Jane Friedman: Not an art or science, The Business of Being a Writer

HALLIE EPHRON: Jane Friedman has a well earned reputation as a publishing industry guru with expertise in digital media strategy for authors and publishers. I try not to miss reading anything she puts out there because she's so smart and doen't mince words.

In one of her latest missives, she declared with typical tartness:

"I don’t believe that 'cream rises to the top' in the writing world."

She was on the war path against the notion that for writers, art is polluted by business concerns. She argues that while some writers are fortunate enough not to have to think about making a living wage, the rest of us need a sustainable business model that doesn't include the expectation of a six- (or even four- or five-) figure advance every year or so.

In other words, making a living as a writer doesn't just happen.
She speaks from experience:

"I learned early on that if I wanted to make a living from my writing, I’d have to learn to balance the art and the business."

That's what her new book is about: THE BUSINESS OF BEING A WRITER.
In it she exhorts the rest of us to stop being so precious about m-o-n-e-y --

"To break out of the unproductive silence about what we earn and how the industry works. We have to be more transparent about what writing pays, and how it pays, and that it takes time and an informed strategy to make it pay. We may all hope that serious art speaks for itself, and once in a while that may work for the Franzens of the world, but it doesn’t work for most of us. Educate yourself on the business, and learn how to make the system work for you."

In response, Jane provides a strategic, high-level look at how writers can establish a lifelong writing career.

The book is simply terrific. I only wish it had been around when I was inventing my own business model which has been a combination or publishing fiction, nonfiction, and magazine pieces, along with speaking and teaching gigs. Ever grateful that I had a thirty-year career and a wage-earning husband and, like industrious ants, we'd socked away our pennies before I took the plunge.

She addresses questions like the age-old:  

• Do I need a day job? (It depends.) 
• Can't I just write and leave marketing and promoting to the publisher? (No.)

Her answers are bracing. Yes, marketing is now part of the writer's job, but that's is nothing new:

"During the Renaissance, Erasmus organized a network of agents across Europe to actively distribute his works and collect his rewards. Mark Twain’s most successful work was sold by traveling salesmen going door to door—at a time when this form of marketing was considered extremely impolite.  And everyone knows how Charles Dickens released his work in multiple formats, modified his stories based on audience feedback, and masterfully used the serial to garner attention and publicity."

The book also has solid, smart advice on the nitty gritty of getting a book published. Just for example, here are the chapters that form the middle of the book.

 9. Book Publishing: Figuring Out Where Your Book Fits

10. Understanding Literary Agents

11. Researching Agents and Publishers

12. Book Queries and Synopses

13. The Nonfiction Book Proposal

14. Working with Your Publisher

15. Self-Publishing

16. Publishing Short Stories, Personal Essays, or Poetry

17. Traditional Freelance Writing

18. Online Writing and Blogging

But the final sections have information you're not going to find in the average writing book. For example:

23. Starting a Freelance Career
25. Teaching and Online Education
26. Contests, Prizes, Grants, Fellowships
27. Crowdfunding and Donations
28. Memberships, Subscriptions, and Paywalls

I'm so happy to welcome Jane and her new book to Jungle Red. She'll be dropping by this afternoon to answer questions, so FIRE AWAY!

I met JANE FRIEDMAN when she was an editor at Writers Digest Books and I was writing my Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel for them. She was young and savvy, and in just a few years rocketed from editor to senior editor to publisher. She's now a widely respected publishing consultant, one of the most savvy people anywhere in the world about the REAL world of publishing. And about writers and writing and what it takes to succeed.

You can meet her at writing conferences where she's often invited to give the keynote, read her blog https://www.janefriedman.com/blog/ (where you can subscribe to her newsletter), subscribe to The Hot Sheet https://hotsheetpub.com a newsletter for authors that distills what's happening in the publishing industry for authors. Her new book, The Business of Being a Writer, is being published by University of Chicago Press.

Song of the Open Road

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Today our guest blogger is Rachel Chou, Chief marketing officer at from Open Road Media. I didn't get to hear the presentation from Rachel's colleague at Bouchercon (and maybe you didn't either) so here's what Rachel has to say about one of publishing's newest and most innovative companies.

Connecting Mystery Authors with Readers
While reading is a solitary activity, it is also inherently social. People tell their friends about a book they just loved or that they hated, discuss the latest bestseller at a local book club, or rediscover an old classic on a colleague’s recommendation. So in this day of social networking, online and off, what can a publisher offer readers and authors beyond what they are already doing on their own?

Open Road Media, founded less than two years ago, is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. We strive to create connections between authors and their audiences by marketing their ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media.

Open Road has published ebooks from legendary authors including William Styron, Pat Conroy, and Virginia Hamilton, and has launched new e-stars like Mary Glickman. We have a constantly growing mystery/thriller list that includes Ruth Rendell, Jack Higgins, Lawrence Block—and the addition of dozens of authors with the recent partnership with Otto Penzler’s MysteriousPress.com.

Throughout the publishing process, we work closely with our authors—who we see as partners, not clients—and use a variety of new media tools to market our books, including online advertising, social media, and content partnerships, as well as traditional publicity. We want to bring our authors and their fans together, and our “special sauce” comes from the ongoing marketing into and within readers’ social circles. It’s not only about the launch date, but also about ways to connect with readers months and years after a book has been published.

We are often asked what truly distinguishes our marketing. I believe it is the quality and variety of the content we syndicate. Whether it’s sharing five questions with Jack Higgins, hearing from Jonathon King on the occupational hazards of working the crime beat, giving new life to a 1982 article by Lawrence Block, or asking Ruth Rendell about the weird mother-son relationship in A Dark-Adapted Eye, we’re interested in bringing these new insights to readers, wherever they are.

