The Memoir Incubator is an MFA-level course, spanning 12 months, for ten memoir writers interested in drafting, developing or revising their memoir drafts, a comprehensive craft-based study of the memoir form, and, as appropriate, a thoughtful introduction to the memoir publishing market.  We are now accepting applications for the next phase of the Memoir Incubator, 2019 - 2020

Check out our February 2019 edition of "Writing Life Essentials," a monthly hand-curated list of opportunities for writers. We do the research, so you have more time for what matters: the writing. Or, the eating the candies that will go on sale the day after Valentine’s Day. That matters, too.

Katrin Schumann explores what it's really like for authors in the months before launching a new book into the marketplace.

A book launch is a prolonged, and frankly rather strange, experience. You've already been working for what seems like ages (and sometimes is ages) on a manuscript. Eons pass as you prepare that manuscript for the reality of a commercial marketplace: editing, cover design, interior design, more editing, acknowledgements, nightmares about who you've forgotten to acknowledge, and diving into promotional activities. Your book--it's themes, characters, the whole point of it--seems far away now. It's become a product, one ...

The final stages before book publication involve copyediting (and then proofreading). It's your last chance to make changes before your writing goes public. What can you do at this stage to assure your book stays true to your unique vision and style?

Every soon-to-be published writer is nervous and excited about copyedits. Will they require rewriting of beloved text

By Katrin Schumann

I write a lot about writers’ insecurities because for 99.9 percent of us, fear lurks behind the brave faces we put on. Depending on where we are in our careers, we may all be afraid of different types of failures, but these deep-seated anxieties rarely go away completely.

Most artists learn to live with fear—and some learn to use it to drive toward better work. I might even dare to say that if you don’t experience doubt or fear, you should be worried. Overconfidence usually doesn’t serve writers well.