novel series that, yes, my kitten and I just blew through), Inventing Anna (first a New York mag piece), The Queen’s Gambit (also a novel in its earlier form), and The Dropout (formerly a true-crime podcast).

These aren’t exceptions—they’re the blueprint. Hollywood is hungry for character-driven stories that come with depth, authenticity, and a built-in audience. And many of the best stories start as “literary IP.”

That’s why understanding IP—short for intellectual property, meaning the rights to control how a story is used, shared, and adapted—is more important than ever. Whether it’s a published book or a short memoir in a digital outlet like Narratively.com, great written stories offer more than just inspiration—they give producers fully realized worlds to build from.

It’s the difference between starting with a vibe and starting with a voice.

In my role leading Narratively, I’ve spent the better part of a decade working closely with writers to develop true stories into film and TV, with partners like Warner Bros., Universal, Emma Roberts, and LeBron James. And one thing I’ve learned? There’s no single path to being discovered. But knowing how to position your work as undeniable and get it in front of the right people, at the right time, can make all the difference.

To that end, I’ve lately been digging into how we can create more opportunities for our Narratively Academy storytellers. One conversation that stood out was with Margaret Harrison of Ingram Content Group—the behind-the-scenes distribution giant that quietly powers much of the book industry. She told me about a new platform they’ve launched called MediaScout, which is essentially a rights directory that Hollywood buyers are using to discover compelling IP for adaptation.

MediaScout was originally designed specifically for published books—but when I asked about the potential for other formats, Margaret lit up.

Intrigued, I asked to record a talk with her—and she graciously agreed. Even better, she offered the Narratively community early access to submit not just books, but essays, articles, and even unpublished stories directly to her team. As a longtime fan of what we do—and a firm believer in great storytelling—it didn’t take much convincing.

In the 9-minute video above, Margaret and I cover how MediaScout is helping storytellers get on the radar of producers and studios—at no cost to writers—no matter whether you’re self-published, traditionally published, or sitting on a manuscript in Google Docs.

👉 Use this form to tell Margaret and her team a little about yourself, help them get eyes on your work, and explore listing your IP.

What’s in the Video:

* What “literary IP” actually means—and why it matters now more than ever

* Why short stories, essays, and even unpublished works are in demand

* How MediaScout works—Hollywood buyers pay for access, writers don’t—and how to get your work into the system

* Why storytellers should feel hopeful about the future

Whether or not you decide to try MediaScout, I hope this convo leaves you a little more inspired and hopeful—and empowered—to treat your story like the valuable property it is.

This post was produced in paid partnership with MediaScout. We only feature tools we truly believe in—and that we think can genuinely benefit the storytellers in our community. If you’ve built something worth sharing, we’d love to hear from you.

Narratively Academy is a member-supported writer community. Consider joining us on our journey to empower and support one another.

Happy Sunday, writers! If you haven’t already, be sure to head over to the chat and tell us about your #WeeklyWin.

By the way, there’s only 1 seat left in The Art of Writing a Nonfiction Book That Reads Like a Novel, which starts this Wednesday, so if you’ve been thinking about joining that one, be sure to grab that last spot today.

One of my favorite things I did this week was join a bunch of you for our first-ever Community Critique. We all read writer Martha Bonnie’s story draft and had a wonderful conversation about how it might be edited and improved. Thanks so much to everyone who joined! If you didn’t get a chance to join live, paid members can read Martha’s piece + my critique memo here, then watch the recording of our session above—or listen to it as a podcast.

Stay tuned for the edited version of Martha’s story!

When it comes to writing dialogue, your mind probably goes to screenplays or novels. But many of the best nonfiction stories also include active, cinematic scenes that revolve around riveting dialogue. How do journalists and creative nonfiction writers do this while sticking to the truth? We talked to one of the best in the business—New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and historian Kim Cross—who joined Lee Gutkind for this week’s episode of our Open Book live conversation series.

Kim answered questions about how she gathers great dialogue to include in her articles and books; how to best present that dialogue to readers; and much more…she even gave us some hot tips on her favorite notebook and recording device!

Thanks so much to everyone who joined us live. The full recording of this conversation is above. This, and all of the recordings in our Open Book Live video series, are available to Narratively Academy paid subscribers.

This week’s Open Book conversation was a really great one! Melissa Petro, author of Shame on You: How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification chatted with us about how she re-conceptualized her memoir into a hybrid book that feels very of-the-moment—and got a publisher’s attention with her new proposal. Several participants in this Wednesday’s Writers’ Room mentioned that Melissa’s insight into how to reframe your personal experience into something universal was particular helpful for them. Because this one was impactful for so many of the folks who joined live, we’re going to keep the recording free and open to all. Give it a watch by clicking play above.

And if you want to learn more from Melissa, don’t miss Writing the Unspoken: Crafting Stories from Shame and Silence, her upcoming three-part workshop, designed to guide students on how to reclaim your stories from shame.

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