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Revise & Rise: 

Retreat for Writers

 

with Julie Artz and Emily Colin

May 27-31, 2026 | The Highlights Foundation | Milanville, PA

 

Revise with joy, confidence, & support 

(At Highlights!)

Join two seasoned authors and book coaches for an immersive retreat designed specifically for novelists seeking to refine their craft and elevate their storytelling. 

In this retreat, we will help you build a road map to demystify the revision process and sort through conflicting advice to polish your manuscript while remaining true to your vision. This transformative experience offers dedicated time to dive deep into your manuscript and develop a healthy, productive revision mindset.

Register now!

I came to Julie and Emily’s Revise & Rise retreat with a partial draft of a memoir manuscript and very little momentum. I was stuck and not convinced that I could find my way to wrapping my arms around my story. Between their illuminating craft talks, one-on-one coaching sessions, and supportive community building, I left feeling focused, motivated, and confident, with a clear plan to restructure my draft and to write forward. Julie and Emily are a dynamic duo, and their passion and energy are infectious! I can’t wait to work with them again!

Suzette Mullen
Author of "The Only Way Through is Out"

Regain your writer mojo and find the confidence you need to take your novel to the next level! ⚡ 

In all, this opportunity features:

✦ A Pre-retreat session where you can meet your fellow writers and begin to develop a revision roadmap

✦ Detailed written feedback on your roadmap and first 10 pages from your instructor to help you prioritize your revision goals

✦ At least two private consultations–one in person at the retreat and one via Zoom afterward–with your instructor to discuss feedback, revisions, and next steps

✦ Daily craft sessions on crucial elements of the revision process

✦ Plenty of quiet working time during the retreat

✦ Opportunities to share your work with others at Fireside Chats

✦ Connection opportunities with fellow writers

You’ll leave the retreat with a completed, actionable roadmap to guide you through your revision and tools to use when revising future novels.

The Revise & Rise Retreat with Julie Artz and Emily Colin gave me exactly what I needed to move forward with my novel. Before the retreat I was stuck in the revision trenches, frustrated and floundering. That completely changed when I had my one-on-one with Emily on the first day of the retreat. After talking with her I knew exactly what I needed to do to successfully revise my novel. And that was just the beginning of a phenomenal retreat. Julie and Emily are the perfect retreat teachers, guides and mentors. They have the best, most welcoming, encouraging and contagious energy, and complement each other beautifully. It truly feels as if they were meant to teach together! The other women in the retreat quickly felt like sisters and kindred spirits, and the energy, thanks in large part to Julie and Emily, was incredibly welcoming and supportive. If you're thinking about joining Julie and Emily for one of their life changing retreats, I urge you to do it!. It's one of the best decisions I ever made as a writer.

Dani Dunckley, MA in English and Creative Writing

Why this retreat? đź“š

Revision can be so overwhelming, especially if you’ve received different feedback from readers or even agents and editors.

How do you know what to incorporate and what to let go, which voices to trust and which to disregard?

When you are so close to your story, it can be difficult to figure out what it truly needs to become its best self. Expert guidance can make the difference between pulling your hair out and revising with joy, confidence, and support. 

Together, we'll make revision the most rewarding part of your writing process.

Here's how we'll do it:

1

To make the most of your experience, you’ll get feedback on your opening pages and revision plans before the retreat begins, so you can hit the ground running when you arrive!

2

Through workshops, personalized feedback sessions, and collaborative discussions, you'll gain fresh perspectives and actionable insights to enhance your narrative structure, character development, and thematic depth. 

3 

You will connect with fellow writers, share your journey, and emerge with renewed inspiration and a solid revision plan for a book that will captivate readers. 

The Revise and Rise retreat was fabulous! It was a luxury to be in the company of writers who are serious about their craft in a beautiful environment without day-to-day distractions. Julie and Emily seemed to really understand the goals and needs of each participant and were able to provide the guidance and resources to support each of us. It was an all-around fantastic experience, and I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to roll their sleeves up and get to the heart of their book in the company of others who want to do the same! I left the retreat feeling sad that it was over, but energized and excited to revise. Thank you Julie and Emily for putting this together!

