Writer Unboxed Turns 17
By Writer Unboxed | January 21, 2023 |
Therese here. Today marks Writer Unboxed’s seventeenth year. Wow. I think that means WU is off to college soon. In other news, I just popped a new gray hair.
A wee bit of history:
Writer Unboxed was founded in 2006 by Kathleen Bolton and me. This was the same year Twitter was founded and Facebook opened its doors to the public. On the one hand, we’ve obviously not experienced the same meteoric rise in success as those social media giants. On the other hand, we’ve never been accused of using our vast influence to try to sway an election or snuff out our competitors, so overall I think we’re doing pretty well for ourselves. (Wink.)
We have over 10k feed readers, and over 5k email subscribers. And while a smaller number of you visit the site daily — and an even smaller number leave your mark in comments — every single one of you matters to us.
Who is “us”?
We’ve grown in ranks since 2006, when it was just Kath and me. In 2007, our next-longest-running contributor, bestselling fantasy author and hero to all dogs, Juliet Marillier joined us.
Over the years, we’ve hosted a plethora of wise voices from the writing world, including over 525 guests, many of whom were debut novelists when we first met them here. (And many of whom went on to become bestselling and multi-published authors.)
We’ve had nearly 100 regular contributors over 17 years, ~half of whom are now alumni. (For a treat, dip into the archives to read posts authored by those alums. The dates on their posts may be old, but much of their advice is timeless. Start here, with Jane Friedman’s posts.)
Contributors in 2023 include David Corbett, Kathryn Craft, Jim Dempsey, Dave King, Donald Maass, Greer McAllister, Ray Rhamey, Densie Webb, Heather Webb, Kelsey Allagood, Porter Anderson, Yasmin Angoe, Tessa Barbosa, Anne Greenwood Brown, Kim Bullock, Sarah Callender, Keith Cronin, Julie Carrick Dalton, Susan DeFreitis, Diana Giovinazzo, Desmond Hall, Natalie Hart, Kristan Hoffman, Elizabeth Huergo, John Kelley, Jeanne Kisacky, Kasey LeBlanc, Juliet Marillier, Tiffany Yates Martin, Sophie Masson, Kathleen McCleary, Kristina McMorris, Liz Michalski, Rheea Mukherjee, Ann-Marie Nieves, Matthew Norman, Jan O’Hara, Barbara O’Neal, Barbara Linn Probst, Vaughn Roycroft, Victoria Strauss, Liza Nash Taylor, Grace Wynter, Yuvi Zalkow, Tom Bentley, LJ Cohen, Julie Duffy, Kathryn Magendie, and me. (Gwen Hernandez and Arthur Klepchukov, still contributors with the site, are on sabbatical this year.)
It takes more than our regular contributors to make this site shine, though.
Heartfelt thanks to the proverbial wind beneath the wings of this site and its ED:
- Assistant Editors Kim Bullock and Vaughn Roycroft
- Admin/Social Media Assistants VR Barkowski, Chris Blake, Valerie Chandler, LJ Cohen, DD Falvo, Tonia Harris, Natalie Hart, Brin Jackson, Dede Nesbitt, Deb Peterson, Bernadette Phipps-Lincke and Mike Swift
- All of our advertisers, especially those who return again and again (I’m looking at you, Jeanne Cavelos / Odyssey Writing Workshops, Kathryn Craft / Your Novel Year, Julie Duffy / StoryADayMay, DiAnn Mills, and Jennie Nash / Author Accelerator)
- Those who currently make monthly donations to WU or made a one-time donation this past year: Mary Adler, Edith Bajema, V.R. Barkowski, Deborah Boone, Gayle Brandt, Susan Breen, Flora Brown Associates, Kim Bullock, Sarah Callender, Nell Campbell, Terrence Cleary, Dani Coleman, Stephanie Cowell, Judy DaPolito, Jacki Delecki / Doe Bay Publishing, Julie Duffy / JD Write, Ann Dunn, Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt, Barbara Elmore / Mud Pie Press, Denise Falvo, Gillian Foster, Rose Gonzales, Nancy Scott Hanway, Natalie Hart, Maurene Janke, Michael Johnson, Patricia Kahn, Brian B. King, Suzanne Lafetra, Rhonda Lane, Susie Lindau, LK Lohan, Dan McGuire, Lloyd Meeker, Jan O’Hara, Barbara Linn Probst, Helen Pyne, Bill Reid, Lorraine Roe, Vaughn Roycroft, Soleah K. Sadge, Susan Setteducato, Patricia Skalka, Carol Stuckey, Kirk Swanson, Mike Swift, Jocosa Wade, Penny Walker, Nancy West, Denise (Dee) Willson, Dr. Steve Yarris, and Elaine Young
If you’d like to make a gift to Writer Unboxed, which is used to help with its upkeep and evolution, you can learn about how to do so HERE.
