Got a book in you?
Enrollment re-opens this fall. Our next 12-week writing workshop begins in November.
On The Page is a live 3-month writing workshop designed to give you the guidance, accountability, and support to write and publish the book you were born to write.
Whether you write memoir, self-growth, how-to, fiction, poems, illustrated stories, children’s books, or personal essays—if you're ready to get serious about your writing—this workshop is for you.
Our best writing doesn’t happen alone in a room
Every time I set out to write a book, I hunker down in my studio, alone, and begin to write. This sounds easy in theory, but in truth, it’s not.
Often, it goes something like this: I stare blankly at a blinking cursor, unsure where to begin. Or, I write and write but find myself too close to the material to know if it’s any good. Or, without accountability and a sounding board, I start to lose steam, question everything, and consider giving up.
This moment, I’ve come to learn, is not the time to give up; it’s the time to get the right kind of support. Support that’ll encourage my most honest writing, help keep me accountable, and support me in making work that I’m deeply proud of.
That’s precisely why I’m leading this workshop: to create that same system of support for you.
Our writing calls are 90 minutes with this general flow:
- 15 minute lecture on an element of brave writing
- 60 minutes of guided writing exercises
- 15 minutes of 1-on-1 breakout rooms to share your writing with other writers
- Inspired assignments to keep momentum around your writing
Our clarity calls are 90 minutes with this general flow:
- Bring your questions to the call, and I’ll spotlight you to offer answers and reflections.
- Want to bounce a writing idea off of me? Not sure how to construct your story? Trying to crack the big idea & unique positioning of your book? Want to bring more vulnerability into your story? This is the space for that. Questions run in patterns so if you’re wondering about it, chances are that someone else is too. That’s why doing this in community is powerful.
- Once per month, an expert mentor will join us to offer tailored support on your specific questions.
Together we’ll explore:
- The age-old question: self-publishing or traditional publishing?
- How to find your ideal readers & grow your platform
- Ways a book can help expand your impact & income
- My path to getting a literary agent & two six-figure book deals, plus other case studies
- Your burning questions about publishing your work
- You’ll also receive a book proposal template, plus the mini-proposal I used to sign with my literary agent
Who is this workshop for?
- You want to write a book, or you're already writing a book, and you’re ready to make significant, meaningful progress.
- You’re looking for support, accountability & mentorship to navigate the writer’s journey, from messy first drafts to refining your stories to charting your unique path to publishing.
- You want a place to share your writing, receive feedback, ask questions & workshop ideas with writing mentors & a community of peers committed to their craft.
- You have a calling to write a book or publish your writing & that’s the larger vision that you’re moving toward.
Hey, I’m Amber rae.
Stories are medicine.
They have the power to heal, transform, and awaken. I believe that writing and publishing our truth is one of the most cathartic, brave, and meaningful things we can do for ourselves and the world. Guiding individuals on their writing path moves me to no end.
My experience
International Bestselling Author
I’m the bestselling author of Choose Wonder Over Worry, which has been translated into eight languages, plus The Answers Are Within You, and The Wonder Journal.
Mentored 1000+ Writers
I’ve guided groups of writers to get their most honest and true stories out on the page, and I’ve helped more than a dozen 1-on-1 clients get six-figure book deals.
Seth Godin Alum
I helped Seth Godin start a publishing imprint with Amazon, where I supported authors like Steven Pressfield and Derek Sivers to edit and market their books.
Global Reach
My writing and illustrations reach millions of people per month in nearly 200 countries, and my work has been featured in The New York Times, NYMag, TODAY, SELF, Forbes, and Entrepreneur.
Embodied Wisdom
I’ve invested over $150K in book coaches, writing doulas, publicists, designers, and mentors—to help me pave my path as a published author. These insights & learnings will be woven into this program.
Why must we write our most honest & true stories?
There’s a common fear associated with sharing our truth. And it’s a fear I know well. It sounds something like this: If I share my truth, people may judge, shame, or push me away. I may lose connection, love, acceptance, and belonging.
In my 15+ years of writing and sharing the truth about my life, what I’ve come to discover is that the opposite is true.
True belonging, full acceptance, and whole-hearted connection comes through allowing yourself to be seen, heard, and known. In doing so, we allow others to see themselves in our stories and say, “I feel this way too.”
Our most honest writing is not only a healing salve for others, but perhaps even more importantly, the process of getting those words on the page is often the medicine we need too.
