Book or Bust

Summer Writing Challenge

Write a Book This Summer

  • Dream it.

    It all begins with an idea.



    a line of green light bulbs with one shining that says idea
  • Write It.

    983 words a day during the months of June and July will get you a 60,000 word draft by the end of the summer.

    typewriter with green background
  • Finish It.

    Take advantage of our members, who include industry professionals, and polish your drafts for the steps leading to publication.

    a picture of a mock book review
  • Go on a Retreat.

    In July, we host a weekend writing retreat with one goal— get as much writing done as possible!

    picture of red barn ranch

Book or Bust

The Permian Basin is known for its economy centered around oil booms and busts.

That inspired the challenge name. Other rejected names? Midyear Manuscript Madness, A.K.A. “MMM”. While we had a good laugh about saying “MMM… books” like Cookie Monster every time we talked about the challenge, in the end, boom or bust reflects the area we live.

If you’ve done NaNoWriMo in November, you know how challenging it can be to complete 50,000 words in a month. Book or Bust expands on that challenge to write 60,000 words in 2 months. 983 words a day will become 60,000 words by the end of the summer.

For most, that’s a novel’s rough draft. Fantasy or sci-fi writers may need an additional 10-30,000 words for a complete draft, but they’ll be 90% there by the end of it.

Unlike NaNoWriMo, the word’s day count is smaller, so missing a day or two won’t tank your attempt. Plus, longer daylight hours will allow the writer to balance social and writing obligations.

983 words a day compared to NaNoWriMo’s 1856 words a day will also prevent the first draft from being a nightmare to edit.

Book or Bust is a balanced challenge that places the odds on the writer to win.

We’d love if you became a Wordsmith

You can do the challenge without becoming an official Wordsmith, but then you’d miss out on all the camaraderie and fun!