This ten-month sanctuary
and mastery program is the most comprehensive writing program of its kind in the world.
This ten-month sanctuary and mastery program is the most comprehensive writing program of its kind in the world.
The Gateless Academy
Our next Academy opens November 1, 2026, apply here.
Writing really can be doubled-over laughter, a hit of the divine, a wild uncovering of untold stories, a daring ride into the singular genius you hold inside.
“Joining Gateless, I’d been to the MFA, and I had a novel in the works, but I just wasn’t sure how to build a whole book. Now, I have a worldwide community of published writers I love who I consider friends. I just got a two book deal, and I am working on my next. I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do with Gateless.”
~ Sheena Cook, author of Men Would
Kill For This, shortlisted for the 2024 Little, Brown UEA Crime Fiction Award
I’m so happy you are here!
After working for over twenty-five years in the publishing industry, first as a bestselling author and then as an industry insider, it became clear to me: Writers need an oasis.
Writers need to write their books together, share resources, agent’s names and a force field of support. Writers should never feel marooned in the beautiful, sometimes complicated process of getting a book to sale.
Over a decade ago, I created the Gateless Writing Academy as a ten-month sanctuary and incubation for writers to become in-demand authors. It surprised me by becoming a literary home for some of the greatest writers of our generation. Many of them started with the blush of an idea. Others came with full drafts. The Academy grew to include a team that works with you on your writing so that you can achieve more than you ever dreamed.
Writers who have been through the Academy are now represented by Writers House, Park and Fine Literary, ICM, the Carol Mann Agency, Bent Literary and more. They have been published by Henry Holt, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette and many others.
As a direct result of their time in the Academy, our writers have been in Rolling Stone Magazine, chosen for Reeses’s Book Club, been on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Kelly and Mark, featured in The New York Times, on TED Talk stages and so much more.
The Academy was built so that you would have a team of mentors helping you. It gives you the structure, the connections, the time and all the encouragement and information needed to create what you were meant to write.
During the Academy, I work alongside you every step of the way. You will also have a host of writing teachers, editors, bestselling authors, and a media expert to usher you into the best publications, and move you into the world as an author.
Whatever the genre, wherever you are in the process, here’s your network of unbridled support, industry intel, and the revision tools to bring you from the raw draft, to publication and beyond. All on your schedule.
If you’ve been wanting to write, Gateless is here for you. Our authors are our first priority. This really can be a life changing experience. Together let’s rise the incredible genius you hold inside.
Can’t wait to meet you!!!
Below you will find the elements of the program. But if you would like to hear from me directly, please send me a note HERE. I love to meet writers!
Suzanne
“Without Gateless, I would never have a book deal. Gateless completely changed my life”
~ Mary Gauthier, author of Saved by a Song, St. Martins Press.
The Experience
Writers who have been through the Academy describe it as a one-of-a-kind, transformative online experience. You will spend ten months immersed in guidance from publishing experts, bestselling and award-winning authors, agents and publishers and a high-level media coach. The Gateless neuroscientific model helps you finally transcend the critic and build your book from the power of your unique story. Rather than one editor, writers have access to a host of writers and editors, who help build not only your manuscript but also your career. This is a landscape of connection designed to give you the know-how you’ve been craving so you can finally bring your writing into the world.
The Works
The Academy gives you access to everything you need from the raw draft and those first chapters to how to query and who to send it to. Every weekday our online writing studio is open for generative feedback; the work-in-progress salon with our Senior Editor gives you a chance to showcase existing pages; industry luminaries answer your questions on how to create and sell; and all month you will have access to discussion and review on your writing from one of the top editors in the country (me, Suzanne!). The Academy meets at the confluence of New York publishing and the best literary minds of the century. All of it right at your fingertips so that you can create writing that moves a crowd.
How
Created from neuroscientific research at Stanford and Johns Hopkins University, the Academy transcends the critic to draw out your singular talent. Our guides include writers who have graduated from the Academy and have been repped by literary agencies such as Park and Fine, Writers House, Inkwell, William Morris, Aevitas Creative, DeFiore & Company, and Carol Mann. These alumni have now signed six- and seven-book deals with HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, St. Martin’s Press and more. They have been profiled in top media outlets, including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Business Insider, O Magazine, the Today Show and Rolling Stone Magazine, and appear year after year on best-of lists profiling books that change the world.
