Last year, I decided to guide my readers through my 12-week NaNoWriMo planning journey and it went so well that I’m offering the email course again this year! Want to learn more? Here are some 12 Weeks to a NaNo Win FAQs (frequently asked questions):
What is NaNoWriMo?
Good question! NaNoWriMo (which is sometimes further shortened to NaNo) is an abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month, which began in 1999 as a challenge to write 50,000 words of a new novel during the month of November. It has since expanded to become a nonprofit with a variety of programs that support the challenge and writing education in general. However, the central challenge remains the same and now, 23 years later, hundreds of thousands of writers participate annually. You can “win” NaNoWriMo by reaching the word count goal.
Who is “12 Weeks to a NaNo Win” for?
NaNoWriMo is all about writing 50,000 words in November. But the truth is, anyone who is planning a novel or memoir is welcome (and encouraged!) to join. You can benefit from this course whether you’ve always wanted to participate but were not sure how to get started, you have tried before and have not been able to make it to the finish line, or you’ve won before but want an extra boost this year to make the experience smoother and more enjoyable.
What do I get when I sign up?
Subscribers will receive twelve customized email lessons full of tips, tricks, exercises, and inspiration aimed at helping them find that elusive NaNo win!
The FREE 12 Weeks to a NaNo Win course includes the following topics:
Finding the elusive “high concept” idea
Researching genre and comp titles
Choosing themes
Creating a killer pitch
The Five major story beats
Mapping a character arc
Introduction to world building
First Week Drafting – Hooking your reader
Second Week Drafting – Everything changes
Third Week Drafting – Midpoint reflection
Fourth Week Drafting – HEA, HFN, or tragedy? You decide!
Now what?
Why would I want to start planning so early?
I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo for over ten years now (!!), either during the month of November or during one of the Camp NaNo months (April and July). And I can tell you that fast drafting has been really effective in helping me silence the inner editor and explore a new story idea. But I have the best success when I do a little bit of planning before November starts. While it’s true you can’t technically start on your 50,000 words until November 1, you can set yourself up for success by building the important story scaffolding in the months leading up to the start date.
What if I don’t sign up by September 5?
No worries! If you sign up after the first emails have gone out, we’ll catch you up so you’ll still get the full course in your inbox. However, if you’re seeing this before September 5, sign up now! It will enhance the experience to give yourself the full 12 weeks and follow along with me and the community of writers as we prep together. Sign-up will officially close on September 31.
Do I need to make any commitments?
Only to yourself. 12 Weeks to a NaNo Win is a free course so there is no financial commitment and you won’t have any “assignments” to turn in. Each week will focus on a new concept or recommended action step to move you further along on your planning journey.
How do I sign up?
Subscribe today at pages.julieartz.com/nanowin so that you don’t miss out on this free 12-week email series or the tips, tricks, and giveaways that I’m only making available to my subscribers! And follow along on Instagram as I answer your burning NaNo prep and fast drafting questions all season long.
Need extra support as you draft? Check out my Six-Week Prewriting Intensive and coaching packages on my Book Coaching page.
Writing a creative nonfiction book can be overwhelming. And working with a book coach 1:1 can be expensive. Take advantage of this opportunity for personalized 1:1 expert guidance on your CNF project at a fraction of the usual cost to work with a book coach.
Join nonfiction book coaches Suzette Mullen and Julie Artz for a “Your Next Step” VIP Mini-Retreat. The retreat takes place immediately following HippoCamp on August 14-15, 2022 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Bring your manuscript, your partial draft, or your big idea. Walk out with an actionable next steps plan for your book and more.
Here’s a preview of what it’s like to work with Suzette:
“Working with Suzette helped me refine and elevate my concept, position and focus my book, and pitch a polished proposal that sparked interest from multiple publishers and led to a book deal. Suzette is calm, in charge without being bossy, and tough in the best kind of way. She is attuned to finding the deeper “why” of your story, and she won’t let you get away without going as deep as you need to go in service of that story. She truly is Your Story Finder, your book coach.”
Amy Goldmacher, Editor of forthcoming anthology, Passed On: Daughters Write About Father Loss, Lack, and Legacy (University of Georgia Press).
Empowering Women to Tell Their Stories
Wondering what it’s like to have Julie guide your memoir work? Answer three questions:
Are you a socially conscious reader?
Are you ready to dig deep?
Are you in this for the long-haul?
If you answered yes to these three questions, join us in Lancaster! Julie serves social and environmental justice-minded story geeks who understand that books change lives with a combination of craft knowledge, industry smarts, strategic planning, and tough love.
Check out this quick video for more about the type of memoir that inspires her.
