On Notes and a new open call for pages
Plus news about a writing retreat I've launched!
Hello and happy Wednesday!
Substack has a new offering for us writers called Notes where I’ve been posting short-form content and links to helpful articles on all things publishing. My plan on Notes is to share positive information—if I post any Debbie Downer industry news there, I’ll chase it with proactive advice. This first note of mine (about debut women authors “of a certain age” proving their value in the marketplace) is gaining traction for good reason— it proves the gatekeepers aren’t always right!
Check in with me on Notes from time to time, it’s a fun place (so far!) to interact with your favorite content makers and I’m excited to keep sharing some of my favorite writing links there.
Introducing Turning Points! A new way to retreat.
Slight name change, totally unchanged mission: Turning Points is a new line of writing retreats I’ve launched to help writers turn a corner in their work and to face all manner of publishing challenges with an empowered mind and heart.
I've taught at traditional writing workshops for many years and I've been a student of those same workshops. The traditional workshop model works for a lot of people, but it doesn't work for me, and in the private coaching that I do, I find it's leaving a lot of writers at loose ends.
No more loose ends. No more stumbling around in the dark of all of this. Life is hard enough. Writing is supposed to be sensual and challenging and thrilling and life-affirming, not sanity erasing. That’s my take, at least!
Visit https://www.courtneymaum.com/writing-retreats to learn what makes Turning Points different and exciting. And please do share with anyone who could benefit from our unique workshop approach—we’re taking people at all different stages of their careers.
If you are a paid subscriber with the opening pages of a fiction manuscript featuring a child’s point of view, I’d love the chance to give feedback on your pages in an upcoming post. Here’s how that works:
For the intents and purposes of this open call, we’ll define “child narrator” as anyone 0-23 years old.
Adult fiction and YA are both okay.
Send your manuscript title, super short description of project and first 5 pages in the body of an email to thequerydoula@gmail.com with subject header “Open call: Child POV.” If you are submitting YA, let me know the age range of your intended audience. (No attachments please.)
I will get in touch only if I intend to use your material in an upcoming post.
These open calls are only for paid subscribers. Please upgrade if you’d like to join us!
Last week, I was on the absolutely perfect podcast “Terrible, Thanks for Asking” put out by an author (who I can now call a friend after spending an entire afternoon with her and several donkeys) Nora McInerney. This episode is raw, it’s challenging, it’s me admitting how difficult it is to balance the identities of “artist” and “mother.” Give it a listen if you have time!
This Sunday at 4pm I’ll be joining the award-winning journalist and author Sarah Maslin Nir at the beautiful Stockbridge Library in the Massachusetts Berkshires to talk about writing and journalism, and how horses help (or hinder) our respective written work. All info here!
May 20th, I’m the Keynote speaker at the annual “Pitch and Publish” conference in Westport, CT— this is one of those real deal, super helpful conferences for writers: candid information with a kick-ass line-up of speakers. Learn how to join us!
Thanks for being here and Happy Wednesday. I’ll have feedback on your opening pages coming this Friday.
Read and saved that article as soon as you posted it in Notes, and it's become a reassuring "mantra" of sorts sitting in my Asana file. Thank you, Courtney! Also, love the new retreat name.
Are you still accepting child narrator pages?