All of you. Every one of you who contribute, from posts to donations to comments. You are the reason this site has been sustainable, especially over the last several years. Never doubt it.
Here’s to a great new year filled with personal growth, good progress on all of your creative pursuits, and of course community. Write on.
What were you doing in 2006? (If you weren’t yet born, please do not leave a comment. I feel a new gray hair about to pop.)
Writer Unboxed began as a collaboration between Kathleen Bolton and Therese Walsh in 2006. Since then, the site has grown to include ~50 regular contributors and a variety of guests on rotation throughout a given year.
In 2016, the Writer Unboxed team published a book with Writer’s Digest / Random House. AUTHOR IN PROGRESS: A No-Holds-Barred Guide to What It Really Takes to Get Published is a comprehensive guide focused on helping writers over/around/through hurdles faced at every stage of the novel-writing process. It’s received some ***** reviews; we hope you’ll check it out.
If you’d like to be among the first to know about the next Writer Unboxed UnConference, which will likely tie-in with WU’s 20th Anniversary celebration, please sign up for our mailing list!
Write on!
Happy Birthday!
In 2006 I was chaperoning four homeschooled teen girls for a summer internship in chemistry at LaSalle University (Philadelphia); while the girls did their thing in the lab, I spent my entire three weeks of free time revising the plan for the Pride’s Children trilogy that I’m still following to this day. Having that much time to myself was key to being able to look at it as a whole story, and make sure the plot steps led inevitably to the end.
Happy 17, WOW! Your commitment is an inspiration, Therese. In 2006 I was standing my ground in the Sistine Chapel, fighting the tide and the resulting jostle, mesmerized by Da Vinci’s ceiling. Dave had already flowed with the crowd and left the room but I wanted to absorb every wondrous detail. It was my first trip abroad, a “parents’ tour” attached to my sons’ high school choir tour of Italy. Earlier that day I’d watched them sing in the Vatican. Later that year I started Writing Partner, my developmental editing business. Thanks for inspiring these special memories!
Happy Birthday–you have come a long way! 2006 was the year that I began thinking about writing a MG novel. I’d published two articles in Highlights Magazine and thought OK, now I can move on. I have enjoyed your site and learned a lot. I’m about to submit that manuscript that took me SIXTEEN years to birth. Some things are worth the wait. Thank you for your ongoing labor for ALL writers.
Happy birthday! I’m so glad you’re all here. In 2006, my first non-fiction book had been accepted by Wild Goose Publications and I was preparing for my 2-year post with the Iona Community as programme worker for weekly international guests at the Iona Abbey, located on Scotland’s Inner Hebride Islands.
Happy Birthday! I may not comment often, but I’m always impressed by the high quality of content & the incredibly supportive community here. 💕
Happy birthday! I have been following you for a while now and am looking for more great articles from you in my newsreader.
In 2006, I was working as an IT support agent in Ireland, not having the faintest clue that I would be starting a career as a freelance writer and author less than a decade later.
Happy birthday, WU, and thanks to all who inspire and inform.
Happy birthday, WU. And a heartfelt thanks to all who have made this space special. In January 2006, I was awaiting responses to my grad school applications and wondering where my spouse and I would be moving to. Or if we’d even be leaving Seattle at all.
Happy Birthday, and many more. In ’06 my writing journey was starting to roll along with some momentum. I didn’t discover WU till late ’08, but I’m glad when I got here it had grown and started to bloom so beautifully. It helped my writerly heart and soul to recognized the fit. It’s a fit that has sustained me, lifted me, and often carried me along. My journey wouldn’t resemble what it’s become without WU. Can’t thank Therese or this community enough.
Happy Birthday, Writer Unboxed. YOU ARE ALWAYS A BRIGHT SPOT IN MY WRTING DAY, Beth Havey
Happy birthday! Amazingly, you’re gliding through your teens without any of the angst! On a serious note, this is one of the few emails I look forward to receiving each day. Thanks to all who have contributed and made this site such a wealth of information and community for writers.
Congrats on a successful 17 years! The wealth of advice here has always been quality and friendly. I look forward to another 17 years. Thank you for all you do, Therese. And thank you to all the contributors who share their experience and expertise.
Congrats! I remember that day! Still and always a loyal reader. Best to you all!
Yeehaw! Happy Birthday! This wondrous site built a community. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Too many exclamation marks? Tough beans! You’re the best!
