This is the year you write your novel or memoir.

BOOK IN A YEAR is a monthly craft + support group designed to support your draft from start to finish.

Book in a year

January-December 2027

with author and book editor Susanna Daniel

3rd Wednesdays, 6-8:30p CT
$2495 (in 2 payments)

Limited to 8 writers

write your book
A woman with curly brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a blue patterned shirt and glasses on her head, is engaged in conversation at a table with a glass of water, notebooks, and a pink item. The background features bookshelves and a blurry television or monitor, suggesting a library or a cozy, well-lit indoor space.

There’s no reason for writing to be a lonely business.

In this year-long workshop, our group focus is on craft feedback, regular deadlines, and encouragement — a scaffolding for success that, together with your commitment, will support you as you complete a draft of your novel or memoir. All genres welcome.

deadlines + encouragement + feedback

= your best book

Book in a Year meets monthly starting in January, with a break in August. For 11 sessions, we meet to workshop submissions, discuss challenges and goals, resolve stumbling blocks, and offer encouragement.

BIAY is a challenging and rewarding yearlong experience. Many of the partnerships made at the table continue for years.

*Workshop includes the MWS Novel Toolkit.

“BIAY was a life changing experience and I am very grateful for it!”
— EF, BIAY 2025
“I’m so grateful to have been in your BIAY workshop this year. I learned so much from you and the other writers. I’ll be recommending the MWS to anyone who wants to write a book.”
— V, BIAY 2024

who should join us?

This workshop is meant for anyone ready to commit to writing a book, whether you’ve barely formed an idea or fully finished a draft.

Our priority is encouragement and accountability, with a secondary focus on useful and concrete feedback.

BIAY writers have completed sci-fi, fantasy, young adult, thriller, crime, and literary novels and a variety of personal memoirs. Our commitment is to meet every book on its own terms, regardless of each writer’s reading preferences or experience.

The class will be most useful for writers with some experience receiving and offering feedback in a workshop setting, but workshop experience is not necessary.

what will you learn?

We’ll look at each month’s submission with a focus on structure, character, and language.

During each session, we’ll discuss aspects of novel and memoir writing, including time management, overcoming obstacles, developing and introducing characters, problem solving, pacing and plot, balance of scene and exposition, and how to stay focused. 

In the fall, we’ll look closely at our at titles and conclusions and workshop loglines to get a jump on querying, then we’ll end with a revision plan.

 
A computer screen showing a Zoom video conference with eight people, some smiling and looking at the camera, while one person is taking a selfie inside the conference. The background includes a bookshelf, framed photos, and a wall hanging.

choose your section

BIAY live in person

Meets locally in Madison on the 3rd Wednesday of the month

BIAY live on Zoom

Meets on the 4th Thursday of the month.

Meet the Instructor

  • Susanna Daniel

    Susanna Daniel, author and editor

    Susanna Daniel is the author of three novels. Girlfriending is a spinoff of her award-winning short story, "The Goddess of Illicit Choices," Stiltsville, was awarded the PEN/Bingham prize, and Sea Creatures, was a Target Book Club pick.

    Susanna is the co-founder of the Madison Writers’ Studio with author Michelle Wildgen, and she’s been leading the Book in a Year workshop since 2013. She’s coached and edited more 100+ novelists and memoirists, from the blank page or or a complete draft or somewhere in between. She excels at meeting work on its own terms and offering nuts-and-bolts craft lessons you can use right away.

    Susanna is a graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and was a Teaching-Writing Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a Carl Djerassi Fiction Fellow at the UW Institute for Creative Writing. She’s earned residencies at the MacDowell Colony and UCross, and has been published in the Sewanee Review, Newsweek, Slate, One Story, Wisconsin People & Ideas, Significant Objects, Epoch, and elsewhere. Before co-founding MWS, she taught college-level creative writing for ten years.

    You can learn more about Susanna at her website, and you’re welcome to contact her via email.

The workshop fee is $2,495

Returning students receive 10% discount

Live in Person Schedule
6 – 8:30pm CDT

Introduction January 13, 2027 January 20, 2027
February 17, 2027
March 17, 2027
April 21, 2027
May 19, 2027
June 16, 2027
July 21, 2027
August Break
September 15, 2027
October 20, 2027. November 17, 2027
December 15, 2027

Zoom in Person Schedule
530–8pm CDT

Introduction January 21, 2027 January 28, 2027
February 25, 2027
March 25, 2027
April 29, 2027
May 27, 2027
June 24, 2027
July 29, 2027
August Break
September 30, 2027
October 28, 2027 November 18, 2027
December 16, 2027

  • Every writer submits up to 25 pages every month.

  • Every writer reads for everyone else, so each writer receives a letter of feedback from 7 total voices, Susanna included.

  • Some BIAY writers are working on their third or fourth books, but most haven’t written a book before. The craft lessons imparted at the table are useful for writers of all levels of exeperience.

  • Many writers come to our introductory meeting with no pages written; others come with a complete first draft.

  • Most writers miss one month, but our group depends on mutual support and trust, so it’s recommended not to miss more than that. If needed, we’re always open to talking about alternative dates.

  • Collaborative, honest, and straightforward. We're here to guide the process, bring ideas to the table, and keep things moving.

write your book

  • "Susanna offered exactly what I was looking for. Expert, critical, supportive feedback and guidance. She was consistently positive, creative in possible approaches and responsive. The course itself offered the discipline I needed to write a book.”

    — Barb M

  • “I’m so incredibly grateful to have been in your BIAY workshop this year. I learned so much from you and the other writers. I’ll be recommending the Madison Writers Workshop to anyone who wants to write a book. ”

    — Vivian B.

  • “Susanna and the other members of our little troupe picked me up when I stumbled, encouraged me when I doubted, slogged through the messy middle with me, and we came out the other end together. Twelve months later, we’ve handed each other completed first drafts. We’ve done the unimaginable, often driven by nothing more than Susanna’s unwavering belief that we could.”

    — Eric B.

  • “Susanna was able to show me the most important things I had to offer as a writer: authority and authenticity. That knowledge vastly increased my confidence to trust in my own creative process.”

    — Clelia M

  • “THANK YOU for your guidance during the Book in a Year workshop. I learned so much by going through the manuscript again with your comments. It made for a stronger first draft (which is done!), and I’m eager to apply the lessons to my second draft. I’ve been working on this novel for approximately two years and eight months now. I’m so excited to have a complete first draft, and perhaps more importantly, to have enthusiasm for moving forward and confidence in doing so. I don’t see how I would have arrived in this same place without the workshop. Very grateful.”

    — Sarah Z-B

  • BIAY was a life changing experience and I am very grateful for it.

    E. F.

write your book next year.

*

write your book next year. *

Is BIAY right for you?

Susanna is happy to jump on a call to discuss your book and situation.

Book an appointment or email her to make time.

write your book

Apply for book in a year 2027

We’ll get in touch with details and an invoice within 48 hours of receiving your registration.

Please note that all returning students receive a 10% discount on workshops.

We look forward to getting to know you and your work!