J. Goodwin

All the details:

 

🗓️ Wednesday, May 27 - Sunday, May 31, 2026

📍 Highlights Foundation Campus, Milanville, PA

The cost for this 4 day / 4 night workshop with two seasoned book coaches is $2,000 ($1100 payable now and $900 payable to Highlights directly for room and board).

This includes:

✦ Pre-retreat Revision Packet:  

✦ Pre-retreat Q&A: Get a jump-start on your revision with this helpful get-to-know-you that will help answer your questions before the retreat. 

✦ A personalized feedback letter on your query, synopsis, and first chapter before the retreat even begins. 

✦ All retreat activities: in-person lectures, writing exercises, & more

✦ Lodging and meals at the beautiful Highlights Foundation retreat center in the Poconos mountains of Pennsylvania.

✦ 1:1 consultations during and after the retreat to keep your momentum going even after you're home.

All you have to do is get yourself here! 

Are you in?  We are only offering seats for 10 writers for this intensive, so make sure to register on or before March 30, 2026 to claim your spot.

Register now!

✍ Pencil in these dates!

 

✦ March 30: Registration closes

✦ April 26 at 3 pm ET: Pre-retreat Q&A (via Zoom)

✦ May 3: Revision plan and first ten pages due

✦ May 22: Feedback letters delivered to writers

✦ May 27 at 5:30 pm ET: Revise & Rise Retreat begins with dinner

✦ May 31 at 11 am ET: Revise & Rise Retreat ends

 

Daily Schedule

 

✦ 8 am Breakfast

✦ 9 am - 12 pm Craft Workshops

✦ 12 pm Lunch

✦ 1 pm - 5 pm Writing Time (& 1:1s)

✦ 5 pm Appetizers

✦ 6 pm Dinner

✦ 7 pm - 9 pm Writing Time

✦ 9 pm - 10 pm Fireside Chats

Meet your retreat facultyđź‘‹

Emily Colin and Julie Artz will be there every day of the retreat, to answer your questions, give you personal feedback on your work, help you overcome roadblocks, and much more.

 

They have extensive experience helping authors find the publishing path that’s right for them. Keep reading to learn more about what they've accomplished.

Emily Colin

Author, Editor, and Book Coach

 

Emily Colin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for her romantic fiction with supernatural twists. Her debut, The Memory Thief, was a Target Emerging Authors Pick, her romantasy Fate and Fury earned a Foreword Silver INDIES Award, and her YA Seven Sins series has received Gold Moonbeam, Silver IPPY, and North Carolina Indie Author Project Awards. She’s also the editor of two young adult anthologies: Unbound: Stories of Transformation, Love, and Monsters, and Wicked South: Secrets and Lies. 

As an Author Accelerator-certified book coach and Authors Publish instructor, Emily helps authors build sustainable writing practices and bring the books of their dreams to life. She is a former Pitch Wars and Kiss Pitch mentor, and a current Duke Arts Studio mentor. As the former associate director of DREAMS Center for Arts Education and a volunteer organizer for the Cape Fear Book Festival, she believes deeply in the power of the arts to transform lives.

Emily holds a BA from Duke University and an MS from Kansas State. In a previous life, she ran a Coney Island tattoo and piercing contest, worked with dolphins in the Florida Keys, and roamed New York City as a teenage violinist for hire. Emily lives in coastal North Carolina with her family and, when not writing, enjoys chasing her chaotic pets or sipping mochas by the sea.

Julie Artz

Author, Editor, and Book Coach

 

Julie Artz is an author, editor and book coach who empowers writers to slay their doubt demons and get their stories reader-ready.

Over the past decade, Julie has worked with both award-winning and newer authors across the publishing spectrum from Big Five to small and university presses to indie and hybrid. Julie is an Author Accelerator-certified Founding Book Coach and a sought-after speaker and writing instructor. She is a regular contributor to Jane Friedman and Writers Helping Writers, and a regular instructor for AuthorsPublish, IWWG, and more.

