It’s a marketing week! Planning emails and blog posts and the calendar for the next six months or so.

Promotional graphic for a Mission Belonging and Strathmore workshop. The Mission Belonging and Strathmore logos appear at the top. A portrait of Allison K. Williams shows her smiling, with red hair and wearing a green top against a softly blurred background. Text on the graphic reads: “Choosing Your Publishing Path in 2026 — a workshop for writers with Allison K. Williams."

💫 Four weeks from tonight! Join author/editor @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social for a workshop on choosing your publishing path—Big Five, self‑publishing, hybrid, and more. Learn what to avoid and how to find solid industry info.

Thurs 4/16, 7 PM ET
🎟️ circle.missionbelonging.org/c/events/cho...

W/thanks to @byjenamiller.bsky.social and @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social for sourcing.

Why Your Family Isn’t Supportive When You Publish Your Memoir | Jane Friedman Lack of support might come from fears about their own privacy, not understanding the enormity of your achievement, and/or information overload.

"Some writers are motivated by a desire to 'show them' or make someone truly understand how they’ve hurt us. Spite helps motivate us to finish drafts but revenge doesn’t make good books."

@allisonkwilliams.bsky.social discusses why family might not be supportive (especially online) re: your memoir.

Why Your Family Isn’t Supportive When You Publish Your Memoir | Jane Friedman Lack of support might come from fears about their own privacy, not understanding the enormity of your achievement, and/or information overload.

Wise and brilliant post: why family and friends may not be as thrilled for your book as you'd hope. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @janefriedman.com janefriedman.com/why-your-fam... #writingcommunity #publishing #authorlife

(Good) Writing Isn't Safe You can't write a powerful message while controlling how it will be received.

Unless your family is very online, it’s unlikely they harm your reputation by attacking your writing. They can only make you uncomfortable, and if they’re that kind of person, they already do. Not publishing isn’t going to improve that relationship.

adventuresinwriting.substack.com/p/good-writi...

PSA to writer friends - have you backed up your computer lately?

How I Successfully Restored My Facebook Account (and learned I needed a new community) By Allison K Williams Did you miss me? For 5 months, I was off Facebook, my account disabled in a worldwide, AI-driven “crackdown” on rule-breakers, pornographers and hackers, Meta’s attempt to sho…

A cautionary tale about where we make our online communities - how @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social finally restored her Facebook account and what she's now doing differently brevity.wordpress.com/2025/10/21/n... @dintywmoore.bsky.social #writinglife #writingcommunity #authorlife #skywriters

Book Review: Seven Drafts - Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book Classic album reviews from the 1970's and 1980's

Book Review: Seven Drafts - Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book by Allison K Williams (published in Jan 2001 by Woodhall Press ). An outstanding reference recommended for every writer's arsenal. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social mcmaenza.blogspot.com/2026/01/book... #SevenDrafts

Thank you!!

There Is No Closure: Stop Organizing and Start Writing By Allison K Williams My mother, as pageant queen Miss Do-It-Now, urging construction companies not to wait until spring. When people meet my mother, they nod and say, “That explains so much.” We a…

Creativity is uncertainty. It's scary for all of us. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/n... #writingcommunity #writinglife #authorlife #creativewriting

Successfully Selling Memoir: It’s About the Reader By Allison K Williams The Walking Library in London “Writing an essay collection or a memoir is an act of generosity. A common misconception is that these kinds of books are all about the aut…

Who's the reader for your memoir? Why answering this question will help you find a publishing deal @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/10/08/a... #WritingCommunity #writinglife #authorlife #publishing #skywriters

Thank you!!! Glad to have you - bring your Q’s 😊

barbara peaches, painted by mary daisy arnold, 1912

barbara peaches, painted by mary daisy arnold, 1912

Reconstruction: Writing the Unknown As If It’s Real Makes Stronger Scenes By Allison K Williams How do you “show” when you just don’t know? First-person POV in both memoir and fiction demands emotional truth—but what happens when the main character doesn’t (or can’t) kno…

The fine art of perhapsing - essential sometimes for memoirists, also useful for novelists. @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/r... #writingcommunity #authorcommunity #writingtips #memoir #writinglife #skywriters

WEBINAR | Micro Memoirs: Writing Tiny True Stories - Craft Talks Can you write a powerful, true story in less than 300 words? Learn how to write emotionally resonant, attention-grabbing micro memoirs.

Super excited to return to @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social's Craft Talks to teach a webinar on Micro Memoirs. This tiny form combines the best parts of memoir and poetry. And the early bird price is only $15!

