Mary Cain

Calling All Chaos-Loving Writers—The Troublemaker Twenty Awaits!

 

Need a little extra kick to hit your word count goals? Looking for a challenge where you can write alongside fellow authors and stir up some reader excitement? The Troublemaker Twenty is here to light a fire under your keyboard.

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Here’s the deal: You don’t have to be a published author, but due to our audience, this is only open to those writing adult romance (all spice levels). We’ve got a choice board packed with fun post themes, and every time you hit a word count milestone (1k, 2.5k, 5k, 10k, 15k, and 20k), you get to drop a celebratory post inside The Troublemaker Society (Mary Cain’s private reader group). Think of it as rewarding yourself with a little extra hype—you deserve it.

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How to get started:

 

Join the Troublemaker Society: www.facebook.com/groups/mctroublemakers

(Be sure to mention that Mary or Poppy invited you!)

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Tell your readers about the challenge and invite them to the group to follow your progress. You can do this through newsletter or social media. It's a great opportunity to share a preorder link. Check out the copy for Mary's newsletter if you need inspiration. There's a link at the bottom of this page with graphic templates. You can download the invitation graphic there, as well as a "It's time" graphic to post to remind your readers that the challenge is underway.

Introduce yourself! (Starting on/after April 1): Tell the group about your WIP, flex a little, and if your book is part of a series, feel free to share a preorder link or link to previous books. This is the only time you will be allowed to post purchase links.

 

Brag when you hit milestones!  Each achievement unlocks a post theme from our choice board that you can use to intrigue readers and celebrate your win.

 

Hit 20k—your last post will be  your “I did it!” post. You may include links to your socials so that readers can follow you.

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This is all about having fun, staying motivated, and getting readers invested in your work before it even hits their shelves. We’d love to have you join us!

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Participants will need a unique but simple hashtag to use on posts, in addition to using #TM20. This helps readers easily check in on your progress. (Ex. Mary’s hashtag is #Score20k because the title of her WIP is “Score”) When you know your hashtag, please provide it to either Mary or Poppy. We'd like to post a graphic that lists everyone's unique hashtag.

 

No selling. Your introductory post may include a relevant buy or preorder link, but the rest of your posts may not contain any links or they will not be approved, and you will be asked to edit them. Use your writing and personality to intrigue readers.

 

On your last post, once you’ve hit 20k, you may share social media links or mailing list sign up and encourage readers to follow you for updates. If you are not yet published, you can (and should) still grow your mailing list and seek followers on your accounts.

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Keep excerpts under 500 words. We’re not coming for you if your excerpt is 525 words, but short and sweet is the way for a reason.

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Graphics: We've adopted a "Roaring '20s" theme and have graphics templates for each milestone. These are transparent files to layer over images of your choosing. If you need help with doing this, please contact Mary Cain via the chat link at the bottom of this page. For your first post, you can use a promotional graphic of your own, or your logo, but please title your post "Troublemaker Twenty".

 

If you are working on more than one manuscript for this challenge, it’s fine to include all the words you write as your April total, but please choose one project only to share excerpts and such from.

 

Milestones:

1. 0 words (Introduce yourself and your project. Post any time on or after April 1, 2025.)

2. 1,000 words

3. 2,500 words

4. 5,000 words

5. 10,000 words

6. 15,000 words

7. 20,000 words (You did it! Post so we can celebrate with you)

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Milestone templates are available in yellow and black.

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Questions or want connect to other authors participating in the challenge, create or join sprints, brainstorm, etc? 

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