Skyhorse is an independent publisher based in New York City that has been accepting and releasing books that no one else wants, such as memoirs by Woody Allen and Michael Cohen and works by Alan Dershowitz, Roger Stone, and Garrison Keillor. Over the years it has published 35 titles about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, along with other books that promote conspiracy theories. In Vanity Fair, reporter Keziah Weir describes the company as having a history of toxicity and inappropriate racist and sexual behavior. Skyhorse was founded by publisher Tony Lyons in 2006; their titles have been distributed by Simon & Schuster in the US since 2019. Earlier this year, the company laid off about 30 percent of its staff.
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.