Kind words
Spiritual Icon & Best-Selling Author
Deepak Chopra
Steven Pressfield
New York Times best-selling author of The War of Art
Whitney Bolster
Founder & CEO of Ampersand
Alexandra Elle
New York Times best-selling author of How We Heal
Heather Zara
CEO & Founder of Zara Creative
Smiley Poswolsky
3x Author & International Speaker
Melissa Joy Kong
Writer & Entrepreneur
Two levels of support
Weekly live workshops
12 group workshops with Amber to unlock your most honest, true, authentic & vulnerable stories
"Community office hours" to help you gain clarity and get unstuck
One masterclass dedicated to carving your unique path to publishing
Mentorship & Accountability
Expert writing, editorial & publishing mentors to offer tailored support on your writing & publishing path
Opportunities to meet writers and share your writing with them, plus a member database to find like-minded peers seeking accountability & mutual support
A community thread to post your weekly progress
Tools, Templates & Success Stories
A simple process to set achievable goals & create a writing plan that feels good for you
A map to chart your publishing path & find your ideal readers, plus a book proposal template & the mini-proposal I used to sign with my agent
These are with you, me, and the rest of the Alchemy family. Join the meeting from anywhere in the world. Show up exactly as you are. If you can’t make a call—recordings will be available within 24 hours.
1-on-1 mentorship
Investment
Everything in the group workshop, plus Amber as your 1-on-1 writing mentor, editor, sounding board, and strategic thought partner over the 12 weeks—helping you to make your writing dreams come true.
Custom-designed Journey
Based on your hopes and dreams, areas of stuckness, and what you want to achieve in our time together, we'll create a custom mentorship plan to ensure that you reach your writing & publishing goals.
1-on-1 Mentorship with Amber
In our kick-off call at the start of the program, we'll set you up for success and begin to workshop your writing & publishing priorities.
Through our private slack channel, we'll maintain momentum over the 12 weeks. Share your progress, ask questions, and I’ll respond through comments and voice memos.
At the end of each month, you’ll submit a piece of writing for me and my editor to review and offer editorial feedback, suggestions, and guidance. (Maximum submission is 3000 words.)
Map Your Next Steps
A closing call at the end of the program charts your path forward. Our focus will depend on your goals, but this could be a place for doing a larger editorial review of your work, getting your book proposal ready to submit, or clarifying your publishing strategy.
A vault of publishing resources. Book proposals that led to six-figure book deals. What did and did not work in my marketing plan. How to navigate the literary world & publishing industry. That’s all here.
These are with you, me, and the rest of the Alchemy family. Join the meeting from anywhere in the world. Show up exactly as you are. If you can’t make a call—recordings will be available within 24 hours.
On the page Mentors
Sarah Passick
Sarah is both my literary agent and a Partner and Executive Director of Commercial Nonfiction at Park & Fine Literary and Media, representing authors with important missions that disrupt the way we see the world. She works side by side with each author through the inception of an idea, finding the right publishing partner, negotiating the best deals, and crafting successful promotional campaigns. Sarah represents media-driven storytellers across genres in narrative nonfiction, memoir, personal development, business, cooking, and select fiction and children’s books. She prides herself on securing major book deals and having a gift for getting to know the unique needs of each individual client to create the most successful and rewarding publication possible. Some of Sarah’s authors include Logic, JoJo Siwa, Benny Blanco, Christine Quinn, Jake Cohen, Dr. William Li, Garcelle Beauvais, Colin O’Brady, Charles Oakley, Laila Ali, Nico Tortorella, Amber Rae, and more.
Joel Fotinos
Not only is Joel my editor and “fairy godfather,” but he’s the Founder, Vice-President, and Editorial Director of St. Martin’s Essentials, the successful new body/mind/spirit imprint of the St. Martin’s Publishing Group at Macmillan. His authors, present and past, have included Julia Cameron, Mark Nepo, Gay Hendricks, and many others. Joel will be joining us to talk about building your platform, traditional versus self-publishing, stories that captivate publishers, and how to find a literary agent.
Jadah Sellner
Jadah Sellner is a bestselling author, international keynote and TEDx speaker, poet, and host of the Lead with Love podcast. She’s the author of the bestselling book SheBuilds, coauthor of the bestselling book Simple Green Smoothies, and has been featured in Forbes; O, The Oprah Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. As the founder of Jadah Sellner Media, Inc., and She Builds Collective, Jadah helps women build sustainable businesses and lives without burning out. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, daughter, and dog, Beesly.
Jeff Goins
Jeff Goins is a writer, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur with a reputation for challenging the status quo. He is the best-selling author of five books including The Art of Work and Real Artists Don’t Starve. He is also the creative force behind the ghostwriting agency, Fresh Complaint. A husband, father of two, and a guacamole aficionado, Jeff lives just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
Chantel Hamilton
Chantel Hamilton is an accredited writer and editor who’s spent the last 15+ years helping her clients be better, braver writers. She works with authors to make bolder choices with their writing, take more risks, and connect meaningfully with their audience. Her specialty is in developmental editing—that is, helping you turn your idea or rough draft into something that fulfills your vision and connects with your ideal readers. Chantel is my editor, and she’ll be joining us to support us with all of this & more.