“Julie, I am blown away by what I have been able to absorb of your feedback. Thank you for being so patient and generous with me and all of my questions. Author Accelerator has never steered me wrong! I can already see where I need to sharpen the “point.” Thank you for being open to clarifications, questions and a dialogue. I already feel safe in your literary hands.”
A one-page summary of your project (template provided)
DURING the Retreat
We’ll gather for a welcome dinner and then spend the next day at a co-working space where you will get focused attention on your book project, in small-group and 1:1 sessions.
Light breakfast and lunch included plus an optional happy hour.
AFTER the Retreat
Participants will join Suzette and Julie for a small group 90-minute Zoom call in October where we’ll check-in and respond to questions.
Outcome
Participants will leave this coaching experience with:
A query evaluation
An assessment of craft challenges and marketability
A community of serious, like-minded writers
A next steps plan to get their manuscript query ready
Bonus: An understanding of publication path options
“Your Next Step” VIP Mini-Retreat Schedule
Sunday, August 14, 2022*:
6:00 pm: Casual dinner after HippoCamp ends. Community building and informal Q&A.
Monday, August 15, 2022:
8:30 am: Check-in at local co-working space Coffee/tea and light breakfast provided.
9-10:30 am: Group gathering
10:30 am – 3:00 pm: 1:1 with coaches/quiet writing time/small group gathering
12:00 – 1:00: Lunch provided
3:00 pm – 3:45 pm: Path to Publication strategy session
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Wrap up/Q&A
5:00 pm: Optional Happy Hour
*Transportation, lodging, and happy hour not included in the price of the retreat.
Ready to sign up? A few logistics…
This retreat, which includes feedback on prework, a full day of learning, coaching, and community building, and a follow-up group coaching session for ongoing support, is available to 8 writers only. Get the benefits of 1:1 coaching and a VIP Day for only $699. Take Your Next Step, submit a brief application today by clicking Apply Now! below.
Have I mentioned recently how much I LOVE what I do? I’m honored each time a client trusts me with their words. So if you’ve been hoping to work with me in 2023, now is the time! With the exception of a few spots for Manuscript Audits, I am fully booked in the first half of 2023, but do have limited coaching slots opening up this summer.
As a reminder, I serve social and environmental justice-minded story geeks who understand that books change lives. Speculative fiction across age ranges is my sweet spot, but I also love working with memoir, especially in the women’s empowerment/social justice/environmental justice space. So if that sounds like you, please reach out!
I’m so excited to get to spend my days working with authors to translate the stories in their hearts to the page. I’m booking out into 2023 and beyond. So now is the perfect time to invest in your story by reaching out to me at julieartz.com/contact-julie.
What’s it Like to Work With Me?
I often make comparisons between my two loves: writing and gardening. We fertilize our story minds by filling them up with inspiration from other books, movies, art, music, or the beauty of the great outdoors. We pull the stray weeds that interrupt the flow of our story, put up fencing to keep out the plot bunnies, and carefully prune and shape our words season by season.
Sometimes the weeds get overwhelming, though. That newly planted/first draft stage can be a lonely place. A book coach can help guide you and make sure you persevere until your story garden blooms in all its preplanned glory.
A good book coach takes the time not just to edit a single page or chapter, but to learn about your vision for your story and your career, and help you achieve it.
It Takes a Village to Plant a Garden or Launch a Book!
Even with the support of a book coach, it often takes multiple passes to get a story pitch-ready. That’s why I recommend that all my clients cultivate relationships with critique partners and beta readers. With the help of your village, we can transform the glimmer of an idea to a mature story that will enchant readers as much as the most beautiful garden. Then I can help you goal-set and strategize how best to pitch that idea so that it can finally find readers out in the world.
Finding a critique partner is at the top of my list of things I wish every writer would do BEFORE reaching out to an agent, editor, or book coach for help with their memoir.
Getting those fresh eyes on your early drafts can help you fill the gap between your vision for the story and what you’ve actually got on the page. And the friendship/support a critique partner can provide is invaluable on what can be a long and lonely journey toward publication.
Two-thirds of participants in the first two rounds found a critique partner match and you can too! Sign up for Round Three of CP Meet Cute at pages.julieartz.com/meet-cute.
But finding critique partners can be tough, especially with words as tender and personal as our memoirs. Now you don’t have to go it alone—I can help you find other like-minded memoirists and have a speed-dating inspired format to help you quickly identify if you’re a match!
In August, I’m running the third round of this FREE critique partner matching service, CP Meet Cute.
Have more questions? Check out this quick video I made about CP Meet Cute!