Another example of this content comes from our in-house production team. These incredible producers, production assistants, and cinematographers travel around the globe to film our authors and capture their worlds. Instead of focusing on a single title for a release, hours of filming are conducted and the interviews therein cover a wide-range of topics, from writing to authors’ passions and life backstories.

You can see authors speaking about achieving “thrills and chills” or geeking out for International Geek Pride Day. You can watch a profile about horror master Ira Levin, for which we interviewed contemporary writers, such as Chuck Palahniuk and Chelsea Cain, who were influenced by his work. Based on the above range of videos, it’s easy to see that from serious to silly, inspirational to celebratory, the topics for discussion are truly endless.

There are few genres with more opportunities to engage directly with readers than mysteries. At the end of last year, the Book Industry Study Group released a report revealing that mystery fiction is one of the two fastest growing genres for ebooks. And the digital and offline worlds are filled with dynamic and engaged communities of mystery readers. As a result of the rise of ebooks and online communities, iconic books can, in the words of our cofounder and CEO, Jane Friedman, come “back to the future.” With robust digital marketing, Open Road is paving the way for these incredible reads to be found.

Here's a look at something Open Road created for one of its clients...pretty cool.


Visit Open Road at http://www.openroadmedia.com/Default.aspx

Jane Friedman on how literary agents are adapting to survive

Today we're talking about the changing role of literary agents with Jane Friedman, until recently publisher of Writer's Digest, who is the author of a number of excellent pieces about the business side of writing in “The Complete Novel Writing Handbook."

HALLIE: Jane, there’s no doubt that seismic changes are underway in the publishing business. So many agents I’ve talked to are thoroughly discouraged. Many say they just can’t survive. And when survival is at stake, people change.

Is the agent’s traditional role as link between author and publisher going the way of the dodo?

JANE FRIEDMAN: I'd rather say that the agent's limited role as link between author and publisher is going the way of the dodo. Most authors will always need someone to assist (and trust) in contractual negotiations, licensing deals, and other facets of the business side of authorship.

But I think it will be tougher for agents to sustain themselves on the 15% they earn selling a book to a publishing house—and I'm thinking especially of those agents who don't yet have a strong client roster and profitable backlist sales.

HALLIE: What are some of the new “agenting” (I put it in quotes because I don’t yet know what else to call it) models that are emerging?

JANE FRIEDMAN: I can see three distinct models so far:

• Full career management. Many of the best agents have already been acting as partner in forming an author's long-term brand and online presence. Agents might more often assist in marketing campaigns, publicity, website builds, and social media. Of course, publishers can be responsible for (or assist with) these things, too, but they tend to focus on a single title. An agent is in a better position to manage these aspects with a more holistic vision. Also, some powerful agents (as we've seen with Andrew Wylie), may also be able to strike powerful partnerships with retailers and distributors.
  
  
• Fee-based services. Agents are industry insiders, and as such are in a position to professionally assist all kinds of writers, whether their work is New York publisher worthy or not. Normally, agents' code of ethics would prevent them from building a business on anything but sales commissions, but this will change. (See this write-up I did of an agent panel, at Digital Book World, where the president of AAR allowed for this possibility.) But, everyone agrees: Transparency is key.
  
  
• Publishing services. The big example here is agent Scott Waxman, who started Diversion Books. Diversion publishes e-book originals, and he's focusing on works that don't have a place in the current commercial market. I've talked to several other agents who are also looking at how they might assist in publishing their clients' work in a meaningful way. Many of the ideas are niche or community based, since that makes it much easier to market and reach a readership.
  

HALLIE: How do you think this is good or bad for authors?

JANE FRIEDMAN: So far, I think it's excellent. Most unpublished authors would love an opportunity to pay a known professional for assistance, and/or work more closely with an agent on developing their career. I foresee stronger partnerships and better advocates for authors.

On the other hand: It does open up opportunities for scamming. It might be harder for a writer to identify when a service is worth the cost. However this situation isn't so different from the one we're in today.

HALLIE: What about the impact on booksellers and publishers?

JANE FRIEDMAN: The big problem all publishers and booksellers (and agents) are dealing with right now are e-book rights and other multimedia rights. What is the right price for e-book editions, what should the release schedule be like, how should the royalties play out, and how about international rights for e-books? (For a summary of these issues, check this summary of a Digital Book World panel.)

Even though it seems like common sense that publishers should pay higher royalties on e-books—since there aren't the physical production, inventory, and distribution costs—publishers still have the legacy business and products to support, and continuing production challenges in creating and distributing e-editions.

HALLIE: Does this mean authors won’t need agents any longer?

JANE FRIEDMAN: Not at all. While some savvy authors, especially those with a direct connection to their readership (think: JA Konrath) may have less need for an agent, most authors (especially those completely new to the industry) need someone to serve as a trusted business adviser or partner. I believe agents with powerful connections, or the ability to negotiate compelling partnerships with major retailers or media companies, will be in a stronger position to attract the best and most profitable authors.

HALLIE: Congratulations on your new job! Tell us what you're going to be up to in the coming months?

JANE FRIEDMAN: Thank you! I'm very excited to start teaching full-time this fall as a professor of e-media. While I loved my role at Writer's Digest, and still serve as a contributor, I'll now be able to spend more time on the things I'm most passionate about: teaching, speaking, writing, and reading—as well as pondering the future of publishing! Keep an eye on 2 of my blogs (aside from No Rules) for some fun developments: my personal blog and my e-media blog.

HALLIE: Jane will be checking in today so please, if you have any comments or questions, join the discussion! This is your chance!

And tune in tomorrow when we welcome (and congratulate!) Robert Daniher and hear what it's like to get a first story accepted by Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.