I just came across Dictionary.com’s First & Final Word Poetry & Lyrics Challenge, and it’s too good not to share. The concept: Write a short poem (2–5 lines) where the first and last word are the same. Any style. Let your creativity lead. Here’s the one I submitted using the word Legacy: 𝐿𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑐𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛, 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑, 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒... 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑐𝑦 It really makes you think about how to begin and end with intention—just like a book. 🏆 Prize: $150 gift card + Dictionary.com swag📅 Deadline: April 17, 2026 👉 Enter here:https://www.dictionary.com/articles/poetry-lyrics-challenge-2026?utm_source=getresponse&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PoetryMonth Best of luck to all!

The beginning of Q2. What are you focusing on this month? What was a win or a lesson from Q1? We have a lot to celebrate So many great wins & upcoming launches We played an IMPROV storytelling game (it got just a little steamy) Want to join us next week? Special Industry Expert Next Week... 📆 Check out the CALENDAR for all events. We will be back to our wild/wacky writing antics again on April 21 Follow @Leslie Barber on Goodreads... her book comes out next month https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22175716.Leslie_Collins_Barber Follow @Summer Jean on Goodreads... her next book comes out in the fall https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/61925074.Summer_Jean

Reminder. We are out of office this week. Writers' circle is only happening if YOU SHOW UP FOR YOURSELF today. What does solo writing time look like/feel like for you today?

“𝑇𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦—𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑙—𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.” On this day in 2004, Google announced Gmail—and most people thought it was a joke. Why? Because they were offering something no one else dared to: 1 GB of free storage It sounded unrealistic. Too big. Too bold. And yet… it changed everything. Fun Fact:Gmail started as invite-only, and those invites were so valuable people were actually selling them online. Now let’s bring this back to YOU and your book… How many times have you had an idea that felt:• Too big• Too different• Too “who am I to say this?” And instead of sharing it… you held it back? The ideas people doubt the most are often the ones that matter most.I know as I have experienced this, sat on ideas for too long and then either abandoned them or decided to take action... Your book might feel like that right now. Unfinished. Uncertain. Or maybe even a little “too bold” to put out into the world. But just like Gmail… It doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful. It just has to be shared. 𝐌𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲...If you stopped overthinking and trusted your voice… What message would you finally put into your book?

Hi everyone! I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about a writing and formatting tool called Atticus… and I wanted to bring it to you for some real-world feedback. I’m in an AI-focused group right now, and quite a few members are absolutely singing its praises... especially for how it streamlines the process of writing and formatting a book all in one place. So of course it got me curious. So I’d love to ask this amazing community: Have you used Atticus? What was your experience like? Did it make your writing or publishing process easier? Would you recommend it… or not so much? And if you haven’t tried it yet, what tools are you currently using to write. format, publish your book? As many of you are in different stages of your book journey, from idea to draft to published, I think this could be a really helpful conversation for all of us. I am in the formatting stage and was thinking about who I should hire to format for amazon, print on demand, etc. and this topic came up today... Your thoughts and experiences would be really helpful! —Heidi