FAQs
We'll meet weekly on Wednesdays from November 1 to January 31, 2024 at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 9pm GMT / 8am AEDT for 2 hours. We won't meet on November 22, December 20, and December 27 for the holidays, which also gives our writing space to breathe. Our workshop is interactive, so attending live is recommended, but don't worry if you can't make every call. Replays are sent after each workshop with detailed recaps, and you'll have the chance to submit your questions in advance when you can't attend live.
We’ll have a classroom size group, with 1-on-1 break-out rooms for more intimate connection & sharing on our weekly calls.
Here’s a sample of the amazing community that’s already gathering for On the Page: A Fortune 500 exec turned healing practitioner who’s writing her first book. A mama who’s writing poems & fictional short stories for children. A coach who’s made the leap from Wall Street to wellness—and is ready to write about it. An illustrator creating memoir comics. A creative director who’s aching to reclaim her inner writer & get the stories inside of her on the page. A social justice leader ready to turn her journey into honest personal essays.
Safety is near and dear to my heart, and highly considered in the design of this workshop. I understand wholeheartedly that baring one’s truth on the page is no easy feat. We must feel safe in order for our most honest, raw truths to surface and be seen. At the heart of On the Page are these community guidelines: safety, inclusion, acceptance, love, respect, and curiosity.
We uphold these values through these guidelines, which are inspired by Amherst Writers & Artists:
Confidentiality: what’s shared in group stays in the group.
Write where you feel called to go: exercises are suggestions & questions are doorways. If you write something that is unrelated to the exercise offered, you’ve still “done it right.” The most important thing is that you do the writing that you feel most strongly drawn to in the moment.
Share when you want to share: after we write together, we’ll read aloud what we’ve written in break-out rooms or as a group. At all times, you may refrain from sharing your work aloud.
Feedback focuses on the strengths in the work: No criticism, suggestions, or questions are directed toward the writer in response to first-draft, just-written work. We focus our feedback on what was strong for us, what moved us, what we liked, what stayed with us. That way, when we go to do our edits, we’ll know what’s working for our readers. A thorough critique is offered only when the writer asks for it, and once the writer is past the "brave first draft."
We will be using Substack—a home for writers & podcasters—as our community space. The purpose of this space is to be the hosting site for our weekly video replays & recaps, to facilitate accountability (you’ll be invited to post your progress each week in a community thread), and to familiarize yourself with the Substack platform, which helps writers, illustrators, and podcasters monetize their work and grow their audience.
We’ll also have a database of members who are interested in connection & accountability so you can find and reach out to like-minded writers.
We won’t have a “social network” space, as I’ve found those to be distracting from doing the actual writing. Instead, you can connect with people on the social channels they already use, meet writers when we do breakout rooms, and use our “community office hours” as the space to ask your questions.
I’ll be offering you the framework for you to find your people, but I will not be doing the matchmaking. I’ve done this in the past, and generally, 50% of people feel thrilled and 50% of people feel meh.
What’s been important in my writing career is to know the support and accountability I need to be successful, and then to actively seek those people out. I will help speed that up for you by offering you opportunities to find your people.
In our weekly calls, we’ll have breakout groups for more intimate sharing and connection. We’ll also have an accountability thread in our Substack for you to post what you’re looking for, and a member database for you to find like-minded peers. Let's say you're looking for someone who wants to get on a weekly call to share writing and offer reflections—these tools will help you find that person.
If you have a specific writing project in mind (a book, a collection of essays, etc.) and you’re ready to make meaningful progress—this workshop is for you. The workshop will also help you chart your unique path to publishing your work & find your ideal readers.
I'm a big believer that a writer is someone who writes. So, yes, if you're ready to write—you are most definitely welcome. This workshop will help you get comfortable owning that part of you.
Absolutely. The biggest resistance of all is getting your tush in the chair and having someone/something to keep you going. I’ve designed the workshop to serve that goal. Throughout our time together, we’ll also touch on moving beyond the fears and blocks that stifle our writing and progress.
Writing is a journey. At the end of three months, you’ll complete the workshop having made meaningful progress with the momentum to keep going, but your writing project may not be complete. This depends entirely on the scope of your project, the time you have available for it, and your goals.
Calls will be recorded and sent to you after each workshop. Our workshop is interactive, so attending live is recommended, but don't worry if you can't make every call live. You'll have the chance to submit your questions in advance when you can't join live and you'll have the recordings to watch on your own time.
Most likely, yes. I’ll be curious to see what the needs of the group are at the end of the program, but I intend to offer 1-on-1 support for those who want continued mentorship with their writing, or for those who are ready to get a book deal.
Most likely, yes. I’ll be curious to see what the needs of the group are at the end of the program, but I intend to offer 1-on-1 support for those who want continued mentorship with their writing, or for those who are ready to get a book deal.
