The Writing Gym ONLINE Retreat
Art of Short Storytelling: Build Your Author Platform
April 4-6, 2025
Join us for a writing event like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.
You struggle to find the time to write, away from distraction, to find the inspiration to get the writing done and get it done well.
Wait no more.
If you want to be a writer, this where you need to be.
Creating an author platform can be challenging for several reasons:
- Time and Effort: Building a platform requires significant time and dedication, often demanding consistent efforts in writing, networking, and engaging with the audience.
- Content Creation: Authors must regularly produce high-quality content that resonates with their audience, which can be daunting, especially for those who are more focused on writing books than marketing.
- Navigating Technology: Many authors may feel overwhelmed by the various digital tools and platforms available for building their presence, such as social media, websites, and email newsletters.
- Finding the Right Audience: Identifying and connecting with the right target audience can be difficult; authors need to understand who their readers are and how to reach them effectively.
- Balancing Writing and Promotion: Authors often struggle to balance the creative process with the promotional aspects of building a platform, which can detract from their writing time.
- Self-Promotion Discomfort: Many writers find it uncomfortable to promote themselves and their work, leading to reluctance in engaging with potential readers and followers.
- Consistency and Patience: Building a platform takes time and requires a consistent effort, but results may not be immediate, which can be discouraging for authors.
- Market Competition: The literary market is highly competitive, making it challenging for authors to stand out and capture the attention of readers amidst many voices.
- Evolving Trends: Keeping up with changing trends in social media, marketing strategies, and reader preferences can be overwhelming and requires continuous learning and adaptation.
- Defining Authenticity: Authors may struggle to find their authentic voice in their platform, leading to confusion about how to present themselves genuinely to their audience.
These challenges can make it difficult for authors to effectively build and maintain a strong author platform, but with perseverance and strategic planning, it is achievable.
But NO MORE. We’ve got you covered at the Art of Short Storytelling: Build Your Author Platform ONLINE WRITING RETREAT.
What is it like to write with Annalisa?
Authors need an author platform for several important reasons.
Here’s what you’ll learn at this amazing one-of-a-kind online writing retreat:
- Visibility: An author platform helps increase visibility in a competitive literary market, making it easier for readers and publishers to discover your work.
- Audience Engagement: It allows authors to connect with their audience, fostering a community of readers who are interested in their writing and updates.
- Credibility and Authority: A strong platform can establish your credibility as an author, signaling to readers and industry professionals that you are serious about your craft.
- Marketing and Promotion: Authors with a platform have better opportunities for marketing their books and stories, which can lead to increased sales and readership.
- Networking Opportunities: It opens doors for networking with other authors, publishers, agents, and industry professionals, which can lead to collaborative opportunities and exposure.
- Feedback and Improvement: Engaging with your audience and writing community allows for valuable feedback that can improve your writing and storytelling skills.
- Control Over Branding: An author platform enables you to shape your personal brand and narrative, giving you control over how you want to be perceived in the literary world.
- Opportunities for Guest Appearances: A well-established platform can lead to invitations for speaking engagements, workshops, guest blogging, and participating in literary events.
- Enhanced Publishing Prospects: Publishers are often more inclined to work with authors who have a strong platform, as it suggests a built-in audience and potential for sales.
- Long-term Career Sustainability: Building a platform can contribute to the sustained success of an author’s career, allowing for ongoing reader engagement and opportunities for future projects.
Overall, an author platform is crucial for establishing a presence in the literary community and can significantly influence an author’s success and growth.
PLUS
- curated publication opportunities
- writing feedback
- meet literary agents, publishers, and other publishing professionals to hear more about what the publishing industry looks for in a quality manuscript
The Online Writing Retreat Experience
What will the group writing time look like?
“I haven’t written this much in 21 years. The prompt, the feedback. It tapped into something new for me.” Rick, recent salon participant
We will meet through Zoom. We will be able to see and hear each other, share documents, write on a white board together: this is the closest approximation we can have to being in the same physical room.
You will break out into smaller groups for discussion, sharing, feedback, and more–then come together for large groups sessions.
Sample Schedule
Highlights
- Craft and Writing Sessions, with feedback based on neuroscience
- curated publication opportunities
- KEYNOTE:
- meet literary agents, publishers, and other publishing professionals to hear more about what the publishing industry looks for in a quality manuscript
Enjoy the camaraderie of positive writers, doing what you’re doing, with the same goals.
Come away refreshed, revived–and with the pages DONE.
Friday
Highlights: WRITING COMMUNITY
Meet your fellow participants.
Laugh in fun icebreaker activities
GET WRITING FEEDBACK BASED ON NEUROSCIENCE
Saturday Morning
Ease into creativity by creating flow in your brain with our morning WRITING EXERCISE
Writing Salon. Unleash your full creative potential in a guided writing session.
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Building Credibility
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Audience Engagement
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Increasing Visibility
Saturday Afternoon
TIME TO WRITE Work on pages, with the accountability of a group writing session.
Heads down, fingers on keyboard, chapters written 
Join Annalisa for a 1-1 session to discuss pages, your publishing career–anything you’ve wanted to talk to your writing coach about.
Professional Roundtable: Every year we invite a publishing professional to join us and talk about what’s happening in the publishing industry NOW, and how that impacts your author career. Past guests include Editor at large of Writers Digest; literary agents, and New York Times bestselling authors.
This is a golden opportunity to get top-notch writing advice and personalized feedback from publishing professionals, published authors, and expert writing coaches, all from the comfort of your home.
Pitch Fest: Past pitches to LMPBN, Sibylline Press, Talcott Notch Literary Agency, Writer’s Digest, and more.
Saturday Evening
Fireside Chat with prolific & successful authors who will share their journey to publication. This will be a laid-back discussion where you can chat and ask questions. Writers may struggle with developing a content calendar or ideas for regular posts, blogs, or articles. We will explore important questions on how to build an author platform such as:
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What is an author platform, and why is it important?
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How do I determine my target audience?
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What social media platforms should I use?
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How do I create consistent content for my platform?
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What are the best ways to build an email list?
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How can I promote my books without feeling pushy?
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What type of content should I share on my platform?
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How do I measure the success of my author platform?
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How can I network with other authors and industry professionals?
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What mistakes should I avoid when building my author platform?
Sunday
Salon and Neuroscience-based feedback.
How to Build an Author Platform: Part 2
Writers may find self-promotion uncomfortable or even awkward, as it requires them to engage in activities that feel contrary to their nature of crafting stories.We will dig deep into the skills needed to overcome some of these fears.
Sharing and Celebrations