Memoir Nation

A movement, a support group, an educational center, a community, an accountability engine, and a fountain of inspiration

Last week, I launched an exciting new venture with Grant Faulkner, my longtime cohost on the Write-minded podcast. It’s called Memoir Nation.

When Grant approached me with this idea a few years ago, I couldn’t see how I had space to be a partner in his big vision. Memoir Nation was (and now is) a big idea—equal parts movement, support group, educational center, community, accountability engine, and fountain of inspiration.

I loved everything about it, and initially saw my role as being a guest teacher, or a trusted member of his advisory board. But, things evolve.

Some of you may be noticing that this is the second major career move I’m announcing this spring. This restructuring of my professional life is not by accident. 2024 was a seismic year for me, in which I reshuffled the decks and came out the other side with all new business partners. I’ve been calling it a realignment, and it’s not lost on me that it started with the death of my father in May 2023. There’s nothing like profound loss to help you assess your priorities, and for me it was a catalyst moment. How did I want to spend the next chapter of my professional life, and with whom?

Over many hard months, Grant was there, and Memoir Nation started to take root in my heart. We envisioned a rebranding of our podcast, and things started to come together in my mind kind like this:

Last week, I was honored to be in conversation with one of my authors, Laura Munson, for the launch of her wondrous new book, The Wild Why. During the Q&A, another She Writes Press author in the audience, JJ Elliott (There Are No Rules for This), posed the question to both of us: “How do you say yes to yourself?”

I love this question, JJ, and realized what I most wanted to convey is that a yes is rarely a simple yes. Whether we’re saying yes to a new business opportunity, or saying to becoming a writer-author, or saying yes to something you know you need to do that will be hard because it’s disruptive, we need to give ourselves the time and space it takes to get there. Yes doesn’t happen overnight. It’s more like yes-I’m not sure-yes-I’m not sure—until you’re able to fully land all the way in your yes. In other words, saying yes to yourself means staying the course, and it requires patience.

All these pieces coming together is me landing all the way in my yes, and from where I stand, I’ll share a few salient things about Memoir Nation:

Why become part of our community?

Memoir Nation exists to serve memoirists at any stage of their memoir journey. We free and paid membership tiers. Grant and I wanted to give lots of great content to any member, regardless of whether you’re in a position to pay, and we stand by that commitment. Also, on the paid memberships, we wanted to keep it affordable. I’m pretty jazzed by our offerings—which include classes, an accountability group, quarterly mixers, and much more. Speaking of YES, I’m also stoked that our line-up of teachers who will teach monthly classes for us include some of my favorite authors—Maggie Smith, Carvell Wallace, Nicole Chung, Janet Fitch, Gina Frangello, Susan Ito. And we’ll keep them coming.

What about my existing memoir classes?

For the past thirteen years, I’ve been honored to teach memoir alongside Linda Joy Myers, President of the National Association of Memoir Writers. We’ve built something amazing together and that won’t change. Under Memoir Nation, my memoir efforts are a bit more formalized, and Memoir Nation and the NAMW will collaborate and cross-pollinate. Linda Joy and I have a six-month intensive memoir course that starts in July, and our series will be housed by both our companies. And we have some new ideas brewing that I’ll be excited to share in the months to come.

What I’m most excited about?

As a publisher, editor, and coach, I’ve always been a midwife of other people’s stories. Yes, I write. Yes, I’m working on a memoir. But truly, my passion and my purpose for twenty-five years now has been to elevate other people’s voices, and especially to support people to write the very best books they can write—and then to get them published. Memoir Nation is a culmination of all these things. It supports writers. It brings memoirists together in community. Through our podcast, we elevate voices. Through our classes, we introduce you to memoirists who are modeling the way. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it, and I’m honored to be part of the memoir zeitgeist. I recently wrote that we’re in a golden age of memoir, and because I believe this to be true, I feel lucky to be a part of it.

What coming up?

Memoir Nation podcast: We have Jill Ciment and Amanda Knox on the podcast this month. Both are incredible interviews, Jill Ciment on what it means to reconsider a memoir and Amanda Knox on writing as a way to reclaim your story.

Memoir Nation classes: Our first class (included with paid membership) is mine, on June 9: “Publishing Your Memoir.”

Memoir Nation accountability group: Our accountability write-ins start June 5.

JanYourStory: It’s some months away, but STM (Save the Month)! Because in January we’re hosting a writing event: JanYourStory, a commitment-a-thon where we’ll be writing together every day in January. Mark your calendars.

Thanks for checking us out, and Read Grant’s Substack this morning for his side of the story. And to Grant, thank you for everything.