Jane Friedman has a long history in the business of writing and with helping emerging authors to understand just what that business entails. In order to make connections with readers, a writer today needs to do a lot more than get an agent to believe in her work and pitch it to publishers. Unless she is very lucky indeed, her author identity must be widely established before she can think about publishing a book. This is true not only for someone taking the traditional publishing route, but for the self-publisher who hopes to recover her financial investment.
Author Branding
While an author might not know how to create a platform or ‘brand’ herself–get people to recognize her name and look forward to her book–prior to publication, there are plenty of people who are willing to help. The trouble is that some of this help feels like a pyramid scheme or a multilevel marketing opportunity in which the writer needs to toss money upward in the hope that support (and possibly cash) will follow when a new base layer of writers comes along. I believe this happens not because writers and editors are underhanded, but because some jump in while they are too early in the process of creating their own identities.
Branding isn’t what authors originally signed up for. They don’t really know how to help newbie writers. And so emerging writers sign up for endless emails, writers’ support groups, follow innumerable blogs and pay for more personalized opportunities, all while trying to decide what actually works and who can help. I recently received an email from a list for authors had the subject line “Sick of the Noise?”–and I don’t doubt everyone clicked on that. Unfortunately, it was full of the ‘we’re good friends tone’–complete with a surprising amount of profanity–that I don’t trust. I just want a professional who is concerned for emergent writers, much the way that teachers are concerned for the futures of their students.
Platform Creation
If you’ve found yourself drowning in the ‘what’s a writer to do?’ platform-creation pool and have no real understanding of how a book gets published, it’s time to discover Jane Friedman. Grab hold; she’s a buoy.
Friedman’s “The Business of Being a Writer”
Friedman recently published “The Business of Being a Writer” (The University of Chicago Press, 2018). Just as the title suggests, it’s a great place to start in understanding all the things a writer needs to do besides write. With twenty years of experience in the publishing industry, Friedman dispenses savvy advice about that industry as well as about entrepreneurship (including the dreaded author platform and multiple elements of creating an online presence) and other aspects of career building. Her advice is well organized, and she links to ‘how-to’ examples for queries, synopses and book proposals on her businessofwriting.org website.
Literary Citizenship
Friedman is also a good literary citizen, a person who helps promote others and their work. (Previously, Cati Porter explored the concept of literary citizenship in this column, not only for writers, but for readers as well.) Friedman hands out a good deal of useful information for free, so you can get a sense of her work and check out some of her suggestions and lessons before buying her book or using her editorial services.
Jane Friedman’s ‘Business of Writing’ Free Stuff
If you are a bit jaded, go first to Friedman’s helpful articles on “Writer’s Digest” and check out the professional reviews of her work. Next, go over to her website janefriedman.com. Her blog there is packed with helpful hints on all sorts of writerly issues. Because she has such a deep reach, she attracts guest bloggers, each with his own expertise. One who has made several recent appearances is Peter Selgin, who helpfully critiques the first page of various novels.
Sign up for her newsletter and have Friedman’s blog posts emailed to you. Make sure to sign up separately for “Electric Speed,” an e-newsletter that Friedman publishes a few times each month, which is focused on digital media tools and resources that are valuable to writers. And if you haven’t given up on Facebook, Friedman started a private group “The Business of Being a Writer,” which offers a community of like-minded people focused on professional development, some of whom may be further along in their writing journey and are happy to make suggestions.
And More–Kristen Lamb
I previously posted on this blog about seeing Lamb’s ideas at work in books I read or listened to. I think this will give you a sense of her book on the business of writing, The Rise of the Machines. It’s another one that I recommend purchasing.
If you’d like to look at Kristen Lamb’s discussion of how the business of writing and selling books has come to be what it is today, see her many recent blog posts. (Here’s a good start.) She lays out how Amazon managed to takeover a large share of the business while traditional book publishers looked on.
If you are seeking specific advice on preparing to present your work to the publishing world in the form of pitches or queries, Lamb’s recent post on selling your book in one sentence (or log-line) may help.
Last Words on the Writer’s Business.
If you are seeking books that have more to do with writing tips and exercises, I posted on several last week. Check out what I have to say here.
Writing is difficult enough. That there is help with the publishing and platform/author identity elements of a writing career soothes the anxious author. If you’ve found a wonderful literary citizen who is giving back with good advice or useful tools, please share.