It’s been a long time since our last update, and we’ve done a lot since then! Thanks for sticking around and checking in on us. Do give us an update on your writing life in the comments or on social media!

Update on Summer Goals

Writing Schedule: Travis has done more for himself in this regard. He’s been meeting with his writing group again, which always lends to a regular writing schedule. My kind of regular writing is more blog post and social media related. I am currently participating in Camp NaNoWriMo with the best cabin mates a writer could ask for! I’m sticking to my pleasant word count goal of 10,000 words, and I hope to get more chapters for Throwaway Queen finished.

Agent & Job Soliciting: I’ve applied to quite a few literary agencies and have gotten pleasantly-worded “no’s” from them. These are probably the nicest rejections I’ve ever received. A few even gave some constructive criticism that I could apply to my manuscript to get more acceptance emails in the future. I’m not too fazed by it since I’m still pretty early in the process.

As for jobs, we’re constantly applying and facing similar rejection. That’s how life is and we’re still trying to enjoy our summer regardless. We’re not sure what the rest of 2017 holds for us, and it’s easy to feel ebbs of discouragement.

We Had Our First Writing Retreat

Well, we’ve heard a lot about writing retreats and decided to take one ourselves! We stayed in this nice condo up in the mountains . . . and didn’t get much writing done. We didn’t take it super seriously, but the time we spent resting, reading, and working on other goals made it easier for us to write more in the future. I should give Travis credit: he actually did some writing and I got lost in a good book, Present Over Perfect.

We Launched Our #HalfYearMarkGoal Instagram Challenge

So far so good! We’re happy that a few people are participating and we hope to see more trickle in as July unfolds. You can check out our post about the challenge here or head over to Instagram to join! I’d highly recommend joining in the fun if you a) are motivated by online accountability to achieve a goal b) want ideas of what to post on Instagram or c) want to attract more like-minded followers to your Instagram. It’s a win-win, trust me.

We’re Upgrading Our Editing & Beta Reading Services

I’m particularly excited about this. As many of you know—or maybe don’t know—I have five years of professional editing experience and I want to use that experience to help other indie authors get publish-ready! In the coming weeks, I will be revamping our pages to include information about pricing, packages, services, and more to get a better idea of what I can do.

I’ve always been passionate about helping other writers. I want to train to eventually be a literary agent or even a publisher someday. But for now, I’m pretty jazzed about polishing manuscripts for reader consumption.

I’m also setting up a more official page where you can contact Travis or I for beta reading services. We will still do it free of charge, but we want something official so you know we’re available for these kinds of things.

Urg, I’m just really excited for this and I hope you are, too. A big THANK YOU to writing friends that have trusted me with editing your work in the past. You’ve made me confident enough to price my work better and even call myself a freelance editor.

Wit & Travesty Turns 3!

Last but not least, we’ve reached our 3rd blogging anniversary! Take a look at our posts—old and new—and you’ll see that we’ve come a long way. We have grown as writers, editors, readers, and humans.

We just want to thank you for following our blog, being interested in our lives via social media, sharing your dreams with us, and being the best internet friends we could ask for!

Sometimes it feels like no one is listening or paying attention, but we can tell that you are moved by our words and our #writerslife advice. In the coming years, we plan to share, start dialogs, and be a solid part of the warm and illustrious writing community.

Well, don’t mind us if we’re feeling a bit misty-eyed and yet pumped for our upcoming plans. What have you been up to this summer? Share with us in the comments or via social media!