Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Ask Me Anything: Masters of Fiction. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Join three career authors and editors for a discussion about crafting masterful fiction: — Steven James, author of more than 20 novels — Tiffany Yates Martin (pen name: Phoebe Fox) who has edited be...

This week! Join us over your lunch hour, recorded if you can't make it live.

Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Author Melissa Fraterrigo designed and hosted a free memoir-writing workshop for anyone who purchased her forthcoming book, and discovered that many readers were eager for an insider’s perspective on how to draft a memoir.

Here's how she did it: janefriedman.com/teach-your-b...

"Still pretty hot" - I like that!

What Three-Star Reviews Really Mean for Authors | Jane Friedman Readers who give three stars are often responding to the intersection between their expectations and the book—not the book’s inherent worth.

"I’d be lying if I said my first 3-star review didn’t give me pause. ... What could I have done differently? But the longer I sat with it, the more I understood what it really was: not rejection, but neutrality."

@lindaksienkiewicz.com discusses—w/admirable & rare rationality—the three-star review.

The Memoir Playbook I Wish More Writers Knew | Jane Friedman Three practices separate successful memoirists from those who underestimate the writing craft.

Extensive interviewing is not unusual in memoir work and produces a stronger memoir. It adds depth and structure, fills in gaps, and jogs memory.

Jacqui Salmon offers examples, plus talks about additional necessities for memoir writers: a theme and a story that's bigger than you.

Why ADHD Writers’ Brains Are Like Lions (and How to Harness Their Power) | Jane Friedman By learning to embrace the nonlinear nature of the ADHD brain, you can learn to write with more ease and less frustration.

Over the past 18 years as a developmental editor and writing coach, @sarahchauncey.com has noticed certain patterns among her clients with ADHD, and why neurotypical writing advice doesn’t always land for ADHDers.

Why Your Family Isn’t Supportive When You Publish Your Memoir | Jane Friedman Lack of support might come from fears about their own privacy, not understanding the enormity of your achievement, and/or information overload.

"Some writers are motivated by a desire to 'show them' or make someone truly understand how they’ve hurt us. Spite helps motivate us to finish drafts but revenge doesn’t make good books."

@allisonkwilliams.bsky.social discusses why family might not be supportive (especially online) re: your memoir.

What Bookstores Want From Traditional Publishers—and How the Bookstore Market Has Changed | Jane Friedman Booksellers discuss how BookTok has changed the customer demographic, and how publishers can better pitch their titles for placement.

Earlier this month, I attended a panel featuring bookstores discussing how they decide what to stock. One explained what a good comp title is.

Turns out that publishers & their sales reps don't always talk about comps in a way that's useful. Requirements for authors are far more onerous and strict!

How Taking Time Off Helped Me Finish My Book | Jane Friedman Working on a book with a refreshed, rejuvenated mind, even if only for a short time, is far more conducive than slogging through exhaustion.

One author discovered that when the words don’t come and the rejections pile up, permission to pause becomes crucial for progress.

Here's Ann McCallum Staats on how taking a break led to a book deal.

AI and Publishing: FAQ for Writers | Jane Friedman Everything writers need to know about AI, copyright, and current case law, in one regularly updated, fact-based guide.

After years of reporting on AI, I've put together this FAQ to answer questions of fact regarding AI and copyright. No opinions, no advocacy, just information about where we stand today.

These issues are not straightforward and even I have trouble keeping it all straight.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Ask Me Anything: Masters of Fiction. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Join three career authors and editors for a discussion about crafting masterful fiction: — Steven James, author of more than 20 novels — Tiffany Yates Martin (pen name: Phoebe Fox) who has edited be...

Next month, free to all: Join me and three career novelists & editors for an "ask me anything" lunchtime session on fiction writing.

Featuring: @tiffanyyatesmartin.bsky.social, @jessicastrawser.bsky.social & Steven James.

Yes

The Newsletter Market Is Crowded, But Most of Your Competition Is Easy to Beat. | Jane Friedman For writers who approach a newsletter with intention, it’s one of the most powerful—and genuinely scalable—channels available today.

Just about everyone I know has jumped on Substack or otherwise started a newsletter.