CP Meet Cute is a tribute to the romance novels that have been my lifeblood during this panini, but it’s not just for romance writers—it’s for writers of all genres and ages categories, including Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult, and Creative Nonfiction!
Writers at any level who are looking for a critique partner can sign up here and I’ll be in touch with more details: https://pages.julieartz.com/meet-cute.
How Does It Work?
Think of it like speed dating! After you sign up, you’ll get an email with some ground rules and a link to my Matchmaker Survey. This brief survey helps me learn a little bit about you so that I can match you with a group of like-minded writers. That group of 3-5 writers will be your CP Meet Cute Cohort.
I’ll send you an email introducing you to your cohort and providing some resources on how to give great feedback and how to structure critique groups. Then your cohort will have two weeks to exchange the first chapters of your works in progress.
Once the two weeks have passed, you’ll get a follow-up email asking whether you’ve found someone you think you can trust with your pages going forward. If so, congratulations! You’ve taken the next step in your writing journey and now you’ve got a buddy to walk with you. If not, do not fear, you’ll go back into the pool for another round of CP Meet Cute.
CP Meet Cute FAQ
Q: What’s the schedule for Round Three?
A: Here are the key dates for Round Three:
August 31, 2022 – Round Three Registration closes.
September 6, 2022 – Matchmaker Survey closes.
September 12, 2022 – Cohorts are introduced.
October 10, 2022 – Successful matches swipe right. Everyone else moves on to Round Four.
Q: Can anyone participate in CP Meet Cute?
A: Anyone who has written at least one picture book manuscript or the first chapter of a work in progress can participate in CP Meet Cute. You just need some pages to share with your cohort and a willingness to give and receive feedback.
There are categories for Picture Book, Middle Grade, YA, Adult, and Nonfiction across all genres.
Q: But what about Chapter Books?
A: At this time, CP Meet Cute does not include Chapter Books or early readers. Chapter Books are such tricky things with set reading levels, fairly strict content and word choice parameters, and the need for a formula that can work for multiple books in a series. They’re a hard sell as a debut and not my particular area of expertise, so I am not planning to include them in CP Meet Cute.
A lot of the dialogue around the announcement that Pitch Wars is coming to an end has been along the lines of “don’t worry, cold querying works!” And I *agree* with that 100% (It’s how I found my first agent). But Pitch Wars has always been about more than the Agent Showcase. Yes, cold-querying works, but a lot of writers worry about how they’ll find mentorship, critique partners, writing friends…how they’ll continue to hone their craft and learn. That community aspect was the true heart of Pitch Wars.
First, let me say that community lives on. It’s not going to go away just because the mentorship program has reached its end.
But also, I’ve got something sort of exciting that I was already planning, but am going to announce early because of all of this…
For a while now, I’ve been thinking about all the things I want writers to do BEFORE they reach out to work with a book coach and editor. And finding a critique group is at the top of that list. So I’d like to introduce CP Meet Cute (also on Twitter and Instagram under #cpmeetcute).
CP Meet Cute is a tribute to the romance novels that have been my lifeblood during this panini, but it’s also a program that I’m going to facilitate to help you find a critique partner.
So writers at any level who are looking for a critique partner can sign up here and I’ll be in touch with more details:https://pages.julieartz.com/meet-cute. If you missed out on the March go-round of CP Meet Cute, go ahead and sign up and I’ll be in touch when it’s time for the next round, coming later this spring.
CP Meet Cute kicks off with a webinar on March 7 about how to find, build, and maintain successful CP relationships. Then, each participant will fill out a brief survey that I’ll use to introduce you to a handful of possible matches.
CPs are the Special Sauce Webinar | Monday, March 7, 2022
Join me and several of my critique partners Monday, March 7, at 1pm Pacific for a conversation and Q&A about finding, building relationships with, and maintaining strong critique partner relationships.
I’ve been so fortunate to have amazing critique partners in my writing life—this webinar will help you find the same success. Here’s a little bit about my guests:
Jessica Vitalis is a Columbia MBA-wielding writer with a mission for writing entertaining and thought-provoking middle grade literature. An active volunteer in the kidlit community, she also founded Magic in the Middle, a series of free monthly recorded book talks, to help educators introduce young readers to new stories. She was recently named a 2021 Canada Council of the Arts Grant Recipient. An American expat, she now lives in Canada with her husband and two precocious daughters. She loves traveling, sailing and scuba diving, but when she’s at home, she can usually be found reading a book or changing the batteries in her heated socks. The Wolf’s Curse is her debut novel; the companion,The Rabbit’s Gift, comes out October 25th.