“Gateless gave me the network, the support and the resources to go from someone who knew she wanted to write a paradigm-shifting book, to a critically acclaimed author, speaker and movement-leader, whose book was published last year by my dream publishing house. Gateless is a unicorn in the world of writing and publishing. No one does it better.”
~ Deepa Purushothaman, critically acclaimed author of The First, the Few, the Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America
What You Have Ahead:
Flexible scheduling: We do this on your time and offer everything inside the portal that you need, you can ask questions and send work on your own time.
A method of writing that transcends the critic: Gateless’ proven neuroscientific model is designed to cease critical activity in the brain so you can access your richest material.
Media expertise: Our seasoned media expert, Krissi Driver gives you the fastest track to the best media publications, pitches that get you into podcasts, contests and the best speaking stages.
Exclusive access to one of the top development editors: Bestselling author Suzanne Kingsbury (me) will be there as mentor, confidante, friend and editor throughout the entire process.
Twenty live writing studio sessions a week: Every weekday you can write with veteran teachers and award-winning authors to create your book.
Work-in-progress sessions with Senior Editor Kate Baldwin: you will receive feedback from Kate and the other writers about where your work is strong, the power of your innate talent and how to bust through internal (and external) criticism and keep generating.
Access to industry luminaries: Bestselling authors, writers, agents and industry savants are on call in monthly sessions to answer questions, transcend your personal can’t and give you the resources you most need.
An entire library on craft, the sale, and the proposal: The Gateless portal contains a recorded library of intel to help you create bestselling beginnings, visceral scenes, an organized architecture of chapters and a surprise “open door” for the reader.
A worldwide community of support: Gateless has an incredible alumni network of bestselling memoirists, novelists, non-fiction authors, agents and media superstars who are on hand as a network of encouragement to help you succeed as a writer.
A diverse community: Writers enter at any stage of the writing journey and include novelists, memoirists, journalists, content creators, corporate olympians, healing arts therapists and more. You may have a rough idea or a full book, our team works with you wherever you are!
Absolutely everything you need to make this happen on the creative and business side of publishing, from pitches to proposals, from book architecture to busting through the inner critic are here for you during this process from the first bloom of an idea to the sale.
“The Gateless Academy was the most holistic, organic, and powerful learning experience of my fifty-one-year-old life. And I know for certain, being part of this hive of creative genius was what lead me to connect with the perfect-for-me literary agent. No part of my being was untouched by having been blessed by this visceral creative support.”
~ Melanie Maure, expert counsellor, coach and author of Sisters of Belfast,
repped by Aevitas Creative and published by HarperCollins
Meet one of our luminaries, Kelly Anderson…
…whose book The Wild Beneath (HarperCollins) became a bestseller in the first month of publication and was a Reese’s Book Club Pick. Here she talks about her experience in the Gateless Academy and why it changed her work, as well as resources for you on your own beautiful journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do we meet and how much time does the Academy require?
The Academy is built by writers for writers, entrepreneurs, doctors, moms, anyone who has a life and also wants to write fantastic content (books, essays, stories etc…). It is elastic and flexible and still offers you something every week, so that you can dip in. We offer intimate calls with luminaries each month and sessions with Suzanne so that you can talk about your work. The times of the sessions vary (the schedule will come to you once you are accepted) so that all are able to attend at some point. These calls are also recorded and sent right to your inbox.
The craft seminars are in the Academy portal and are recorded. Built from the highest literary minds in the country, these seminars are all-inclusive and presented like a podcast, so you can listen at any time when you want and need them. Written summaries remind you of the key points. These are released monthly and you have access to them for the entire ten months of the program.
We provide live, virtual Gateless Writing salons in the New Rules Studio; salons are offered three times a week so that you can find a time that works for your schedule. Krissi Driver has live programming and records everything as well.
How do I access the craft seminars?
You will find the craft seminars in the portal along with the entire archive and library of the Gateless Academy. New seminars are released each month. These hold your hand through the process of creating incredibly high-end writing that moves a crowd. You will be able to listen to the sessions at your leisure, as they are set up like a podcast. Written summaries show you the key points so you can review anytime you like while you are writing and revising. These craft seminars take you through critical blocks, the rough draft, how to begin, end, handle description, timing, scene, chapter, the book proposal, the agent, the sale and the platform. You will find absolutely everything you need. View our syllabus HERE.
When are the live sessions with Suzanne?