Happy Birthday!
In 2006 I had just made my way to the writing forum on Compuserve to spread my virginal writing wings. What I learned there ( and subsequently from here) is how eager writers are to share their craft, even with fledgling writers who are breaking all the rules.
Congratulations, Therese! You’ve accomplished so much!
This past week I was in the Brooklyn office of my literary agency, cleaning out in preparation for a move. As we bagged records for shredding and boxed thousands of excess archive books for shipment to their authors, it brought back all the many days and countless tasks we’d done over the last 42 years. It’s hard to believe we did all that, but we did.
17 years of WU? I’m so glad you are marking that and scrolling the credits of all who’ve been part of this thing. I’ve been posting since…what?…2009? It’s overwhelming, isn’t it? But it has happened and you made it so, Therese.
Thank you, congratulations and Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday WU and all those that have made it something special on the web! In the tradition of readers finding the book they need when they need it, no matter when it was written I’m kinda new to WU but have loved the range of daily posts and the rich archive is AMAZING. And, wow, the virtual Un-Conference this fall was super nourishing. (No to mention easy to do around my daily obligations!) I’m off to send a birthday present to support this work with my deep thanks.
Thanks to all who keep the WU train rolling! Group blogs on writing have come and gone, but this is the one that endures and where I have learned the most. I value the mix of craft and business education and inspiration. I discovered WU when Jane Friedman spoke at the Authors of the Flathead writers conference (in Kalispell, Montana), though what year, I can’t say, and have been following ever since. Here’s to many more years!
Happy, Sappy, Clappy Birthday, WU! I blew a giant noisemaker, and I blew my nose too, if you didn’t hear the first.
Seriously though, this is a community of fine spirit and generosity, and has too many times to count brought provocative, insightful and challenging thoughts on all aspects of writing to me, and to all of us. Let us eat cake!
2006 was my third year of my writing craft blog, Flogging the Quill, and I joined the WU contributor list a year or so later. For me, it has been rewarding to be associated with WU and to read its posts every day. I have learned and grown because of WU, so thank you again, Therese, for all you do.
Happy 17th Birthday! May you have many more!
Congratulations Therese!!! WU’s been such a wonderful resource when I discovered it a dozen years ago. Thanks to all who contribute so much. In 2006, I took a quantum leap from magazine writing to books. These first books were for budding physicists.
Happy Birthday. I rarely comment but I read all your posts and print out many and share constantly. In 2006 I moved to the Oregon coast. Although still working some and publishing two nonfiction books for that work (workshops and writing for military spouses), I dove into creating a writing community here. With others, we created a writing series to bring authors here to read. That evolved into many writing workshops, a literary journal, a Word & Image program in the the Greek tradition of Ekphrasis, a community writes program. LOTS of work but rewarding and yes, a way to connect to other writers and readers. The program has evolved into a much more locally focused program and I’ve stepped back to do my own writing. Have a novel ready for the next step which will be self-publishing. Your blogs helped me with the writing every step of the way. Thanks for all the hard work.You make a big difference!
In 2006 I’d just drafted a first novel and joined a critique group. It took me eight years from that point to find you guys (on Donald Maass’ recommendation) and I’ve shown up here every day since. I find community here, and sanity, and craft. I find brilliance and humor and awe. I laugh and I cry and I learn. Happiest of Birthdays, and so many more!!
It’s great to see everybody checking in. You guys don’t know it, but you’re essentially my posse. My wife and I recently moved to a small town, and my comfy places are the bookstore (brick-and-mortar) and WU. In 2006 I retired from my corporate editorial job, sold my house and car, and whittled my belongings down to a few boxes. By the end of the year, I was traveling in Mexico, looking for a place to live and write. There was this woman, though, and she lived in Toronto, Ontario, and somehow I spent the next four years freezing my ass off. She and my wife ended up being the same person. Anyway, I did start writing in Canada, and somewhere around 2010 I discovered WU.
Thanks to all!
I have only known you for a little over a year, but aside from the writing advice, the consistency of voices from kind people have helped me get through a very tough time. Thank you, all you wonderful folks. Thanks so very much.
Linguist, I’m so glad to hear that the site has helped you in such a way. Life can be brutal and challenging. It’s good to have your people and a soft-landing place that you can trust. WU has been that for me as well. Write on!
In 2006, I was preparing to retire so that I could write novels. I’ve since published seven, and will soon publish the 8th. It was a lucky day for me when I discovered Writer Unboxed. I’ve learned a lot from your posts over the years.
Thank you.
Thanks for tuning in today and for all of these comments, friends. I’m so glad I didn’t have to eat the cake alone.