Lily LaMottegraduated from Hamline’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. When she isn’t writing, she’s cooking up new recipes, exploring new crafts, and supporting her library system as a KCLS Foundation board member. Her debut middle grade graphic novel Measuring Up is an ALA Top Ten Graphic Novel and a Cybils Award winner. Unhappy Camper and Lily’s debut picture book Chloe’s Lunar New Year are forthcoming in early 2023. Visit her at www.lilylamotte.com.
Gabrielle K. Byrnelives in the tangled wilds of the Pacific Northwest, where she writes fantasy for teens. Gabby has a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental studies (marine biology) from The Evergreen State College, and a Master of Arts degree in literature from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. A jack of many trades, Gabby also studied opera in Philadelphia, and medieval studies in New York, but writing stories is the common thread that ties all her interests together. Gabby loves rain, marine biology, Thai food, and naming pets (even ones she doesn’t own). When she’s not writing, she can be found fishing spineless beasties out of the Salish Sea with her husband and two daughters. Her debut, Rise of the Dragon Moon (Macmillan/Imprint, 2019), was a Junior Library Guild Selection. Kirkus called her second book, The Edge of Strange Hollow (Macmillan/Imprint, 2021), “spookily thrilling with superlative worldbuilding.”
Gita Treleaseis the author of All That Glitters (UK: Enchantée), an NPR Best Book of the Year, its sequel Everything That Burns (UK: Liberté), and a contributor to the fairy tale-inspired anthology At Midnight, coming November 2022. Born in Sweden to Indian and Swedish parents, Gita now divides her time between a village in Massachusetts and the wild coast of Maine. Before she became a novelist, she taught classes on monsters and fairy tales, many of which have crept into her stories.
I love Pitch Wars and am so excited to see the magic in my inbox! If you haven’t applied yet, there’s still time to review wishlists and get your submission in. Learn more at Pitchwars.org.
This month, subscribers have received the first four out of twelve customized email lessons full of tips, tricks, exercises, and inspiration aimed at helping you find that elusive NaNo win!
The FREE 12 Weeks to Your NaNo Win course includes the following topics:
Finding the elusive “high concept” idea
Researching genre and comp titles
Choosing themes
Creating a killer pitch
The Five major story beats
Mapping a character arc
Introduction to world building
Drafting – Hooking your reader
Drafting – Everything changes
Drafting – Midpoint reflection
Drafting – HEA, HFN, or tragedy? You decide!
Now what?
Don’t miss out, go to julieartz.com/subscribe today and I’ll send you a daily catch-up email in time for you to hit the ground running for #plantober.
I’m appearing in Session Three of the Blueprint for a Book half-day webinar on Friday, September 24, 2021, 8am PT / 10am CT / 11am ET.
During this event, Author Accelerator founder and CEO Jennie Nash – who designed and developed the Blueprint for a Book method after helping her clients land six-figure book deals with Big 5 publishers as a book coach herself – will take you inside the Blueprint method and show you how book coaches can use it to transform not only books, but their own businesses too.
Attendees will also have access to an exclusive bonus offer when they sign up for the Book Coach Certification program. Save your seat now!
All your Middle Grade Pitch Wars questions: answered! Come hang out with me and my fellow MG Pitch Wars Mentors live today (September 16) at 4PM PT/ 7PM EST.
Want to learn about Pitch Wars and don’t know where to start? Pop in and ask your questions or just say hi! We’d love to “see” you in the chat.
Watch live HERE on Thursday, September 16 or watch the playback later.
I’m thrilled to be back for a fifth year as a Pitch Wars MG mentor!
*Pitch Wars is a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each to spend three months revising their manuscript. It ends in February with an Agent Showcase, where agents can read a pitch/first page and can request to read more. Learn more at pitchwars.org.
Note: I have been careful to include alt text to make this wishlist accessible to screen readers and other devices. But if you’d like to read a text-only version of this wishlist, I have one here:
After more than two decades of business writing and editing, ten years ago I pivoted to creative writing. Since then, I have worked with authors published by the Big 4, mid-sized, and indie presses. I have also helped clients formulate their queries and pitching strategies. My affiliations with SCBWI, AWP, and EFA, and my work with Pitch Wars/Teen Pit, keep my industry knowledge current and sharp.
I am a big-picture thinker who helps writers make what’s on the page as strong as what’s in their head. Satisfying character arcs and vibrant world building are my superpowers! I love teaching writers about craft, whether they need scene-writing 101 or a deep dive into playing with figurative language. In addition to mentoring writers, I also contribute to The Winged Pen and Middle Grade at Heart, and I’m a past Co-Regional Advisor for SCBWI Western Washington. In my free time, you’ll find me writing magical and geeky stories for all ages, pottering in the garden, out hiking in the glorious Pacific Northwest, or maybe in a hammock devouring a delicious new book.
