WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
Helping writers become bestselling authors
For the Press
Have questions about Writers Helping Writers® and its bestselling Thesaurus Writing Guide series? Authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi love working with the press, and would be happy to answer your questions. Contact them here or scroll down for links to bios, headshots, and logos.
Press Releases & Quick Facts
— 2023 Press Release: Self-Published Thesaurus Series Hits 1-Million Sales Milestone (or download as a PDF)
— The Writers Helping Writers series comprises 10 titles in 9 languages
— Over 14,000 5-star reviews on Amazon.com (across the series)
— The Setting Thesaurus reached Amazon’s #1 (all books) in Japan
— Angela and Becca are women entrepreneurs & co-founders of a bootstrapped tech company, One Stop for Writers®
— The authors, living in different countries, have only met four times in person
Writers Helping Writers® is a hub for storytellers containing articles, resources, and tools to help writers of all levels master storytelling. Established in 2008 and rebranded in 2015, this award-winning site was founded by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, co-authors of the bestselling Emotion Thesaurus (Jadd Publishing) and its many sequels.
In a blog-to-a-book story, the two began sharing descriptive lists (each dubbed a “thesaurus”) which provided a new, innovative way to help writers with an often-problematic area of description. In 2012, the first Writers Helping Writers® guide was released: The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. Many more followed; collectively, they’re often referred to as “the Gold Standard of writing guides.” Available in nine languages, these self-published books have sold over a million copies.
More about Angela & Becca’s mission to help writers
Meet Angela
Angela Ackerman is a Canadian residing in Okotoks, Alberta. She loves to travel and teach workshops internationally.
Currently, she has put her fiction on hold to concentrate on her nonfiction guides and the development of One Stop for Writers®, a web app she co-founded in 2015 that contains powerful tools and resources that help writers bring their best ideas forward, master storytelling, and write stronger fiction faster.
Click here for Angela’s Official Presenter bio
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Meet Becca
Becca Puglisi is an American residing in Jupiter, Florida. A former educator, Becca now focuses on raising her family, building writing guides with Angela, and teaching workshops internationally.
Like her co-author, Becca writes fiction for teens but has put her books on hold to better concentrate on coaching, producing nonfiction, and creating software for One Stop for Writers.
Click here for Becca’s Official Presenter bio
Click here for Headshots, Book Covers, and Logos
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About Our Books:
Favorites among writers, editors, and psychologists, these guides have collectively sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Foreign rights are in the care of Marleen Seegers of the 2 Seas Agency. (Find our translations here.)
The Emotion Thesaurus (first edition) May 2012
The Positive Trait Thesaurus Oct 2013
The Negative Trait Thesaurus Sept 2013
The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus Dec 2014
The Rural Setting Thesaurus June 2016
The Urban Setting Thesaurus June 2016
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus October 2018
The Emotion Thesaurus (second edition) February 2019
The Occupation Thesaurus July 2020
The Conflict Thesaurus (Vol 1) October 2021
The Conflict Thesaurus (Vol 2) September 2022
About One Stop for Writers:
This bootstrapped company was originally founded in 2015 by Angela Ackerman, Becca Puglisi, and Lee Powell (the creator of Scrivener for Windows and Linux). Now, Angela and Becca lead this company, and with their incredible team, they build innovative tools that help writers create powerful fiction faster.
Ready for a game changer?
Writing is not easy. With only the best books getting noticed in today’s crowded market, success takes dedication and hard work.
One Stop for Writers’ powerful tools help you develop one-of-a-kind characters, compelling plots, immersive worlds, and more. Say goodbye to writer’s block and struggling to bring your best ideas to life. Our platform helps you plan, write, and revise, nurturing your skills so you create next-level fiction.
Interviewing? Ask Us About…
- How Becca and Angela met online and came up with the idea for a description-based thesaurus and the viral nature of The Emotion Thesaurus (a blog-to-book project)
- How their book’s list format challenged the idea of what a writing guide could be and led to many other “list” books appearing on the market
- How Becca and Angela have only met in person a few times and yet successfully co-write books and leverage their different strengths to run multiple businesses
- The unusual coincidences that have happened that leave Angela and Becca convinced the universe wants them to write books together
- Why they chose to build a subscription site (One Stop for Writers®) and how they believe the innovative resources created there are changing the game for writers
- How focusing on relationships, not promotion, has allowed them to build a worldwide loyal fan base
Accolades:
- Writers Helping Writers® is an award-winning site and is frequently found on many yearly “top websites for writers” lists.
- Every book in the Writers Helping Writers® Thesaurus collection has received the bestseller designation on Amazon, often the #1 spot in one or more primary writing categories. In total, they’ve sold over one million copies.
- The Japanese Setting Thesaurus (a combined volume) reached the #1 spot for all books on Amazon.jp, went viral on twitter, received television coverage, and was profiled on BuzzFeed (Japan). The other books in the series are also quite popular.
- In addition to being favorite resources among writers and screenwriters, our writing guides are used in university-level curriculum and are sourced by editors, agents, actors, game developers, psychologists, and educators.
Podcasts and Interviews:
View all podcast episodes by topic & date
Endorsements:
“One of the challenges a fiction writer faces, especially when prolific, is coming up with fresh ways to describe emotions. This handy compendium fills that need. It is both a reference and a brainstorming tool, and one of the resources I’ll be turning to most often as I write my own books.” James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Deceived and Plot & Structure
“This is far more than a brilliant, thorough, insightful and unique thesaurus; this is the best primer on story — and what REALLY hooks and holds readers — that I have ever read.” ~ Lisa Cron, bestselling author of Wired For Story & Story Genius
“This book is an invaluable resource providing situations that led to the character’s emotional wound, false beliefs, fears, and responses that impact personality, as well as triggers and opportunities that can lead into plot ideas. It’s a great addition to the thesaurus collection from Ackerman & Puglisi.” ~ Joanna Penn, NYT & USA Today bestselling author
“In these brilliantly conceived, superbly organized, and astonishingly thorough volumes, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have created an invaluable resource for writers and storytellers. Whether you are searching for new and unique ways to add and define characters or are brainstorming methods for revealing those characters without resorting to clichés, it is hard to imagine two more powerful tools for adding depth and dimension to your screenplays, novels, or plays.” ~ Michael Hauge, Hollywood Script Consultant and Story Expert, author of Writing Screenplays That Sell
“To weave stories that connect directly to a reader’s heart, an author knows they have to go deeper than they’ve ever gone before. The Emotional Wound Thesaurus takes them there.” ~ Steena Holmes, NYT & USA Today bestselling author
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