Two years ago I moved to Austin and didn’t know a soul.
But I read the research, and I knew how important community was to your health and your sense of belonging to a place. I also knew that, for men, community felt especially elusive. I didn’t want to die alone, and I also didn’t want to spend all my nights watching TV. So I knew I had to do something.
At the time, I was in my most prolific period of writing. I was publishing essays online every week, and I had a sincere desire to elevate my abilities as a writer. I figured that finding a community would help me plant roots in this Austin, while also pushing me to grow in my craft.
I spent a month looking around for such a group, and found nothing that resonated with me. I wasn’t looking for an MFA course, I didn’t want to talk about my feelings and trauma, and I didn’t want to navigate weekday night traffic at 6pm. So, after a month of searching I just said fuck it, and decided to start my own. Two years later, we are the largest writing group in Austin.
Now don’t get me wrong, writing is a solitary craft—full stop.
Community or not, it’s an intimate practice of reflection and expression that can only take place between you and yourself. But your life as a whole—the people you meet, the discussions you have, and the work you produce—doesn’t have to feel isolated. That’s why writing club exists, and that’s why I believe it’s growing so quickly.
We all want to be in smarter rooms. We all want to grow as writers. Simple as that.
If you want to join us, Summer membership day is June 1st!
—Zac
In the past two months, we’ve hosted 40+ members-only events.
These events have ranged from our classic writing sessions, to our new and very popular The Art of Knowing series. In addition to a multitude of events each season, members also have the opportunity to meet 50–60 writers in Austin each month.
8-Week Feedback Group: If you’re looking for real, credible feedback from writers who know what they’re talking about. Not beta-readers, not wanna-be’s, but real deal writers who are right there in the arena with you.
12-Week Novel Workshop: This is a comprehensive, zero to first draft, novel writing course. We bring in local writing professors to teach each class, and help guide you along the way of finishing a full manuscript in 12 weeks. It’s likely the hardest, and most rewarding thing you can do at ATX Writing Club.
Weekly Members Writing Sessions: This is our bread and butter. Each Saturday at 10am, we meet at a different location around the city for some focused, heads-down writing time. You’ll meet 5–10 other writers each time, and get a fantastic amount of work done.
Rosedale Writing Nights: A relaxed, come-and-go evening built around focused work and good conversation. Half of it is quiet, heads-down writing alongside other serious members. The other half, the room opens up to conversation and drinks.
Members Appreciation Social: We host this event once per season. It’s a low-stakes hangout designed to get you acquainted with the members of our community. In the past we’ve rented out bars and coffee shops, and gifted every member who attended a free book from First Light Books.
Classics Book Club: Writers can’t just read like everyone else. They need to read deeper, and more thoughtfully, with an eye for style and metaphor, and nuance. That’s exactly what we do. We study the classics, and try to understand what makes them so perennial.
Live Talk + Q&A with Ryan Holiday: Last year we bought 100 tickets to Ryan Holiday’s live, in-person talk on his book Wisdom Takes Work. Each season we do the same for other big-name authors who come into town. We give these tickets away to our members for free.
A Moveable Feast: This is our recurring dinner series. We gather 12–16 writers, artists, sculptors, developers, and entrepreneurs around our table and discuss big topics that are important to living a creative life. Last year’s most popular topic was “How to make art while also making money”.
Show Your Work: Sometimes what you need to push some work across the finish line is the ability to read your words aloud. What’s even better is reading them aloud to a group of your peers. At Show Your Work, we invite 10 writers to read their work aloud. It could be a poem, or a piece of journalism—the medium doesn’t matter.
Symposium Series: This is an expert-led, topical discussion, usually centered around a timeless piece of written work. Our most popular discussion this year was one hosted by a PhD in Political Science, and a MA in History, with the title “1984: fiction or nonfiction”.
Insights on a $100M Book Launch: Last year, the most lucrative non-fiction book of all time was published. It made $100M overnight and very few people were talking about it. This series broke down the exact mechanics as to how it was done, and what we can learn as writers when publishing our own work.
How to Make Money With Newsletters: A recurring series from Ethan Brooks, the founder of The Austin Business Review. During these live, in-person discussions, Ethan unveils the mechanics of the newsletter world. It turns out that the biggest newsletters in the world all follow the same playbook—and Ethan’s got it.
How to Find, Vet, and Pitch Literary Agents: Hosted by six-time author Natalia Loya, this series chronicled her difficulties finding, vetting, and pitching literary agents. If you are a writer looking for a traditional, big-five publishing deal, this event is critical.
How to Get Your Nonfiction Book Published: Hosted by friend of ATX Writing Club, and former Penguin Random House Editor, Leila Sales, this presentation walks us through exactly what it takes to get a non-fiction book across the finish line.
Getting Paid and Getting Published: Again, hosted by Leila, this series discussed the actual monetization breakdown and structures you can expect when getting that big-publishing deal. Leila also walks us through the biggest mistakes first-time writers must avoid when in contract negotiations, and how to get as much leverage as you can with publishers.
The Indie Path: Hosted by Anu Pandey and David Kadavy, David walked us exactly through how he’s used his writing to generate $30,000/month in passive income from his online writing. For the essayists and newsletter writers at ATX Writing Club, this was an eye-opening discussion.
If you’d like to join 210 writers who meet in-person, in Austin, every single week. You must follow the steps below.
On June 1st, at 9:00am I will email you a secret link to join
The link is only valid for 24 hours
Pay your first membership dues (they automatically renew every 3 months)
You’ll receive a confirmation email after payment
Congrats! You’re officially a member of ATX Writing Club. You’ll now have free access to 12+ events per season, plus huge discounts on instructor lead feedback groups, writing workshops, seminars, and publication talks!
Join the SUMMER 2026 waitlist!
If you have any questions, feel free to respond directly to this email!
—Zac
P.S. Please note: we only accept members 4 days per year. March 1st, June 1st, September 1st, and December 1st. We do this to ensure our community stays small, and high-impact!
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