The 10,000-Word Challenge Graduation Ceremony

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SKIP THE CRAFT BOOKS WITH ENDLESS WRITING RULES. SCRAP THE CRITIQUES FROM RALPH—THAT GUY FROM CREATIVE WRITING CLASS.

Ditch your outline, forgo the oh-so-helpful feedback from other writers who also haven’t published books, and give yourself the gift of no longer having to read other people’s work when you barely have time to work on your own.

You don’t need any more tips, classes, or canned feedback to write your DREAM NOVEL and get it on shelves—not when you can steal my process, straight from my desk and my private notebooks.

Get Behind the Book

Hi, I’m Mary Adkins!

NOVELIST, FORMER LAWYER, MOM

AUTHOR of the NOVELS:

“Best Book of 2019”

-Good Housekeeping and Real Simple

“Best Summer Read”

-Today.com

“Best Book of 2021”

-New York Post

My novels are published by HarperCollins and available in 13 countries across the world.
these days, I teach writing to aspiring novelists through a program I created called the Book Incubator.

But long before I was published, I was a miserable lawyer squeezing in writing classes wherever I could.

Remember Ralph-from-creative-class, above? Yeah, you know exactly who I’m talking about.

For six years, I was stuck in a loop of listening to Ralphs: well-meaning peers scribbling on my pages to “show, don’t tell” or “start in scene” (more likely they’d use the Latin to show off: in media res), or asking me why my “inciting incident” was missing.

When I finally decided to stop catering to the creative writing know-it-alls of the world and trust my own creative instincts, I found my way to a process that worked for ME … and led to the publication of 3 novels in 3 years.

Now, for the FIRST TIME, I’m sharing the FULL BEHIND THE SCENES of that process.

INTRODUCING …

Behind the Book:

The Day-to-Day of a Publishing Author

A bi-weekly interactive newsletter (that’s so much more than a newsletter) from HarperCollins novelist Mary Adkins

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As a subscriber, every 2 weeks, check your inbox for:

“But Mary,” you might be thinking, “how are your drafts going to help me?”
Because they totally are.
I recently opened an early draft of my novel When You Read This and couldn’t believe how different it was from the published version. As I scrolled, I thought, “Wow, this is like an entire novel-writing course in a single document.”
Plus, whenever I share my draft pages with the writers I work with, the most common reactions I hear are:
- “This is so weirdly reassuring.”
- “Can you share more pages?” and
- “Thanks, can you share even more?”
By subscribing to this newsletter, you’ll get my annotated and analyzed first (and early) draft pages every 2 weeks.
Let me teach you what I’ve learned, and spoiler: it has nothing to do with inciting incidents.

At the start of my writing career, I had no clue how publishing worked.
In fact, my first round of querying literary agents (after googling “what is a literary agent?”) involved sending a mass, unpersonalized letter to over 200 agents who didn’t even represent my genre. *Cringe.*
You may not know much about book publishing—and why would you? But you should, if you eventually want to publish. Knowing the publishing landscape is going to empower you to make smart decisions, from what kind of literary agents to pitch, to how to pitch them, to what aspects of your book deal are worth negotiating.
In my newsletter, I do the heavy lifting for you, keeping you up to date on what you should know about the publishing industry and how it applies to you as an as aspiring author.
Plus, you’ll get my not-so-shyly-worded *opinions* (lucky you).

Who doesn’t want to pick the brains of industry insiders—people with the sort of invaluable expertise and insights you can’t find online?
Subscribing to this newsletter gets you a kind of “VIP access pass” to special trainings and workshops only offered to subscribers.
From a 60-minute interview with my literary agent to a 60-minute interview with my editor at HarperCollins, you’ll get to step (not even peek—we’re going to full-blown hang out) behind the curtain to learn how books—and book deals—get made.

Testimonials & other

When I was completing my first draft of my first novel, I looked at it and thought, I have no idea what to do next. I turned to the Internet and got lost in a rabbit hole of information. Then I stumbled on Mary. In her program, I completed a manuscript in eight weeks start to finish...and it was in a genre that I never thought I could do. But with Mary's encouragement, I did it, and that manuscript landed me a literary agent on the one-year anniversary of when I started the program. I never could have done it without Mary and the support of her community…I didn't know what I didn't know.

Gayle Brown

I finished my book today. Over the last three years, I’ve lost a job, quit a job, and started a job; moved my whole family to a new city; sat in the hospital with my child as she fought for her life; served as the contractor as I built my parents a house; lost three beloved fur children; and homeschooled kids in a pandemic. I resigned myself to finishing my book...someday. And then I met Mary. And then I wrote: before my kids woke up, after they went to bed, when I should be doing paid work, and everything in between. And today, while my children were parked in front of the TV babysitter, I finished the 78,097th and final word.

Kate Stone

Working with Mary is the best thing I did for my writing. Mary’s brilliant methods allowed me to write the book I’ve been dying to write. I’ve learned things from Mary that have revolutionized the way I build characters and craft stories. She has changed my overall outlook entirely.

Elizabeth Holly

I’d been writing excerpts of my memoir for over ten years but couldn't figure out how to put it together. I needed a plan for how to move forward and finish the draft. Now, instead of thinking I need three hours at a time, I carve out 30 minute or an hour a day. Mary has demystified the process of writing a full first draft. I never thought it would be possible to write after a full day of teaching, but I'm doing it!

Rachel Hartmann

For years, I tried many different times to write a novel, but I could never seem to finish anything. Mary gave me the tools I needed to finally get the job done. I completed my first draft in five months, which is pretty incredible considering my previous attempt took over three years and I still never made it to the end! I couldn't have done this without Mary's guidance and support. If you're serious about finishing your novel, working with her is the smartest investment you'll ever make.

Graham Gremore

I was making very slow progress on my draft and thinking too much about about querying agents while I was still drafting. The incubator gave me the support I needed to finish my draft. A lot of programs have an overwhelming amount of content, but Mary makes sure she is only giving us valuable lessons and not cutting into precious writing time. The Book Incubator was the best investment ever!

Fiona Campbell

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

NOTHING while you try it.

It’s FREE for 30 days (that’s 2 full issues).

I want you to be able to try it out with zero commitment.

After that, it’s just $49/month … less than a sixth the price of a standard 6-week creative writing class for — I’ll say it — a hell of a lot more value.

If you don’t agree, you’ll figure that out before you’ve paid a dime. Cancel anytime, no questions asked.

In the meantime, you’ll have gotten pages from the first draft of my novel Palm Beach, including lessons on two of my favorite first draft tools: the opposite page and the placeholder.)

Get your FIRST FREE ISSUE right away

INCLUDING THE EXCLUSIVE 60-MINUTE CHAT WITH MY LITERARY AGENT.

You’ll be reading (or watching) in the next 5 minutes.

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