Learn more: writingcraft.com/event/micro-...

Don’t Ask Readers to Cry for a Stranger (‘Cause They Won’t) By Allison K Williams Ever been to a funeral for someone you don’t know? Maybe your spouse’s coworker’s spouse, or your mother’s friend’s cousin. You felt the warm, hu…

A common mistake when trying to create empathy in the reader - @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/09/25/c... #writingcommunity #authorcommunity #writingtips #writinglife #skywriters

This just happened!!! I’m so excited. It will be my first time at @awpwriter.bsky.social! Thrilled to be on a panel with @janefriedman.com @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social Darien Hsu Gee & Tonya Todd! 💗

What Elizabeth Gilbert Gets Right About Telling the Hardest Truths By Rebecca Morrison I met Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the blockbuster Eat, Pray, Love, at a book event in DC last year. It wasn’t one of those quick “hello, sign my book” interactions. I arriv…

"The rawest parts of ourselves are never tidy. They can make us uncomfortable. But that’s okay. That’s the point of putting truth on the page."

@allisonkwilliams.bsky.social @riverheadbooks.bsky.social @dintywmoore.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/09/11/g...

“Sh*t Happened” Isn’t Enough: Crafting Compelling Memoir from Dramatic Action By Allison K Williams Recently, I heard a panel of distinguished agents and publishing-house editors discussing trends in publishing, social media, and where authors fit in the literary machine. Wh…

What might make your trauma memoir stand out? @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/08/05/d... #writingcommunity #memoir #authorlife #writinglife #skywriters

Memoir as Reliquary: Making Your Story Matter By Allison K Williams What makes a place, or a thing, matter? In The Late Scholar, Jill Paton Walsh’s continuation of Dorothy L. Sayers’ Golden Age detective novels, Peter Wimsey sees a…

In stories, whether fiction or non-fiction, we're not sharing the 'what'. We're sharing the 'why and how' - why and how something matters. Love this by @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social at @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/m... #writingcommunity #writinglife #memoir #skywriters

My CNF was published today by Sudden Flash. This was born in a workshop with @dintywmoore.bsky.social and @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social and revised in @smokelong.bsky.social Fitness.

yoursuddenflash.blogspot.com/2025/07/grie... Sudden Flash: Grief is a Steep Hill to Climb

No Expiration on Dreams: How I Published My Debut Novel at Seventy-Seven By Trish McDonald “Don’t you realize everything has an expiration date?” A literary agent asked me this question as I stood in front of a panel of publishing executives. It was 2020 and I had enter…

I'm thrilled for the author who triumphed in this competition, appalled at the lazyass publisher who expected her to be as expert at marketing as writing. Just what was the publisher going to add? @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/03/n... #writingcommunity #skywriters

What does our democracy need now? The sense of community I felt at a Capitol vigil for the Hortmans gave me insight and hope for our democracy.

www.minnpost.com/community-vo... Thanks, @minnpostbsky.social, for posing this question to readers and for publishing my essay. @susanlee.bsky.social @asantana70.bsky.social @chriswarcraft.bsky.social @jbendery.bsky.social @nplusonemag.com @hcrichardson.bsky.social @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social

Let’s make hot commie summer national, guys

The Archive Challenge — Win $400! - SmokeLong Quarterly How often do you read the literary journals you submit your work to? Flash has been around for centuries but as “flash” only for around 23 years, when James Thomas’s wife suggested the term. Lots of o...

This challenge starts June 25th. Read the archives of a favorite flash journal and get your name in the hat to win $400. www.smokelong.com/the-archive-...

Dear Writer, Don’t Bite Dear Writer/Artist/Creative Person of Some Type— We have been admiring your writing/painting/non-specific creative thing for a while/some time/the length of time it takes to do a Google search now …

"First comes the joyful feeling: Finally! My time has come! Then comes the sinking feeling: Wait. This doesn’t even mention the title of my book. Could they even have read it in a week?" ~ @sheilasquill.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/06/25/d...

Please take a break from reading war coverage to read this perfect gem of a #summer essay by Lindsey Pharr in the current Brevity @dintywmoore.bsky.social mag.

You'll thank me later.

brevitymag.com/current-issu...

#WritingCommunity

Just want to chime in and agree with all the people that have been saying that it is not stupid or frivolous to make art even though it feels like the world is going crazy right now.

On the contrary, it's books and movies and music and art that gets us through the hard times – so we need it now.

Hey, it's here! My new book comes out today. Hope you like it. ❤