She has kept her industry knowledge sharp through her work as a Pitch Wars and Teen Pit mentor and a former SCBWI Regional Advisor (WWA), and through her memberships in The EFA, the WFWA, AWP, and the Authors Guild.

A consummate social and environmental justice minded story geek, Julie lives on an enchanted stream in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband, two strong-willed teenagers (when they’re not off at university!), and two naughty furry familiars.

She’s built a thriving book coaching business based on her values, her editing chops, and her knowledge of story.

 

 

đź’¬ What authors are saying...

 

 

 "Julie helped me take the first draft of my manuscript to a polished, well executed novel that got me an agent and my first book deal.”

Author María José Fitzgerald (Turtles of the Midnight Moon, Knopf, 2023)

 

 

“Julie has an unusual ability to see story from a big-picture perspective that connects the external aspects of setting and plot with the internal ones of character and emotional arc.  That connection strengthens authenticity and helps to make the work more compelling. Her guidance on the intricacies of building a world (and the characters and emotions inhabiting it) is sure to be useful for writers of all genres.”

Author Joni Sensel (A Curse on the Wind and Feeling Fate)

 

 

“I found both teachers [Emily Colin & Julie Artz] so generous with their time, information and feedback. Having carefully completed the assignments, I feel much more grounded in the plot and the characters of this novel I have my heart set on writing. Thank you for making this class available to us. Rated 5 out of 5”

Student Gail S, AuthorsPublish

”Emily’s editorial guidance is remarkable and any writer's work is sure to benefit from her insights.”

Author Margarita Montimore (Oona Out of Order, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, Flatiron Books, 2023) 

 

 

"Emily picked me out of the slush pile of an author mentorship program that she was a mentor in, and immediately had incredible enthusiasm and vision for my book. Not only could she see the changes that would make my characters shine, but she pitched the idea of altering the setting of my story from post-apocalyptic to a fantasy dystopian world.

Ultimately, this insight was the change I needed to get noticed in traditional publishing, and now The Enemy’s Daughter is being published by multiple imprints of Harper Collins (Quill Tree and Harper Fire).”

 

Author Melissa Poett (The Enemy’s Daughter, Harper Collins, summer 2025

Is the Revise & Rise Retreat right for you?

It's a GREAT fit if…

 

✦ You have a complete or near-complete draft of a novel. You’ll get the most out of this retreat if you’re at this stage.  

✦ You’re willing to work! This retreat is best for those who will dedicate time and attention to prework before the retreat, as well as processing feedback, revising, writing exercises, and group sessions during the retreat.

✦ You’d appreciate some retreat time. This retreat has plenty of built-in time to write, draw, hike, revise, and/or rest: whatever you need.

✦ You’re hungry for guidance, support, and community as you revise your novel.

✦ You’re published, pre-published, or self-published! Whether this is your first novel or your fifth, there’s something here for you.

 

Register now!

Register by March 30 to reserve your spot! ✅

 

Step 1

 

 

Reserve your spot here (only 10 available).

 

Step 2

 

Choose your lodging here.

đź“Ž Resources



Check out these free resources to learn more about Julie and Emily's approach to writing and revising:

Using a Long-Form Synopsis to Plan Your Novel 

on the Jane Friedman blog  

Read now

Raising Your Voice, Claiming Your Story

on the #AmWritingPodcast

Listen now

Is Your Manuscript Reader-Ready? Your Query Can Tell You.

on AuthorsPublish

Read now

Tips and Tricks for Revising Your Manuscript to Make It Shine

on AuthorsPublish

Read now

Cancellation Policy

We use the same cancellation policy as The Highlights Foundation: 

Individual guest cancellations are allowed up to 30 days before a retreat starts, and the entire individual cost to attend will be deducted from your total balance due. Individual cancellations between 30-days and 1-week of a retreat start will incur a cancellation fee of 15% of individual cost to attend. Cancellations made within 1-week of retreat start will incur a cancellation fee of 30% of individual cost to attend.