Avatar photoJane Friedman

Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) has nearly 25 years of experience in the media & publishing industry. She is the publisher of The Hot Sheet, the essential newsletter on the publishing industry for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2019. In addition to being a professor with The Great Courses (How to Publish Your Book), she is the author of The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. Jane speaks regularly at conferences and industry events such as Digital Book World and Frankfurt Book Fair, and has served on panels with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund. Find out more.
The Comfort of Mourning Doves
Mourning Doves
Since returning from San Francisco last week, I've been enjoying the presence of two mourning doves outside my apartment. There ...
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/ Cincinnati
The Dirty Secret Behind Writing Advice
Cathaoir Synge
I'll start by saying that I have always advised writers in good faith. I would never suggest a writer undertake ...
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/ Writing Advice
Reading Notebook #8: Another Secret to Success Is Confidence
Reading Notebook #8: Another Secret to Success Is Confidence
From "Beyond the Elevator Speech" by Michael Carroll, Shambhala Sun (March 2010) My survey indicates that most of us think we want ...
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/ Reading, Work-Life
Reading Notebook #7: The Secret of Successful People (at Work)
Reading Notebook #7: The Secret of Successful People (at Work)
From "We Can Measure the Power of Charisma", Q&A with Alex Pentland, Harvard Business Review (Jan-Feb 2010); read full article at ...
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/ Reading, Work-Life
Reading Notebook #6: Why the World Needs More Women Directors (Like Ephron & Taymor)
Avatar
From "Man of Extremes", a profile of James Cameron by Dana Goodyear, in The New Yorker (October 26, 2009) Cameron ...
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/ Reading
The Art of Losing Things Isn’t Hard to Master
Jane Friedman (1994)
I am very careless with my belongings. This past week, when I flew to NYC for Digital Book World, I ...
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/ Life Philosophy, Travel
Why People Stay at (or Leave) Their Jobs
Downtown Cincinnati Demolition
No talented person stays at a company for a paycheck or a sense of security. Talented people stay because they ...
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/ Work-Life
Reading Notebook #5: Life Patterns & Something Out There
Patterns
From "The Secret Cycle" by Nick Paumgarten, in The New Yorker (October 12, 2009) And yet patterns exist, and we ...
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/ Reading
What Does a Brand Manager (or Community Leader) Do?
Jane at AWP 2009
I'm often asked what my job at Writer's Digest encompasses, or what my typical day is like. My official title ...
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/ Work-Life
Bog Myrtle Beer & Irish Coffee Recipes
Bog Myrtle Leaves
Upon arrival at the Irish farm in Kilgarvan, a bottle of homemade bog myrtle beer was waiting in the kitchen, ...
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/ Recipes, Travel
12 Self-Creating Actions and 12 Preoccupational Diversions
12 Actions and 12 Diversions
[Click here for full-size image.] On the last page of my 2009 Museum of Lost Wonder calendar, I found the ...
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/ Life Philosophy, Reading
Reading Notebook #4: Not to Endure Even an Attractive Cage
Amelia Earhart
From the New Yorker article on Amelia Earhart by Judith Thurman (September 14, 2009) [From Earhart's letter to her husband ...
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/ Reading
Ireland 2009: All Experience Is an Arch
Inis Meain
I returned home Monday night from a 3-week holiday in Ireland. (Read previous entries on this trip here and here.) ...
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/ Travel
Reading Notebook #3: I Distrust My Thoughts
Michel de Montaigne
Snippets from "The Life and Essays of Michel de Montaigne" by Jane Kramer, in the September 7, 2009, issue of ...
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/ Reading
Reading Notebook #2: Invent a Story That Enhances Your Life
Art of Possibility
Snippets from The Art of Possibility by Benjamin & Rosamund Zander.(See a really cool TED talk by Benjamin Zander.) It's ...
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/ Reading
Top 10 Moments on Inis Meain
Top 10 Moments on Inis Meain
1. Arrive at cottage late at night. The only heat source is the small stove in the living room. Unable ...
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/ Travel
Reading Notebook #1: You Can Write Well & Behave Badly
Reading Notebook #1: You Can Write Well & Behave Badly
From "Slang-Whanger" by Arthur Krystal in New Yorker (May 18, 2009) We don't for a moment believe that Hazlitt is ...
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/ Reading
Immigration Officers and the Meaning of Existence
Immigration Officers and the Meaning of Existence
I wasn't expecting trouble when I passed through immigration at the Dublin airport. I'm American, I'm privileged, and I look ...
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/ Travel
My First Post (From Ireland)
Stone Shed in Ireland
On December 16, I left the United States for a 2-week vacation in Ireland. A key objective while I'm here ...
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/ Travel