The Sanctuary
A Community for BIPoC Women Writers Who Take their Writing Life Seriously
The Reed, Write, & Create Sanctuary is a private, global membership community for BIPoC women writers who take their writing life seriously. We bring together BIPoC women writers who are ready to dedicate themselves to achieving their writing goals, so that they can get paid, get published, and make an impact with their words. We support and celebrate our writers through the entire process of the publication journey – writing, publishing, and promotion – with the resources they need to achieve success.
Welcome to Literary Sisterhood. Welcome to The Sanctuary.
What Women are Saying about The Sanctuary…
Who Belongs in The Sanctuary?
Women writers who identify as Black, Brown, Indigenous, Latina, Asian, Multiracial, and/or some other manifestation of the melanin-rich.
BIPoC women writers who:
Identify as emerging writers or seasoned authors, AND they prioritize their writing life.
Write creative nonfiction, journalism, poetry and/ or fiction.
Write with the primary goal of getting their work published.
Are ready to be active and contributing members of an engaged community of sister scribes.
Are open to exploring diverse options to publish and promote their writing projects.
Are willing to do the necessary work to achieve their writing goals.
“There’s an ecstatic side to writing. It’s like jazz. It just has a life.”
-Alice Walker
Why Should You Join The Sanctuary?
Writing is hard.
Sustaining a consistent writing habit over time with kids, family, careers, and regular life is a challenge.
Writing is a solitary endeavor and is fraught with pitfalls like writers block and lack of motivation when success is not guaranteed.
Finding workshops, classes and continuing education to improve your craft as a writer can be time consuming and expensive.
Staying motivated to keep writing in the face of rejections, limited opportunities, and a publishing industry that doesn’t value BIPoC stories can be soul-crushing.
Once you complete the hard work of actually getting your book, article, or story written, the challenge of publishing, and the marathon of promotion that ensues is exhausting, and requires way more than literary talent to achieve.
The truth is, writers need community in order to thrive. The Sanctuary can be that community. We are a high-touch, intimate community where Sister Scribes can access everything they need to optimize the entire lifecycle of their writing journey, from writing their first draft, to planning their book promotion campaign. We are here for the motivated writers who want to make an impact on the world with their words and their stories.
We’re not a repository of pre-recorded content, or a community in name only. We are more like a gym and a house of worship for writers, all in one. We keep our writers in shape and inspired, so they can stay committed to achieving their unique writing goals. In the Sanctuary, we take care of our members because we want them all to experience successful writing careers. We can’t make magic for you, but we try our best to give your all the tools, resource, and relationships you need to make your literary dreams come true.
The Sanctuary provides the education you need to continuously improve your craft via monthly live workshops.
The Sanctuary provides the professional development you need to make money from your writing or for your writing, via live workshops, fireside chats, and access to expert lectures.
The Sanctuary has the resources you need to optimize your writing life, instead of spending hours searching on the Internet, and/or pouring money into resources that don’t deliver. Resources include job opportunities, calls for submissions, listings of residencies, retreats, prizes and grants, specifically curated for BIPoC writers. Not to mention, BETA readers who are happy to provide feedback on your work.
The Sanctuary gives you direct access to literary professionals - agents, publicists, publishers - who are particularly interested in supporting BIPoC writers.
The Sanctuary provides you with an engaged community where BIPoC women can flourish and grow as writers, and build a network of supportive Sister Scribes for life.
Inside The Sanctuary, We Offer:
Weekly Co-Writing Sessions
Monthly Craft Workshops
IRL Meet-Ups in the USA and Europe
Guest Lectures from Publishing Professionals, including Booksellers
Monthly Community Gatherings
Monthly Writing Prompts
Writing Challenges
A Resource Library
Updated Calls for Opportunities to Get Paid and Get Published
Feedback Circles for novelists, short story writers, poets, and memoirists
Poetry and Storytelling Salons
Professional Development
Discounts on the RWC Retreats and Private Coaching with Lori L. Tharps
…and more
The Wins Our Writers Experience Include:
Being Shortlisted for National Writing Competitions
Winning Scholarships for Prestigious Writing Workshops
Being Selected to Speak at Literary Conferences
Winning grants and fellowships
Finding collaborators for panel presentations at national writing conferences
Having their work selected for publication in national literary journals
Acceptance to prestigious writer’s workshops
Getting tenure track academic jobs
Getting published in anthologies
Having their books sold for foreign rights
And most importantly, having a community to share their wins with!
Meet the Team
The Sanctuary is a high-touch community where members get access to a curated network of publishing and media professionals based on the long-standing literary careers of our team members.
