In celebration of Labor Day, Open Road Media has produced a video that features writers talking about the jobs they held before becoming full-time writers.
You’ll hear about selling blood, working for the railroads, and getting fired from a movie theatre. Writers featured include: Lawrence Block, John Lutz, Andre Dubus III (speaking about his father), Mary Glickman, Don Winslow, Kevin O’Brien, and M. William Phelps. [Video is 2 minutes.]
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.