Most efforts don't amount to anything. It's not wasted time, but the newsletter is probably not achieving the writers' goals either.

If you want to be strategic (you don't have to be!), here's my advice.

You’re a Great Writing Teacher. That’s Not Enough to Sell Out a Retreat | Jane Friedman You love teaching, and your students love you. How can you position yourself to deepen their experience with a powerful live or online event?

The success of a retreat depends on two things:

1. The experience participants have when they attend.
2. The number of people who want to come.

That #2 factor is driven by students who follow a particular teacher, says @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social, who speaks from long experience.

Genre as Delight, Not Dictator: How Learning About Genres Helps You Write Better | Jane Friedman Applying genre labels to our work can be vexing, but understanding each genre’s core concerns can also be inspiring and instructional.

I recently wrote about the downfalls of obsessing too much over your genre. That has sparked author Andromeda Romano-Lax to argue for how genre can inspire and instruct rather than limit.

My Concerns About the Authors Guild Human Authored Certification—and Their Comprehensive Response | Jane Friedman The Authors Guild has expanded its human-authorship certification program to all authors. It verifies author identity, but not AI use.

The short version: I feel conflicted about certifications that a work is human authored. It's not something I'd obtain for my own work.

Very excited to be doing my first virtual event with the Australian Society of Authors. Later this year I'll be in Australia in person, too, teaching about the business of writing and publishing. 😍🦘

Thank you for coming!

Terrific - see you there. 🤓

I was told it was open to everyone and you don't have to be a student. Trouble registering?

Join me!

Build the Bridge: 3 Kinds of Transitions | Jane Friedman When a scene shifts to a new setting, time, or POV without clearly bridging that gap, we risk losing readers’ trust and goodwill.

Every time you make a jump in the story without building a bridge, you’re spending down your earned "reader capital."

Author Seth Harwood describes how to build three types of transition: spatial, temporal, point of view,

Hilarious

When the Comments Section Is Challenging | Jane Friedman A stranger wished her dead for writing about empathy. Reflections on the price women pay for publishing their thoughts—and reclaiming it.

"The comment section in HuffPo is notoriously harsh, and conventional wisdom says to avoid reading it. I write to understand, but I publish to be part of a larger conversation. Therefore, I want to listen—mostly—to what readers say. And, wow, did these readers have some choice words for me."

It's so egregious I don't even know where to begin.

How to Use Podcast Guesting to Promote Your Nonfiction Book | Jane Friedman One author appeared on 50+ podcasts before her book launched. Here’s what she learned about timing, pitching, and making it work for you.

Therapist and nonfiction author @oonametz.bsky.social was a guest on over 50 podcasts prior to her book's launch. Here's what she learned.

Base Your Story Structure on Principles, Not Systems | Jane Friedman There’s no one-size-fits-all way to structure a story, so understanding the core principles will help you decide what’s right for yours.

Try searching for “how to structure a story” and you'll get a panoply of instructions for the “right” way to structure a story:

Hero’s Journey
Three-act structure
Save the Cat
Snowflake method
Freytag’s Pyramid
Fichtean Curve

What do you do with them? @tiffanyyatesmartin.bsky.social advises.

I Hired a Book Publicity Firm for £1,800. Here’s What Went Wrong. | Jane Friedman One author reflects on how her desire to not just outsource marketing, but to outsource even thinking about it, led to regrettable results.

This case study in hiring a book publicity firm is both laugh-out-loud funny and highly informative. Few people share these poor experiences due to shame and embarrassment.

If you're thinking of hiring *anyone* to help you with book publicity, this is a must-read.

Editing Like a Journalist Will Make Your Publishing Journey Easier | Jane Friedman Making the leap from short online articles to longer, narrative work brought one writer into contact with a new challenge: being truly edited.

Making the leap from journalism to book-length work brought one writer into contact with a new challenge: being truly edited.

@julietizon.bsky.social shares lessons.

Embrace Quirky: 5 Benefits of Using Animal Point-of-View Characters | Jane Friedman By observing our own species through the eyes of another, something new just might be revealed to us.

Be forewarned, if you write fiction involving animal characters, especially for adult readers, people will likely refer to your story as “quirky.”

Book coach Erin Radniecki advises on when animal POVs can benefit your story.