Meet Julia Martel | Author | Writing Retreat Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Julia Martel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julia, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Community.

On the surface, writing a book seems a solitary mission. The icons of past romanticize it as such. Hemingway, alone in the woods. Bukowski, drunk with only the page to make sense of his internal monologues. Austen withdrawn and commenting on society. Salinger, Poe, Proust, Dickinson, the list goes on.

And still, when I set out on a mission to write my book, I had no visions that I would be doing it on my own.

When I decided to write a book, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. That, of couse, was terrifying enough, but the idea of stumbling around in that abyss alone, in tweed elbow patches, on rainy days, on the grounds of some stuffy university (you get it)—that’s not exactly my style. I like to be rather loud in daring to achieve my dreams and I don’t care to emulate icons—in fact I’m not sure I’ve ever had one. The stumbling part, well—I do favor the art of stumbling and have the mystery bruises to prove it.

I changed my tiny, outdated personal instagram account into a tinier, author instagram account and called out to cyberspace, “Is anyone out there writing a book?”

What echoed back will never cease to amaze me.

With each awkward, grainy post, I found a new person or two. Not followers—actual, real humans who were out there somewhere on this planet writing books they deeply cared about. These were genuine people who had ideas and lives!

One or two people turned into a lot of friends. I went from not knowing how to write a book, to becoming a go-to person for coffee chats on writing tips, and writing retreat guides, and author newbies asking “How do I get started?” Four years later, I’m engrained. From beta reading and hosting travel writing retreats, to book launch events and cover reveals, I am intimately connected to a global community of writers. That connection, is the key to my success.

Along the way, I’ve been challenged more than once: “Shouldn’t you be marketing toward readers, not writers?” And I suppose if my concern was selling my book, then yes, that would be the community I focused on. However, my goal has always been to embody this new identity I found and fell in love with—writer; that is a much larger goal than writing and selling one book. Learning to write well, how to edit, how does the dang publishing industry work, how do we create a sustainable career out of this…how can I strengthen my author GRIT despite life doing its damndest to get in the way!? Having my author community has always been the absolute best thing for me. If I have them, I have to believe everything else will follow. After all, you can’t sell books that don’t exist.

This year on September 26th, my debut novel Swimming with the Sun will enter the world. Creating this book took no less than every single person in my author community. I owe them all eternal thanks. I will continue pouring my energy into my writing and retreating community, and I know it will continue reciprocating to me and beyond.

I owe my success to the lovely, honest, authentic people who share themselves, their time, and their talents. I never, ever, could have done this alone. Moreover, I wouldn’t have wanted to.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I don’t think anyone would say they had it easy to get where they are but I can acknowledge both my privelege and my perseverence. I am very lucky to have had a good education and supportive family. I am lucky that there is something deep in my core that pushes me to go and do. I am grateful that despite dealing with Anxiety, ADHD, and Depression, the truly debhilitating parts didn’t hit until I had all of my handy-dandy lifelines in place. These things may seem mundane but they are core to my art – I am inspired by my love for school and reading, my family and how close I feel to them despite living so far away, and I think you’d be hard-pressed to miss the themes of mental health in my stories.

My college education (undergraduate and graduate degrees) were tough but rewarding. I worked a lot of jobs to pay my way through school. I volunteered at a variety of places for my graduate thesis and pushed myself to be involved in everything I could to find what I would be passionate about. I jumped around a lot, I moved around a lot, all of which ultimately inspired the storyline of my novel.

There are so many intangible skills from across my experiences that cultivated to make this book happen. My story is one of trying on every single job, city, hobby, and interest that might work for you until you find what works for you. In trying and trying and trying. In using what you have, where you are, to do what you can.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shout out Madeleine Elizabeth from Extra Extra Publishing for always having my back and believing in me throughout the last four years.

Instagram: https://julia.a.martel