This past week, I was interviewed along with my Scratch business partner, Manjula Martin, about the economic realities of writing and publishing during a very transformational time for the industry.
The interview was for an episode of an hour-long podcast by BoingBoing, The New Disruptors, hosted by Glenn Fleishman. I’ve pasted a few show notes below, to give you an idea of the wide-ranging territory we cover. Click here to find out more and listen.
Things mentioned in the episode:
- We talked about a bunch of ways in which people can get paid as journalists by patrons and supporters, including Patreon, Beacon, and Tugboat Yards.
- You can watch Ira Glass’s short series on storytelling.
- There are a ton of electronic publishing platforms, which include29th Street Publishing, TypeEngine, Glide, and Creatavist. Medium is a blogging platform, an independent producer of journalism, and a partner to existing publications, like The Magazine. It also purchased MATTER, which now publishes its articles for free reading. Richard Nash has his finger on the future of publishing, and is now working with Byliner.
- Nicole Cliffe of The Toast; Dan Kois, a senior editor at Slate; and Alexis Madrigal, senior editor at the Atlantic spoke to Scratch about what they pay writers.
- Harlan Ellison says, “Pay the writer!“
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
[…] “On the right: Manjula Martin & Jane Friedman This past week, I was interviewed along with my Scratch business partner, Manjula Martin, about the economic realities of writing and publishing during a very transformational time for the industry.” […]
Why can’t I just read?
Because there’s no transcription? 🙂
Why are podcasts so popular? Why are sites so head over heels over them?
I might ask the same thing about video—I don’t like watching most video interviews. Honestly, I don’t listen to podcasts, either—so I understand your frustration.
I don’t think podcasts are any more popular than blogging or videos, but delivering content in a variety of mediums usually strengthens a brand’s reach. Some people prefer to watch/listen rather than read, and vice versa.
there must be an app that transcribes podcasts
I subscribed to Scratch but I’m not receiving the magazine. Where should I be looking to read it? Or listen? Will I receive notification when a new one is out?
You should’ve received an e-mail notification long ago, yes. Would you drop us a line at editors@scratchmag.net, with the name/e-mail address you used to subscribe? Thank you!
Hey I recognize that lime green lanyard! So many great people were at AWP, I didn’t hardly get to see a tenth of them. Thanks for the post. I am putting this on my “reading” list for next week.
[…] The economic realities of writing and publishing during a very transformational time for the industry. […]
[…] interest to writers in this uncertain time, Jane Friedman was interviewed about the economics of writing and publishing in the digital age. If you read the overview and want more, the boing boing podcast is […]