The 10,000-Word Challenge
3 Days to Sprint through the First 15% of Your Draft

Stop talking about writing. Stop planning to write later. Write 10,000 words in 72 hours.

Join me for this FREE 3-day sprint. We'll kick off on Fri. Oct 31st and then write our hearts out from Monday, Nov 3rd - Wednesday, Nov 5th. See you there!

Register today!

You'll get everything you need (workbook, links to live classes + co-writes, replays, and motivation) in your inbox! I can't wait to write with you.

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Mary Adkins

Novelist + Founder of The Book Incubator

Mary Adkins is the author of the novels When You Read This (an Indie Next Pick and “Best Book of 2019” by Good Housekeeping), Privilege (a Today.com “Best Summer Read”), and Palm Beach (a New York Post “Best Book of 2021” and described by the Associated Press as “like a sandy beach, equal parts beautiful and uncomfortable”). Her memoir, You Might Feel a Little Pressure, was published in March 2025 by Third Rail Press.

In 2021, after years of navigating the world of novel-writing and publishing through random classes and trial-and-error, Mary founded The Book Incubator™, an MFA-alternative program that has helped hundreds of writers finish their books in just 12 months (with a 95% completion rate!) and continues to support them through publication—forever.

About the Challenge

Stop secretly harboring a book idea or planning to write your book "one day." Let's write 10,000 words together in 72 hours.

We'll kick things off on Friday, Oct. 31st—I'll share everything I think you need to know to get started (which does NOT include intricate outlines or character maps, barf). You’ll be welcome to get a head start over the weekend with what I share. Then we'll host the FREE 3-day sprint from Monday, Nov 3rd - Wednesday, Nov 5th.

This isn't your typical month-long writing challenge where momentum dies by week two. This is 72 hours of focused writing—you WILL get words down, baby.

Sessions will be live, but recordings available if you can't attend everything. Reserve your spot and get ready to surprise yourself with what you can accomplish in just a few days.

What You'll Get

Live lessons taught by Mary to give you a process & structure
Co-writing sessions for writing company & accountability
Free workbook with notes & instruction, including strategies for sustained writing
Everything you need to write 10K words in 72 hours, nothing you don't