book inc

08/20/2026

book inc writer Jamie Yieh walks into the Writer's Digest Conference certain he doesn't belong, and walks out convinced he's part of the club.

Read the latest installment of our Field Notes column at https://bookinc.org/imposter-to-insider-my-first-book-conference/

08/17/2026

Congratulations to book inc writer Eileen Toomey, whose flash creative nonfiction piece "Widow Training [Field Notes]" has been nominated for Best of the Net by "Flash the Court"! We're so proud to celebrate this recognition of her powerful work.

Read it here: https://flashthecourt.com/2025/11/07/widow-training-field-notes-by-eileen-toomey/

08/06/2026

📝 New on the book inc Journal: Ask Tina tackles a question more debut writers are running into these days—"what genre IS this thing?"

This time, a writer's memoir-turned-fiction has them stuck between creative nonfiction, autofiction, and everything in between. Tina digs into the blurry lines of "fiction based on life experience," name-drops a few genre-bending reads for comparison, and lands on some reassuring advice for anyone wrestling with the same question.

Got a writing dilemma of your own? Tina's taking questions at [email protected].

🔗 Read the full column at https://bookinc.org/ask-tina-what-genre-is-my-book-anyway/

07/30/2026

📖 National Book Lovers Day is coming up on August 9th, and it's the perfect excuse to talk about something every writer already suspects: reading makes us better writers.

Memoir Incubator writer .moriarty.798 breaks down the science behind the reading-writing connection in her latest book inc journal entry, and shares the exact books that shaped the voice and structure of her memoir on grief and trauma, from Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking to Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale.

📚 Read the full piece on the book inc Journal
🔗 https://bookinc.org/the-reading-writing-connection/

07/23/2026

📝 New on the book inc Journal

book inc writer Zoë Gulliksen shares why she does her best writing at night, from candlelight to movie scores to the prompts that spark her evening pages.

🕯️ "Why I Do My Best Writing at Night"
✍️ Read now: https://bookinc.org/why-i-do-my-best-writing-at-night/

Bonus: Zoë's hosting PWN's Evening Pages this August, a two-week nightly writing group for fellow night owls.

📅 August 10 – 21, Mon–Fri
🕘 9 to 10 p.m. ET / 6 to 7 p.m. PT
💻 Via Zoom
🔗 Register at pwnwriters.org

07/21/2026

Join us in celebrating the launch of 's debut memoir, "Sober Mom."

Elizabeth is Project Write Now 's program director AND a book inc writer.

Join our writing community at bookinc.org.

07/16/2026

📝 New on the book inc Journal: "Writers and Their Tics"

Ever notice how your character keeps doing the same thing? Cleaning their glasses. Tucking a pencil behind their ear. Reaching for coffee.

book inc writers Elizabeth Jannuzzi and .gaites break down when repetition works (hint: it should reveal something true about your character) and when it's just an authorial habit sneaking into your draft.

3 craft tips for spotting and fixing character tics in your own manuscript 👇

🔗 Read it now https://bookinc.org/writers-and-their-tics/

07/11/2026

Congratulations Kaecey ! We’re so happy to have you as the next book revision lab peer artist leader.

We're pleased to announce the winner of this year’s chapbook prize, Kaecey McCormick, whose collection "The Physics of After" will be published by Wolfson Press in 2027.

07/09/2026

Do you remember the critique from your last workshop, but not the compliment that came before it?

In our latest book inc journal entry, PAL Michele Cantos Garcia writes about the moment a "but" almost made her miss the good news buried in her feedback.

Read "Don't Let the 'But' Eat the Compliment" at https://bookinc.org/dont-let-the-but-eat-the-compliment/ 📝

07/02/2026

New Ask Tina is live! 📝

This week's question: How do you ask friends and readers to turn their private "I loved this" messages into public likes, comments, and restacks, without feeling like you're running a one-woman pledge drive?

Tina's answer? Just ask. Directly, unapologetically, and without the "I hate to ask this but" preamble.

👉Read the full column https://bookinc.org/ask-tina-desire-ask-believe-restack/

Got a writing dilemma of your own? Send it to [email protected] for a chance to be featured.