Happy birthday! Thank you for continuing to share such great content from such a wide array of writers. In 2006 I had just moved to the city I still live in. My husband was just starting his ministry and I was just starting working from home before it was cool. I also started grad school (which I would later quit in order to devote time to actually writing instead of talking about writing with other people in Academia).
This is such an informative, inspiring site and wonderful community, Therese. Congrats–and thank you for building it! (We came.)
17 years? What an incredible achievement – and you and Kathleen have SO much to be proud of!
Where was I in 2006? Checking through my files just now, I see that I had just begun flailing away at an odd little story that would go on to become Me Again, my first published novel. WU was not yet on my radar at the time, but soon began to loom large in my writing life, and nobody was more surprised than me when I was asked to become a regular contributor. It is an honor that has humbled me for more than a decade, and every year that I’m asked to come back is a gift for which I keep striving to be worthy.
You’ve built something truly great here, Therese. I’m so thrilled and proud to be even a small part of it. Here’s to 17 more!
Wow, congratulations! I’ve enjoyed being part of such a wonderful community, both as a subscriber/reader and as a contributor. Thanks to everyone involved for their hard work!
Wow. I had no idea so much time had passed. Glad WU is still here.
When I first discovered WU two or three years ago, I actually did read back through all the posts of the various contributors who graced the pages and shared the wisdom. A treasure trove indeed. Here’s to 17 more years (and 17 more after that, and 17 more after that and . . .)
Every single thing about this post makes me smile.
In 2006, I was a junior/senior in college, and my then-boyfriend, now-husband was becoming a Real Adult with a Real Job, moving to the city we have called home ever since. It was a fork in the road, and choosing him took me away from the life I had envisioned, but I’ve always kept writing with me, and I always will. <3
I probably discovered WU in 2007?
Nope, just used my login to check, and my first comment was in Aug 2008! Apparently I discovered WU through Publishers Lunch? Fascinating!
Therese, and Kathleen, and Vaughn, and Kim, and all my fellow commenters and contributors, past and present – Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. This place is the best. <3
Celebration time. The Writer Unboxed Family has sustained me as a Writer in Progress making rewarding progress for six years. Thank you Therese Walsh, Kathleen Bolton for building the dream and creating a writer’s community with room for every one serious about creation, craft and weathering the storms that test our tenacity.
Congratulations on your accomplishments.
In 2006, I was working a ridiculously number of hours in a finance career, in airports every week traveling all over the world, and spending my nights in hotel rooms 200 +/- nights a year. I was living the life I had aimed for in a 20 year career—and wondering if there wasn’t a better answer.
Also in 2006, I registered my very first web domain where I shared my little stories that had previously been posted in Usenet groups and Listservs (anyone remember those). I didn’t think I could ever get paid to do that, but it was a great stress reliever. I was still over a decade away from daring to publish a novel, but I was taking the first tentative steps.
And, today, I am home with my family every night.
Happy seventeenth WU! In 2006 I moved back to Canada after living in the amazing Findhorn community of Scotland, penned my first rough draft of a novel, and committed to studying the craft of writing. Shortly after, I attended my first Surrey International Writers Conference in Vancouver and my first master class with Donald Maass.Today, I’m working on my seventeenth novel. The number 17 is definitely worth celebrating. Thank you Writers Unboxed for being there every step of the way.
Happy birthday! I’m so grateful to Therese and everyone who contributes to this amazing community.
Seventeen?! :) Happy Birthday! Thank you for the 17 years of great advice, commiseration, and inspiration.
In 2006, I was just barely back from a three-year fight with an inflammatory disorder. Actually, the disorder got nuked by the toxic soup I was given early treatment. What took years was the time I needed to taper off the meds and the medications to treat the side effects of those meds.
During my illness in the early Aughts, I’d set aside a story I couldn’t see happening in the post-9/11 world and was entertaining a story based on my childhood experiences on the periphery of an equestrian subculture. After doing a bunch of online research, in the fall of 2006, I made my first research trip back into the subculture setting to bring my memories up to date. Yup, a lot of things were the same. And a lot had stayed the same.
The book has taken me a while to write, but it’s formatted and ready for me to self-publish this spring.
Rhonda:
Congratulations on beating your chronic illness. As a fellow sufferer/victor, I know how debilitating and discouraging that can be. Wishing you continued success and good health.
PS I’m also a horse lover and former horse mom, to a Quarter-Morgan pony for 28 years.
Congratulations to Therese and the WU team. This writing community has changed my life. I have made so many good friends. I. am grateful to all who have contributed to the vitality and diversity of Writer Unboxed.