Get your Joie de Vivre with Me!
Make your writing goals a reality (and fun) even if your 2025 already feels goaled-out.
Matt and I are doing our annual Reed Retreat this weekend and it’s become one of our favorite weekends of the year. A portion of it is focusing on the things we love and want to give more of our time to in the coming year. Just by writing it down, we find that it’s 10x* more likely to happen.
Maybe by mid January you are tired of hearing about goal setting and year planning. Are you goal-ed out? Have you been new-year new-you’d to death? Of course if goal making feels like something you should do, it can feel daunting.
Don’t should on yourself.
But what if it’s a goal to do something you love? Something you’ve dreamed of doing? Sometimes making goals for something that brings us delight feels indulgent whereas making goals for things that are un-fun somehow feels worthy and courageous.
If France has taught me anything, it is to not be overly indulgent, but to 100% indulge in the things that bring us joy or “joie de vivre”.
Life is short, enjoy living.
So many people I meet have book ideas or the desire to write, but they let the Should family take over their calendar. And because so many people’s writing time or ability looks different, I’ve tried to come up with solutions that will meet the writer wherever they find themselves, make it all a little less overwhelming and hopefully, make it a lot more fun.
Take a look, and see if any of these can help you bring a little Joie de vivre to your goal setting:
WRITING COHORT
This is a blast. A lot of work, but a blast nonetheless. It is one month of intensive writing, workshopping, editing and book proposal creation with five other writers over a digital platform where we all interact. Writers cheer each other on and I will be there, along with Amelia, our developmental editor, to push and guide you every step of the way. Writers are always absolutely blown away by everything they accomplish.
“I would highly recommend the Cohort for anyone who wants to write a book proposal but struggles to get it done. Even as an already traditionally published author who has written many book proposals, I found the cohort to be the right thing for the author that tends to procrastinate. The feedback given and the expertise are invaluable. I learned a great deal and felt like I was truly doing the process of book proposal writing in a coffee shop with friends who were cheering me on and offering great advice and wisdom along the way. As a non-profit with a tight budget, we have to be very careful about where we invest money, and I would highly recommend this investment.”
WORKSHOPS
We rotate the topic of our workshops, but in December we did one that was filled with timed improvised writing prompts to get your writing juices flowing. Over 25 attendees participated and it’s the most energetic feedback we’ve gotten from a workshop so we are doing it again! Giving the discount code FRIEND to Substack readers for $20 off. (If you attended the first time, and want to do it again, let us know and we will be sure to switch up some of the writing prompts.)
“Such a fun, engaging, and helpful workshop. Highly recommend to get your creativity flowing, connect with other writers, and learn a new way to think about and tackle your inhibitions around writing.”
WRITING GUIDE
If you prefer to write in solitude (but still have my voice pushing you to finding time for writing time), my book will take you through a similar structure to the 30 Day Writing Cohort. I really love the following online review because he basically mocks my cheesy cover first. Sorry, I love me a good cartoon!
My friend recommended this book, and even though I thought the cover was a little cheesy, I ordered and dove in - and I am so grateful I did. It is so applicable because Joy explains every single thing you need to know in a relatable and witty voice. She breaks it all down with complete transparency. It feels relevant and actionable. You are literally writing the outline of your book as your journey through the pages. You could do it all in one sitting, but I recommend spreading it out over a month so that it gives you time to really contemplate your narrative - and get down on the page about what the purpose of your book is truly about. It clarifies and simplifies the overwhelming process from beginning to end. Thanks for finally writing a book about all of this - it is SO helpful! I am indebted and grateful. If you want to write a book, my advice is simple: ORDER THIS BOOK!
INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING
If you have a finished manuscript and want to independently get your book out into the world within 6-9 months, we can help you accomplish that goal. You will retain 100% control over your book, all of the rights to your content and 100% of the profit.
“Writing a book is difficult. There are no shortcuts, not even with AI. At the end of the day, you need people - real people with real talent and real vision to help you get to the finish line. I'm so grateful to the Punchline team for doing just that in my budding career as a writer.”
MEETING WITH ME
If you don’t know what writing path is right for you and you just want to talk to a real human who has been in the literary, speaking and communications sphere for two decades, loves to help people make connections and find solutions to their obstacles, I am your gal and Punchline is your agency. To give you an idea of the type of people who schedule meetings with me, here are a couple people I met with last week.
A writer and speaker who was putting on an event and hosting several panels. She wanted to talk through her preparation for the event.
An author who was in a contract with a publisher who was not upholding their end of the publishing agreement and she did not have an agent so she was uncertain of her rights. We walked through legal obligations and options together.
Even if I don’t have 100% of the answers for you, I promise I will know how to point you to someone who does and encourage you as you set goals and joie de vivre it up in 2025!
LITERARY AGENT
While I have a pretty set list of authors I traditionally represent, with no more maternity leaves on the horizon, I am open to bring on a few more authors this year if they are the right fit for Punchline! Is it you?
If, like me, you prefer video explanations of things — here is an overview of all the above opportunities we have for you in my voice:
Catch you on the other side of The Reed Retreat and who knows, maybe I’ll have even more ideas to help you on your writing journey!
Love,
Joie
Love it! That was my “tiller tip” a few weeks ago. I hate shoulding on myself!