What to Expect
So what can you expect from me? My critique partners have a running joke about my detailed edit letters and knack for comp titles and high-concept pitches. My kids claim I have the maturity level of an 11-year-old, which is why I channel middle grade voice so well. In 2015, my own Pitch Wars mentee experience felt like going through an MFA program in two short months. I plan to bring that same craft-focused intensity to my mentee in 2021!
I love geeking out on comp titles and movie references and middle grade voice and magic systems. Sub to me and you will get a blend of craft and industry knowledge, a compassionate, yet firm hand to guide you, and probably some very dorky and MG-appropriate gifs and jokes.
If you’d like to know more about what it’s like to work with me, check out my client testimonials on my Book Coaching page.
Pitch Wars MG – A Track Record of Success
There are no guarantees in this business. But I will say that all four of my amazing mentees have been able to find representation with the manuscript that they worked on with me during Pitch Wars–Two have books coming out in the next two years! And Pitch Wars as a whole has generated hundreds of success stories. Mentorship works.
Please do apply (as long as you have a complete draft and follow wish list guidelines). But also know that Pitch Wars is just one of many paths to publication. If you don’t get picked, keep participating in the community, keep learning, and KEEP WRITING. Quitting is the only thing that guarantees you will not succeed.
One of the best ways to pick a mentor is by understanding their tastes. And their favorite books are a big part of that. Here are a few of my recent favorites:
As you might have guessed from this list, this year, I’ll be focusing on fantasy (including historical fantasy and contemporary stories with strong magical elements) and adding issue-driven contemporary to my Pitch Wars MG wish list! I’d particularly love to see novels in verse, stories that tackle contemporary social justice and feminist-oriented issues, and/or unique world building and magic systems.
My goal is to find a story with a fresh premise and beautiful writing. I prefer to work with an experienced writer who is immersed in the world of middle grade literature and regularly works with critique partners. No first drafts, please!
!!! Send Me Stories by Traditionally Underrepresented Authors!!!
***Major bonus points for authors from a traditionally underrepresented group. BIPOC, neurodivergent, disabled, and LGBTQ+ middle grade authors welcomed!***
Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of some of the things I love about middle grade:
A compelling narrative voice like The Wolf’s Curse by Jessica Vitalis
Heartwarming family interactions with magical overtones like Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Coming of age and puberty themes like Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
Examinations of the consequences of family secrets and self esteem like Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly
Mash-ups, fresh retellings, and dual POV like A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat
A survival story OR novel in verse like Alone by Megan Freeman
A historical fiction with strong voice like The Mad Wolf’s Daughter by Diane Magras
But I’d also love a middle grade fantasy version of something like:
The voice, scope and world building of The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, but actually MG! (OK, shelved as MG, but totally NOT a typical MG book. If you’d like to exhaustively but amicably debate this topic over a nice cup of tea, we might be a good fit!)
A fantasy world that blends seamlessly with current social justice themes like A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
Dark magical creatures and lyrical writing like Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Unexpected twists, unreliable narrators, and epic world building like The Queen’s Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
A blend of family stories, music, and contemporary issues like Solo by Kwame Alexander
An ensemble cast of misfits on a rip-roaring magical or sci-fi adventure, but with deep personal stakes and an internal arc like Spellhacker by M. K. England
Julie’s No List
Last year, nearly 20% of the submissions in my Pitch Wars MG inbox included elements from my no list. This included genres that I do not mentor or topics that are outside my wheelhouse. Please don’t do this! We have so many talented mentors who will be better able to help you with these types of stories. It’s not only about preference, but about my own skillset as a mentor!
Humor
Lower MG
Light contemporary stories
Mysteries
Portal fantasies
Non-magical animal POVs (A dragon? OK. A squirrel/dog/cat? No thank you.)
Slapstick or contemporary adventures
If you are a past or present client, or if I know you from SCBWI, please submit to one of the other amazing MG mentors instead of submitting to me.
I’m happy to answer questions on Twitter (please @ me rather than sending a DM because others may have the exact same question!), but I’ll also be participating in the Pitch Wars Live: MG chat on Thursday, September 16, 2021, from 4-6 pm PT and the #AskMentor chat on Twitter on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, at 5 pm PT and Friday, September 24, 2021, at 5 pm PT.
Thank you!
Thanks for stopping by. If you do decide to submit to me, thank you for trusting me with your words! I take my job as a mentor very seriously and look forward to diving into my inbox.
Don’t Forget to Visit the Other MG Mentors
Don’t forget to check out the other Middle Grade mentors!
