Talking Publishing, Querying, Writing Retreats, and More with Ellen Weeren!
Today, we're talking to founder of A Reason to Write, Ellen Weeren, about her upcoming short story collection, querying to publishers, and what inspired her to create A Reason to Write!
Recently, Emily from KWE Publishing had the chance to chat with Ellen Weeren, author, professor, and founder of A Reason to Write! A Reason to Write is a fantastic business that hosts writing retreats and workshops in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and we can’t wait for you to learn more!
Emily: Could you share a bit about yourself and your background in writing?
Ellen: So, like every writer, I wrote horrible poetry when I was a kid, sitting on the sidewalk, looking at the clouds and rainbows. In high school, I was editor of our literary magazine and on the newspaper staff. I liked writing, but I didn’t really see myself as a writer. I didn’t know that was a thing you could do. I went to college, and I decided to major in psychology, thinking, That’s what my mom did. She enjoyed it. And then my dad’s an accountant, so I was like, “Oh, maybe I’ll do accounting.” It was even worse. So, I decided to major in English because it was what I liked.
I looked for jobs in writing. The only job I could even apply for was editing, but I didn’t really have an editing background. I was more of a creative writing literature person. The pay was horrendous, so I became a secretary and then worked my way up and eventually became a law enforcement policy writer. When my kids were born, I worked part-time, and then, after I had my first daughter, I decided to stay home. I pursued hobbies on my own.
I edited and wrote my neighborhood newsletter, keeping a bit of a touch point. But then, my family moved to India, and I started writing a blog. I wrote probably four days a week and won some awards, including being listed as one of the top ten expat blogs of the year twice. I thought, Wow, maybe I am a writer.
We moved back to the U.S., and it wasn’t as interesting to write about my daily life. There weren’t camels and elephants at the road and new places and new people all the time. So, I joined a writing group and they said, “Your essays are kind of like fiction. You should maybe consider writing fiction.” I joined some writing groups and started going to workshops. I ended up getting my MFA at George Mason and graduated in 2019.
During this time, I’m sending my short story out. I’m working on a novel and getting some traction. I moved to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in 2021. I had had the benefit of being in some amazing writing spaces. And I thought, I live on the Dale River; it’s absolutely amazing. I don’t know how I’m so lucky, but maybe I’m meant to share this. With other people.
I started A Reason to Write, which hosts writing retreats. People come, and there are two bedrooms and a kitchen, a bathroom, and writing spaces, and they just get away and write and seem to be really productive while they’re here. So that’s been amazing.
I’ve also started doing workshops in person and online. There are so many writers that I have come across who are not famous, but they’re well known in their world. And getting to introduce them to people who are newer in their journey has just been amazing. Writing can feel so isolating sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be. There is a rich, rich community.
At my very first workshop, I met a group of people that I really liked, and I started Facebook with them. Then, I went to another workshop and started another Facebook group with them, and then another workshop. By the time I was on my fourth Facebook group, I was like, “This is unmanageable. I’m going to combine them.” It literally started with five people, and now, it’s almost 850 writers. It’s not a book club. We don’t let people who don’t write join. I also host free workshops for the people in that group, taught by people in that group.
Emily: That’s awesome that you’re helping to create those communities! Are the workshops generally focused more on fiction or nonfiction, or do you do a bit of both?
Ellen: They have been swirling around flash, so very short pieces, and there are no parameters on what you bring. The last one we did had some poetry elements.
But I think they’re all different, and they all offer something. I’m looking at doing a workshop for teenage writers, and I’m very excited about that. I have the editor of You’re Not Seeing Things out of West Virginia, whose name is Adam Payne, doing a workshop in July.
Emily: That’s so cool! I know you have a short story collection that’ll be published in 2027, which is really exciting. Could you share what that collection is about and what the process of pitching it was like?
Ellen: Short story collections can be tough. At first, I thought, Who is buying short story collections? Apparently, people are.
I had a novel that I started, got stuck, and gave up. That’s the way a lot of first novels go. I started a second novel and also got a little bit stuck, and I was like, “I just need to finish something!” So I started writing more short stories and started getting them published in different places, which is definitely helpful in the process of finding a publisher for a short story collection. If you can say, “These magazines bought into these stories and published them,” then you’re going to have a little bit more street cred, for lack of a better term.
