We recently connected with Kathie Giorgio and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathie, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

Thirty years ago, I was contacted by my local Park & Rec department. Their creative writing instructor left suddenly, and they wanted to know if I was willing to teach. My first thought was, Oh, hell, no. But my then-husband basically insisted I try it, and so I did. And I loved it.
By the end of that first year, when word got out that I was teaching, and not only was I teaching, but my students were getting published, I was teaching 60 hours a week. Continuing and Community Education departments at colleges and universities in Wisconsin and Illionois asked if I would teach. I was also asked by several online schools.
Eventually, I began to wonder why I was teaching for all of these places, especially the “live” ones, driving here and there, when I could put a roof over my head and just teach for myself. So I began to look into starting my own business.
There really weren’t many existing businesses to compare with my idea. I wanted a safe community for writers. I wanted to teach everyone…from their first word, to those writers who already experienced publication. I wanted all genres to be represented, all ages, all abilities. It was to be a place where experienced writers could offer their expertise with new writers, and new writers could inspire experienced writers with new thoughts and new ideas. There were to be no limits in terms of who could take the classes and workshops – thanks to the internet, I would teach both on-site and online. And above all, it was to be positive. While students would leave knowing what they needed to do to improve, they would also know what they were doing right.
Why did I feel it would succeed? Because it was exactly what I wanted when I was learning to be a writer. I wanted to be with writers who were doing what I wanted to do. I wanted to know the basics, the subtleties, and the business. I knew I couldn’t be alone in this; other writers must feel the same way.
And they did.
When I approached a local bank for a small business loan, I was told, by a room full of business suited men, that I had no business being in business. I was told that the idea wasn’t viable. I didn’t get the business loan.
But I started my studio anyway. This month, January 2025, my studio celebrates its 20th birthday. In April, I’ll be teaching for 30 years.
So I think my idea was viable.
What to name this place that was to be a community for all writers? Exactly that. AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

This is a hard question to answer, because I don’t know if I should answer it as me, the writer, or me, the business owner! Both are so intertwined.
I honestly don’t remember a time that I wasn’t writing. I used to trace the pictures from my picture books and then rewrite the story the way I felt it should be written. I published for the first time at 15 years old, and just kept going. I now have 15 books traditionally published, which include 9 novels, 2 short story collections, a collection of essays, and 4 collections of poetry. I just signed the contract for my 16th book, which will be a poetry collection.
All along in my writing life, I’ve met fabulous teachers. They really expanded my world, and made me believe in myself. That belief is so necessary to survive in this business. But I never thought of teaching myself, until my local Park & Rec Department asked if I would take over a class. I didn’t want to do it, but I did – and I found it amazing.
I meet so many writers who have been beaten down by rejections that don’t offer any explanation, publishing companies that go out of business, bad reviews that seem to have nothing to do with what you actually wrote…and not nearly enough education on the business of writing. My teaching opportunities spread rapidly, and I realized how badly a teacher who was actually in the business was needed. I’d experienced a few bad things myself – once, I took a writing workshop at a local community college, and discovered that the teacher’s only experience was she “read a lot.” I walked out of that class.
And so I opened AllWriters’. I provide a safe and supportive environment for my students and clients. We have an outstanding publication record – most of our students go on to publish. Writers are not put down here. They are not expected to write like someone else here. I know one teacher whose main mantra is, “Shut up and write.” That’s not the way it is at AllWriters’ at all. Here, it’s “Raise your voice, and we’ll help you to be heard.”
What sets the studio apart is that my faculty and I teach only the kind of writing we actually do. You will not take a poetry class from a fiction writer, or a memoir class from a poet. Your teacher will be doing what you want to do. I also insist that my faculty have publications within the last two years. This means they have cutting edge information on what’s going on in the publishing industry.
What am I most proud of? The successes of my students and clients. The fact that AllWriters’, a small business, has survived 20 years, including through the 2008 Recession and the Covid shut-down and pandemic.
And I’m proud of the fact that I can help. I love what I do.
As for my writing career – I’m proud that I’ve stuck with it, and I’m successful. I write what I want to write. I don’t believe in “branding”. I don’t write to sell. I write because I have something to say.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Again, I’m not sure if I should answer this from me, the writer, or me, the business owner. So I’ll do both.
With writing, I hit my low point when I fired the last of four agents. The first two are hardly worth mentioning, and if I knew now what I knew then, I wouldn’t have signed with them. But the last two were top-notch NYC agents.
With NYC agent #1, she tried to sell my novel for a year. Everyone said it was a beautiful novel, but it was too “quiet”. She told me we should shelve it and she would market the next one. When I handed in the next one, she said, “This is gorgeous, but I don’t handle dark material.” So my choice was to keep the agent, ditch the book, and write another one, or fire the agent. I fired her.
With NYC agent #2, she tried to sell the “dark material” for a year. We had an editor from a major publisher say she loved the book, but it needed editorial direction, and we should swing back around if no one took it as is. The agent kept marketing it and then said, “I think we should shelve this one, and market your next one.” I asked about the editor, and she said she didn’t want me to do that, because most times, the writer would rewrite, and by then, the editor lost interest and time was wasted. I talked with a well-known writer that I knew, and he said I should remind the agent she worked for me, and have her set up a meeting with the editor. She did, I talked to the editor, and then I did what she told me. It took me six months. In the meantime, another editor from another major publisher saw one of my short stories and contacted my agent, asking if I had a novel. So now I had two publishers waiting for me! I finished the book, handed it in, and neither one took it. The very first editor had moved to another publishing house that didn’t accept my genre of fiction. I honestly don’t remember why the second editor turned it down.
So I was back to square one. Keep the agent, ditch the book, write another, or fire the agent.
I fired the agent.
What a risk. But I went out on my own…and I sold the book on my own, to a small press. 15 books later, I am so glad I did.
With the studio, when both the recession hit in 2008, and then the pandemic, I thought we were doomed. Who was going to take classes during such dire times? I thought that we were done for.
But guess what? Everyone wanted to take classes. And the studio not only survived, but thrived.
I’ve had to learn to trust myself and my own instincts. And I’ve had to learn to trust the studio, the message of the studio, what it’s all about.
Not an easy lesson.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

This one is simple, for both of my roles.
My mission as a writer and as a teacher/small business owner: Tell the truth. Listen to others. Provide help wherever I can.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kathiegiorgio.org and www.allwritersworkshop.com
• Instagram: @kathiegio1
• Facebook: Personal: Kathie Giorgio. Fan page: Author Kathie Giorgio. Studio: AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop LLC
• Linkedin: Kathie Giorgio
• Twitter: @KathieGiorgio
• Other: None

Image Credits

Author photo (me in blue shirt, arms crossed): Ron Wimmer of Wimmer Photography
All other photos were either taken by me or my husband.