Welcome to More to the Story

Find your voice, finally write (& finish!) your book, get published & use your story to change lives

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About More to the Story

Women need a safe and supportive space for writing our true stories.

Join this coaching community of women nonfiction authors to learn how serious and dedicated writers find their voice, tell their story, finally write (& finish!) their book, and, yes, even get published.
Our coaching members freely share the strategies that are working for them. 
We talk about the solutions we have found for balancing all the demands of our busy lives with our creative work, our heart’s work. We talk about how we find the time—no, *make* the time for our writing and book project. We celebrate each other’s wins and encourage each other when we need a kick in the pants.
We know what it’s like to feel like you’re spinning your wheels. 
  • Never finding enough time to write. 
  • Never making enough progress on your manuscript. 
  • Never knowing whether anyone will care about your story.
  • Never feeling like you’ll ever finish your book.
Even though you know you have a story inside and the writing chops to tell it.
Join us to learn how other authors break this cycle and find support in a community of smart and serious women who are focused on getting their manuscript done, just like you.
We don’t whine. We don’t wallow. We are not beginners. We support each other. We have fun. We are generous. We make progress. We finish writing our book manuscripts. We write book proposals. We query agents. And, yes, we even get published.

Who Is This For?

More to the Story is for you if you are . . .

  • A woman writing nonfiction incorporating personal story. Your work may not necessarily be memoir—all kinds of nonfiction incorporates personal story.
  • A serious and experienced writer. You may not necessarily be published, but you are not a beginner at the craft of writing. (Psst...if you’ve been writing emails, blog posts, Instagram captions, Reel scripts, presentations, etc—you’re not a beginner!)
  • Struggling to find the time for your writing. Who doesn’t?
  • Unsure of the direction to take with your manuscript. Sometimes all you need is a place to bounce around ideas.
  • Looking for support and community with all of the above. 

Writing can be isolating, especially when you are working through some difficult personal material. That’s why it’s important to be connected with a community of like-minded women who know what you’re trying to accomplish and understand what you’re going through. You will feel better and see progress much faster when you surround yourself with others who will support you along the way.

Why You Should Join

More to the Story is an online coaching community for experienced nonfiction authors. It’s a safe space where women writing personal stories can connect with others on the same journey. It’s a place to share your struggles and victories, ask questions to inform your process, and find encouragement and support when you feel stuck or stifled with your writing. 

More to the Story is a coaching membership offering ongoing support that is structured, organized, and consistent. We focus on helping each other build a sustainable practice integrated with a holistic writing and creative life.

You’ll find regular opportunities to connect with editors, established writers and authors, as well as your peers who are working toward similar goals. It’s a private place away from ads and distraction of other social media platforms where you’ll get access to:

  •  👯‍♀️ A community of supportive women writers
  •  👩🏽‍💻 Intensive workshops with well-known authors and industry experts
  • 🗂 Extensive course library archive recordings of past workshops & masterclasses
  • ✍🏼 Member meet ups & co-working sessions 
  • 📝 Monthly mini-virtual writing retreats
  • 🙋🏽‍♀️ Monthly office hours with our editors & coaches
  • 📝 Option to purchase professional editorial review on your manuscript (at exclusive member savings)

What Members Have to Say: 

I keep my More To The Story membership for the community. You have built a supportive environment for women to share information, worries, ideas, everything related to writing, creative life, and publishing. The mini retreats and guest authors have also been a huge plus.
—Barbara C.
Nonfiction Bootcamp Alum & author of A Little Piece of Cuba, coming 12/02/25

I keep remembering why I stick with More to the Story and Janna—just this week at our monthly office hours one of my fellow writers shared details about her submission process to a particular press, and Janna told me go ahead and submit my much-worked on book query without overthinking it. I finished the submission a few hours later and, boy, did that feel good!
—Lyra H.
Nonfiction Bootcamp Alum

Wonderful office hours yesterday. Thank you so much for creating this community and for the many ways in which you nurture it and each of us. ❤️
—Margaret W.
Nonfiction Bootcamp Alum & author of Homecoming, coming in 2025

I enjoyed the writing retreat and have signed up for the next one. Thanks so much, it’s amazing how much I got done in two hours. Your retreat creates an intention that really focuses me.
—Carol M.

My confidence in telling my story has grown, and I no longer feel like this is a frivolous project left on the back burner.
—Molly K.
Nonfiction Bootcamp Alum & author of Mom Genes

I am so grateful for the encouragement and thoughtful read of my manuscript. I’m not kidding when I say how close it was to languishing forever in my ‘writing’ file on my laptop. It has been a treat to rescue it from near-deletion and to bring it back to life.
—Susie P.
Nonfiction Bootcamp Alum & author of More or Less, published in 2022

The mini virtual retreat reminded me that we don't need as much time as we convince ourselves we need in order to get something accomplished. Setting aside focused time, even an hour or two, and doing it consistently can yield positive results. That was my experience this past Saturday and it reinforced for me that I can be productive by carving out a little bit of time whether each day, each week or in this case each month and accomplish more than I could have ever thought possible.    
—Eulena H.


About Us

We believe in telling stories without shame.

Our philosophy is as much about connection, community, and healing as it is about the writing itself. All of this adds up to a safe space designed especially for women nonfiction authors to connect with others writing and sharing personal stories. More to the Story is run Janna Marlies Maron and her team.

Janna Marlies Maron

Hey there, I’m Janna Maron and I believe in the healing power of personal storytelling. It’s what prompted me to start Under the Gum Tree back in 2011, and it is the thing that compels me to not only tell my personal story but also to foster safe spaces for writers to write, share, and find support for the story they have to tell. 

The official bio: Janna Marlies Maron is a professional editor with more than 20 years of experience helping writers to complete their projects and produce the best work possible. Her experience includes time as a magazine editor, college professor, agency editorial director, and content director for a popular internet brand. She has worked on a number of book projects from self-published Amazon bestsellers to traditionally published New York Times bestsellers. She’s also the founding editor and publisher of Under the Gum Tree, a literary arts magazine publishing creative nonfiction and visual art.

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