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 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.
[…] “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 […]