ATHENS WRITING RETREAT
Feb 26 – Mar 3, 2026
Get Published in Our Exclusive Retreat Anthology!
Every attendee will have the opportunity to become a published author! After the retreat, Imagine Press Inc. will sign retreat guests and publish their short stories in a Retreat Anthology, available at major book retailers worldwide. Royalties will be shared among all contributing authors—your story, your legacy!
Start Your Publishing Journey Now!
See your name in print and earn royalties!
Experience the splendor of Athens, Greece, for a week of writing classes and writing! For one low price, we will also tour the city’s walking streets, the Acropolis, and the Acropolis Museum.
Step into the city where stories have been told for centuries and let history, culture, and creativity fuel your next masterpiece. Join us for a transformative writing retreat in the heart of Athens—where ancient inspiration meets modern storytelling. Whether you’re crafting your debut novel or polishing your latest work, connect with fellow writers, gain fresh insights, and let the city’s vibrant energy spark your imagination. Let’s turn words into magic! 🔋📚
Included:
- The novel idea
- To outline or not to outline
- Motivation: Use a daily word count or other ways – but write!
- Show, don’t tell: With examples on how to do that
- Use of active voice instead of passive with tips on how to do that and examples
- Style issues: Words to omit, words to add. Cadence and flow are important
- Pace: How to write with pace effectively. What to do and what not to do
- Character motivation and scene purpose are broken down and discussed
- How to write to reader psychology so they enjoy the process
- Self-editing tips to tighten up your work. This saves money on editors and catches agents’ eyes
- Add tension to the page. You’ll receive tools on how to do that effectively
- Increase emotion on the page. Practical ways to do that on every page
- Industry standards on setup and preparation so you don’t look amateur
- Cover art and design know-how tips
- Self-publishing vs. traditional?
- Are you querying agents? And self-publishing tips on how to look like a pro
- Promotion: There are ways to find readers without any financial outlay. We’ll also discuss inexpensive yet efficient ways to spread the word.
- Promotion 101: Author Rania Stone will lead a beginner’s session on social media, covering funnel marketing, landing pages, what you need your readers to see, and essential tips for your website (online presence).
- Once the retreat ends, we offer video calls to discuss your writing career. We provide social media plugs to advertise your books as they’re released for the following year to over 50,000 followers on our combined social media.
PLUS, you will have a seat at the publishing table for a “Retreat Anthology” that will be published in the months following the retreat.
THE RETREAT WEEK SUMMARY:
Each morning, we meet for breakfast between 08:00 and 09:30. Our morning session begins at 10:00 and runs to 13:00, with a short break in between. (The itinerary details these sessions.) The afternoons are yours to write, edit, walk through Athens, or take a nap—whatever you like. We will have an hour of one-on-ones with the speaker/presenter, Jonas Saul.
We meet for dinner around 8:00 p.m. in the early evening and then spend the rest of the evening chatting about writing. We’ll have readings, critiques, motivational stories of success, tips on managing your career, and marketing tips on finding readers that cost little or nothing.
Jonas Saul is the bestselling author of the Sarah Roberts Series—more than two million sold!—and has written and published over sixty thrillers. After acquiring an agent, he signed several deals in Los Angeles, with MadRiver Pictures optioning his Sarah Roberts Series—over forty books!—(currently in development).
Jonas has often outranked Stephen King and Dean Koontz on Amazon over the past decade. He’s regularly invited to be a guest speaker, teacher, or workshop presenter at international writing conferences and film festivals worldwide.
He hosts multiple annual retreats in Greece, where he currently lives. He teaches how to create tension and emotion in every scene and on every page, how he became a creator/writer, the path to success in this business, and the pitfalls to avoid.
Jonas Saul is an acclaimed author, teacher, and professional freelance editor. He lends his editing prowess to several publishers and offers private editing services to clients. His website, www.imaginepress.org, is a testament to his editing skills, featuring numerous testimonials from satisfied authors, and a detailed biography. Jonas is an email away for those needing professional editing.