The Writer’s Block was founded in late 2014 by married couple Scott Seeley and Drew Cohen. A veteran of the original McSweeney’s retail store and co-founder of the literary nonprofit 826NYC, Seeley envisioned The Writer’s Block as a spiritual successor to both these projects: a novel and visually dense bookstore that offered free, creative writing classes to Las Vegas-area students and their families. Originally debuting on Vegas’s iconic Fremont Street corridor as part of Downtown Project’s start-up portfolio, The Writer’s Block reopened in 2019 at a brand-new location with the backing of local literary philanthropist Beverly Rogers.

The new Writer’s Block is over three times the size, has more than five times the number of books, features a coffee shop, and offers an expanded variety of workshops for young students. As the retail anchor of The Lucy, Beverly Rogers’s multi-use artist residency and event complex, The Writer’s Block is also the epicenter for the annual Believer Festival, and is home to a number of Believer-affiliated events throughout the year.