A new edition of my book, The Business of Being a Writer, releases in April 2025.
To mark the occasion, I’m offering a free, email-based course. Every Friday until my book releases, I’ll send you a key idea and exercise from the second edition on earning a living as a writer today.
Here is part of what I have in store for you:
- A look at common misconceptions about earning a living from writing
- Why book sales is not a good metric for success
- What it means to have a business model as a writer
- Why focusing on whether you have talent (or “have what it takes”) can be an actively harmful concept for earning a living
- A no-nonsense discussion of platform (most writers don’t in fact land book deals because of platform, but it does affect earnings potential)
- How relationship building affects your career
- What it means to “find” your readers when you’re not a marketer or publicist
- An explanation of lead generation and building a funnel for your writing business
- How to make the most of any book launch even if your publisher is missing in action
- A look at patronage, crowdfunding, and other methods of reader support
- First steps every writer should take regarding their finances and taxes
Expect a few special perks along the way. 🤓
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
Congrats on the new edition of your book! So well deserved!
Thank you, Barb!
Looking forward to these Friday drops in my inbox to go along with The Hot Sheet insights. Your webinar on Platform Building When You’d Rather Write was amazing and thank you for the wonderful engagement and answering all my questions!
Thank you, John! Much appreciated and more insights to come. 🙂
Congratulations on the new edition of your book, Jane! I have learned more from you about making submissions to agents and publishers than I have from all the books written by other authors combined.
Thank you! Hope to keep delivering the good stuff. 🙂
So excited to join- I am often initially enthused by the idea of having a “business routine” as well as a writing one- but I never quite develop a plan that survives. A weekly course should temper my initial “gotta do it all right now” energy that quickly fades, with the incremental steps listed in your course. Thanks for the opportunity to join !
Terrific – I hope it helps! 🙂
Thanks, Jane – can’t wait to read your new book (and in the meantime, get these emails!). Congrats!
🙂
This sounds wonderful. When does it begin. We are leaving for Paris Friday, November 1st and returning Sunday, November 10th and I plan on traveling without a laptop. Would that be acceptable to you?
The emails will reach you whether you’re around to read them or not. So do what you like. 🙂
First proper lesson sends on Oct. 18 as long as you’ve signed up for the series.
Hi Jane, the link gives me this message: Internal Server Error
Is it too late to sign up?
Thanks!
That is very odd! Sorry about that, try this link: https://jane-friedman.ck.page/9e14bb90fb