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Founder + HostLori L. Tharps is an award-winning author, journalist, and former tenured college professor, whose work lands at the intersection of race and popular culture. A beloved writing coach, Lori has helped dozens of writers achieve their literary goals.
She is the author of three critically acclaimed non-fiction books that deal with race, culture and identity, including Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, and Kinky Gazpacho.
Lori is also the author of the novel, Substitute Me (Atria) and three “celebrity memoirs.” In addition to her books, Lori’s work can be read in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Essence, Glamour, and Entertainment Weekly magazines. (To learn more about Lori and her professional background, please visit her personal website at LoriLTharps.com.)
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Community Manager + CoachMaceo Nafisah currently lives in Central Portugal with her two children. She is a Muslim Cuban-American writer, entrepreneur, and book coach.
Maceo has a BA in Latin American Studies from Bradford College and an MA in Writing and Consciousness from New College of California.
Her play Amor Cubano: In a Bottle, a Tube and a Small Packet (2007-2008) was produced in the Bay Area and NYC and toured the South of the US.
A former bookseller in Oakland, CA Maceo is the co-founder and community manager of the Muslim Writers' Salon working with writers in 14 countries.
How to Join The Sanctuary
To join The Sanctuary, writers must fill out an application to ensure they are a good fit for the community. Writers must have previous writing experience, writing classes or workshops taken, and the desire to have their work published. Previous writing credits are not required, but they will help in the application process. In addition to writing experience and education, we are also looking for writers who are ready and willing to actively participate in the community. The Sanctuary only thrives when Sister Scribes support one another.
Upon acceptance, writers will receive a link to join the community, which is hosted on Circle.co.
Fees for The Sanctuary can be paid on a monthly, three-month (quarterly) or annual basis. We believe a minimum commitment of three months in The Sanctuary, is the only way to truly experience all The Sanctuary has to offer and to reap the benefits in your literary life. Our pricing structure reflects this belief. It is far more cost effective to purchase a quarterly or annual plan, than the monthly plan.
The doors to the Sanctuary only open three times a year. Our next Open Door Period will be September 15 - 27, 2024. Join the waitlist to be the first to access the application.
Basic
2024 Fees for the Sanctuary
Monthly: $100
Quarterly: $165 (Three months)
Annually - $600 (12 months)
Please note: Even if the membership fees for The Sanctuary increase over time, the price you pay when you join, will be locked in for life.
Basic
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do I have to have publishing credits to join The Sanctuary?
No. Previous writing credits are not required, but they will help in the application process. The writers who do best in The Sanctuary understand the publishing landscape and what is required to get published. A writer may still need some help getting to publication, but is aware of where her strengths and deficits lie, and will be intentional in working towards addressing her editorial weaknesses in order to get published.
Why is there a push for a three-month commitment to join The Sanctuary?
You should think about membership inThe Sanctuary like membership in a gym or a house of worship. You will never see results in the gym if you don’t commit for at least three months. And you can’t experience the benefits of a community without spending time getting to know individual members and engaging in the activities The Sanctuary has to offer. If you don’t find any value and your writing life has not improved in three months, you can easily cancel your membership with the knowledge that you gave it a chance, but it wasn’t right for you.
Is The Sanctuary only an online community, or do you have In-Person events as well?
The Sanctuary is a global community for BIPoC women writers, as such, we are an online first community. However, Sanctuary members have informal meet-ups based on geographical proximity, and moving forward, we are planning formal Sanctuary meet-ups in different cities around the world. Our first official Sanctuary Meet-Up will be in Philadelphia in October 2024. We will have a second Meet-Up in Europe at the end of 2024.
Do I have to identify as BIPoC to join?
Yes.
Do I have to live in the United States to join?
No. The majority of our members reside in the United States, but our team members both live in Europe. Currently our members live in the USA, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and Canada. Most of our resources are geared towards an American audience, but we are adding some European and UK based literary resources moving forward.
I am a seasoned author with multiple publications under my belt. Is The Sanctuary worth it for me to join?
Yes. We have several seasoned, traditionally published authors in The Sanctuary, who are working on book two, book three, and even book 22.
If you are looking for a supportive group of women writers who get you, who will celebrate your wins, and cheer you up when things aren’t going so well. Yes, if you recognize that there is no finish line to working on your craft, and that there is always something new to learn, a new genre to try, a new modality to play with. Yes, if having a ready community of writers to tap into to find BETA readers, feedback and accountability partners, and potential ambassadors for your next book. Yes, if you realize that writing alone is hard and deeply unsatisfying, but writing in community can up level your writing life in so many ways.
If you have more questions, please sign up for the Tell me More mailing list.