I wasn’t really thinking about publishing a collection. I really wanted to do the novel first, with the hope that then they would say, “Oh, do you have anything else?” And I would say, “Well, as a matter of fact, yes, I have a story collection.” But then, I kind of thought, Why not? I submitted to a Masters Review chapbook contest. I didn’t make their top twenty lists, but I was in their top five percent or so. And I was like, Wait a minute, maybe there’s some legs to this.
I started submitting [to publishers] and got a bunch of noes. Then, I heard about Cornerstone Press out of the University of Wisconsin, Stephen Point. I submitted to them.
It probably took a couple of months to hear back. Then, they wrote and said, “Hey, here you go.” So, I signed a contract. My manuscript is due this September, and the book is scheduled to come out next September in 2027. It will be a two-year process from being accepted to being published.
When you submit a novel, you just submit it, Chapter 1, 2, 3, but when you submit a short story collection, you really have to think about what order the stories are in. When it came time to do that, the basic idea that I followed was like a shopping mall. You have your big stores at the beginning and end, a big store in the middle, and then the little stores in between. I put my best story first. And then what I thought was my second-best story at the end, my third story in the middle. Then, I sprinkled the rest throughout.
Throughout the whole process of submitting anything, whether it’s a short story or a novel, you just have to know [that the noes are] not personal. I did an internship with Jeff Kleinman, who’s a literary agent at Folio. That was really helpful because I saw how much comes in.
Emily: How long did it take you from the time you started submitting to hear a response?
Ellen: I started submitting in October of 2023, and I submitted to nineteen places. I started applying in October of 2023. And it won’t come out until 2027. It was four years from first submission to publication.
When I was [querying], every Friday morning, I would sit down for two hours, and I would submit short stories. It's part of the job, and it is very important to take it seriously. When I start submitting my novel, I will have a three-hour block every week where I’m researching, writing, submitting, and then updating all the noes.
Emily: Is there any advice you’d give to authors who are interested in querying publishers?
Ellen: Listen to the people who know what they’re talking about and [whom] you trust. If they make a recommendation to you, what’s the worst that can happen? I had [an unpublished] short story collection yesterday. If I don’t have [a published] one tomorrow, nothing has changed.
Also, get feedback. When I was very new to writing, I didn’t understand the feedback, so I didn’t believe it. Because I was like, “That doesn’t even make sense. I’m not trying to do that. That’s not happening.” That was the wrong answer. The right answer was, “I don’t understand that. I better figure that out because people who care about me are telling me that.” That doesn’t mean for where you are that it isn’t amazing. But it doesn’t mean it’s ready, either.
I equate it to a soccer game. Both my girls played soccer in college. Sometimes, they were at that point in the game when they’re kicking the ball, and they’re missing, and they’re kicking the ball and missing, but you can feel the momentum, and you know they’re gonna score. Just keep kicking the ball at the net. Also, don’t shatter shot. Don’t just submit anywhere. Look into ten magazines that you really like and submit to those. And when they say submit again, they really mean it.
Emily: I love that analogy! How can people follow you online or learn more about A Reason to Write and any upcoming retreats?
Ellen: I have my workshops listed on A Reason to Write. There are quite a few coming up. There’s also writer’s retreat information there, too. It’s a minimum of two nights, as long as you want to stay.
Anyone who wants to join A Reason to Write Facebook group is welcome to join. They just go into the Facebook group and answer a couple of questions. It’s an amazing community, and I publish a lot of opportunities for open submission windows, articles, and opportunities to learn. When someone publishes something, I celebrate it.
I also have a website and am on LinkedIn. I love connecting with people. Community is so important, no matter what you’re doing, and with writing especially, it’s not organic all the time. Any opportunity I have to put two people in the same room together or to connect, I’m happy to do it.
Thank you so much, Ellen, for taking the time to talk to us!
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We look forward to hearing about your incredible book project.
Write on!
Kim Eley
KWE Publishing
“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.”
— Maya Angelou
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After our wonderful conversation with Ellen, we wanted to further highlight A Reason to Write! If you’ve been wanting to find the time to dedicate to writing and are looking for a beautiful space to do it in, A Reason to Write’s retreats in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, could be the perfect spot for you! You might also want to join a workshop hosted by A Reason to Write, which you can find on the website here. If you can’t make it to an in-person workshop, you can still check out upcoming online workshops!
