The latest issue of my magazine Scratch is now available! The theme is Faith. If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you can read for free.
The Scratch Interview by Cheryl Strayed by Manjula Martin
In this revealing interview, New York Times bestseller Cheryl Strayed talks about success, artistic faith, and how to bounce a rent check while you’re on the bestseller list. A snippet:
I feel strongly that we’re only hurting ourselves as writers by being so secretive about money. There’s no other job in the world where you get your master’s degree in that field and you’re like, well, you might make zero or you might make $5 million! We don’t have any standards in that way, and we probably never will. There will always be such a wide range of what writers are paid, but at least we could give each other information.
Click here to read the full interview (you won’t be sorry, but you will be asked to register as a free user).
Photo Essay: Library Road Trip by Robert Dawson
A father and son set out to photograph public libraries across America and discover beauty, decay, and endurance in the public commons.
Thumbsuckers: Intellectual Work in the Culture of Austerity by Ellen Willis
On the corporate takeover of artistic work in the 1980s—and how it changed this acclaimed critic’s career.
The Panda Ambulance by Beth Lisick
Odd jobs, power moms, and a small revenge.
If you subscribe, then you’ll also get access to the following stories:
- Contracts 101: Subsidiary Rights. This is part of my continuing series on book contracts and what you need to know before signing on the dotted line.
- Deconstructing the Book P&L. My in-depth breakdown of how most publishers decide what books to publish, including a downloadable spreadsheet.
- From High Times to Publishing Futurist. My interview with magazine industry insider Bo Sacks.
- The Scratch Roundtable: Creative Writing Professors. Esteemed authors and professors talk about writing students, creative writing degrees, and what place business has in the classroom.
- Freelancer’s Journal: The Content Farmer. Andi Cumbo-Floyd reveals what a typical day is like in the life of a copywriter and social media ghostwriter.
- And more! Review the entire table of contents.
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.
[…] The latest issue of my magazine Scratch is now available! The theme is Faith. If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you can read for free. […]
As a subscriber to Jane’s Scratch magazine, I highly recommend it to anyone that reads this post.
It’s a very deep look at money, and making it. 🙂 About 90 printed pages an issue.
Thank you, Joseph. Much appreciate the kind words! 🙂
Would love to have read the article but found no success in creating an account. Got nowhere with it.
Sorry to hear that! Which article were you trying to access?
The interview with Cheryl Strayed.
Have no idea what the problem might be, but you’re welcome to download a PDF version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3BkwFa5qpaIbGFDYUh4d044RDg/edit?usp=sharing
If there are other pieces you’d like to read, and you still can’t login as a user, don’t hesitate to contact our support team at support@29.io.
Thank you so much Jane. Great interview!