Live sessions with Suzanne are by phone, on our recorded conference line. You will meet with her twice a month, once for a luminary call with one of our faculty and once with her alone. We stagger the sessions throughout the year so that every writer has a chance to participate in a live call with Suzanne. During these intimate seventy-minute sessions your most pressing concerns about your writing and publishing journey are answered. These are private coaching moments that expand to a larger audience, where Suzanne speaks to you one-on-one giving you specific skill-building, soul nurturing advice. Suzanne has been in the publishing world for over twenty-five years and is incredibly resourced and networked in. Her commitment and guidance to your vision provides a true north star throughout your literary career.
How often can I attend Terri Trespicio’s live New Rules Studio?
Five times a week, you will be offered live writing salons by Gateless-trained teachers and receive inspiration from seasoned facilitators with prompts and the opportunity for feedback. The times vary to meet everyone’s schedules.
How do I access the Academy library?
The main foundation of the Academy is the password-protected Academy portal. The portal opens on November 1 (this is the first time you can gain access; you may be accepted up until January 1, and all content before that date is recorded and stored in the portal). In the portal, you will find hours of recorded craft seminars, released each month, on topics from breaking through the stuckness of the critic, to the sale. These will take your hand and walk you through the extensive process of writing a book. Included in the portal is a vast library of past live sessions with Suzanne that answer specific questions about work-in-progress, platform-building, the sale and more. The best luminary calls from past Academy years can also be found in the portal and these include agents, screenwriters, publishers and media favorites in the literary world.
Will you tell me how to get an agent?
The Academy starts with seminars on how to bust through creative blocks and from there provides you with absolutely everything you need—including the finest craft points to create the bestseller, how to build a query that makes the agent drop everything to call you, how to build a proposal that lands the publishing deal, the difference between indie and corporate publishers—and lets you in on the names of the best literary agencies to query in the industry. We also have Academy developmental editors on hand to help you through this process, if you would like more guidance.
Will you walk me through how to write a proposal and a query?
Absolutely. Gateless has been building and selling bestselling proposals since the early aughts. Our Academy writers have had their proposals touted as some of the best agents have ever seen. There is a science and an art to writing a query that grabs an agent’s eye and a book proposal that secures the deal. The Academy was designed to demystify this process, give you agency over it and send you flying out into the world ablaze with possibilities when it comes to the sale of your book.
What if I can’t come to the live programming?
It’s alright if you can’t come. Everything is recorded: seminars, luminary calls and sessions with Suzanne; dip in anytime. Just enter the Academy portal with the password you are given after acceptance and you will find all the content there.
“The Academy was life-changing. When I started, I was filled with doubts. Through massive Gateless love, Suzanne’s unbelievably insightful words to me during the writer’s showcase, and her amazing seminars, I felt a huge paradigm shift. The Academy is about transformation and alchemy. Other writing programs give you the mundane, Gateless has the magic. I was transformed as an artist because of it. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!!!”
~ Daintry Jensen, MA, author of the critically acclaimed, The Hidden Forest
DATES
Applications for the 2026-2027 Gateless Academy are open now until January 1, 2027!
The Academy can fill well before that date so it is best to secure your spot early. The Gateless Academy fills every year.
See more details below and apply HERE.
FUNDING
The Gateless Academy is fortunate to be underwritten by an anonymous angel arts investor in New England, who continues to allow us to offer the Academy at almost 50% below the normal tuition and a payment plan option for each writer.
These changes are reflected in the tuition explanation below.
There is always the possibility that this funding will disappear especially under the current administration but for the 2026-2027 Gateless Academy year, it still holds as follows.
PAYMENT
The Gateless Academy is underwritten by an anonymous angel investor who is part of the Gateless teachers community and supports libraries and literary arts organizations across New England. This helps Gateless offer the full Academy program for less than 50 percent of what the program would normally cost with the option of payment plans for every writer.
The Academy payment includes:
- 120 hours of intensive craft instruction
- 10 luminary calls with Academy faculty
- 10 live sessions with Suzanne
- 15 live Gateless Writing salons per month
- Intensive work with Krissi Driver in short-form publishing and platform building
- Access to a vast library of recorded craft and luminary sessions
- Membership in an alumni network and global literary community
For Monthly Payment Plan Writers:
An initial deposit of $1,550 secures your space in the 2026-2027 Academy year.
Thereafter, the writer pays $560 a month for ten months, plus an additional $16 processing fee per month.
For Quarterly Payment Plan Writers:
A $1,550 deposit secures your space. You can pay in three installments of $1866 over three months with $16 in fees three times over three consecutive months.