Jane Friedman's Blog: Jane Friedman, page 19

More Than Setting: Centering Nature in Your Fiction

Photo by Singkham

Today’s post is by book coach Erin Radniecki.

Snowy mountain peaks, whitewater rivers, and misty evergreen forests are all lovely backdrops for compelling fiction. But if you want to write a book for readers who care deeply about nature—or if you’re trying to convince readers to care—you’ve got to go beyond scenery.

Why? Because that beautiful scenery is passive, it doesn’t ask anything of the audience. Just like real-life scenery, it is consumed and often forgotten. It doesn’t confront your reader, ask them to take a stand, or challenge their opinions or biases. If you want to truly center nature in your fiction, you’ll need to engage it on a deeper level.

First off, let’s agree that there is nothing wrong with nature functioning as a pretty setting in fiction. Filling your writing with lovely descriptions of natural places that are just that, descriptions of beautiful places, is fine. However, if you want the natural world to have a starring role, and importantly, if your readers expect it to have a starring role, then lovely descriptions alone won’t cut it.

But if we need to go deeper than appearances, what do we focus on instead? I believe there are five elements of a story that can be infused with greater meaning by including nature: main character, obstacle, choices, transformation, and point.

Let’s look closer at each of these elements and investigate how applying a nature lens to one or more would bring the natural world to the forefront of your story.

1. Main character

The protagonist of a story defines what is important in the novel. Their likes, dislikes, vices, and desires determine what will populate the pages. The big question to address for our purpose is what does nature mean to your protagonist at the beginning of the story?

If we think of story as the encapsulation of a character’s journey from Before to After, what is their Before state in relation to the natural world? Do they love it, hate it, tolerate it, or are they ambivalent? Are they performative in their love for it, conspicuously wearing the right brands, while privately acting in antithetical ways?

In Eileen Garvin’s The Music of Bees, protagonist Alice Holtzman is a hobby beekeeper who loves nothing more than spending time with her hives. This passion is central to the character, and informs her actions throughout the book.

2. Obstacle 

Every novel involves a protagonist wrestling with a hurdle or stumbling block, be it a visible, real-world challenge or an invisible, internal struggle. In nature-centered fiction you often see two approaches, either with nature as the obstacle itself, or nature being threatened by the obstacle in some way.

We see the former in books where survival is the central goal. The protagonist might face the cold of an Alaskan winter, being stranded in an inhospitable place, or the limits of their physical strength against natural elements. In these stories characteristics like humility, awe, brashness, and folly play a role in determining the fate of the characters.

The obstacle can also be a threat to some part of nature that the protagonist holds dear. In The Music of Bees, Alice’s dream of farming honeybees is put in jeopardy when a new pesticide threatens to blanket her community. This obstacle is a direct threat to the creatures and habitat she reveres, not to mention her financial plans for the future.

3. Choices

The protagonist’s choices, made in response to the obstacle, are what propel them along their journey from Before to After. The choices they make answer the question, what are they willing to do to realize their goal?

If appreciation for the natural world is already a characteristic your protagonist holds, they could be confronted with choices that align with or diverge from that value. If they are nature-averse, their choices might lead them to a place where their beliefs are challenged.

Here are two guideposts to use as you decide what choices your main character would make. First, having a clear picture of your protagonist’s internal identity will help you select choices that are authentic to the character. Second, understanding the transformation the character will go through—what their After will look like—can aid in directing the choices they make.

In The Music of Bees, Alice must decide what actions she’s willing to take to protect not just the future she longs for, but all bees in her rural, agricultural community. What is she willing to risk, and how will she reconcile her choices if she doesn’t act?

4. Transformation

In the majority of Western fiction, the protagonist goes through some type of transformation, where, over the course of the story, they move from their Before state to their After state.

If a character’s Before is informed by who they are as a person, then their After is the transformation that results from stress testing that individual over the course of the novel.

When centering nature, that transformation could simply mean developing a greater appreciation for the natural world, or it could have a greater impact, such as changing a behavior that was harming nature in their community, or affecting relationships for good or ill.

5. Point

The message that your reader takes away from your story has the potential to carry over into their daily lives. After we’ve read a book, there is a period of time where we’re digesting what we read. During that process our brain is making unconscious connections between what we read and our daily encounters, and we end up applying these new perspectives in our lives.

All of that means the point of a nature-centered story is an opportunity to plant seeds of change with readers, so aim to craft a meaningful takeaway message that will stick with your reader.

What is too much?

You may wonder if it is necessary to view all five of these story elements through pine-colored glasses in order to highlight nature in your novel. Absolutely not!

While I would argue nature should be featured in at least two of the five elements, you can choose how heavy handed you want to be.

For example, your main character might be a bird watcher, but the obstacle that they face may have nothing to do with birding. The choices they make could reflect their appreciation for birds and the habitat they occupy, but ultimately the character’s transformation may not directly involve those things.

Looking at The Music of Bees as our example, the author wove connections to nature through the main character, obstacle and choices, but the transformation and point are broad, universal themes relating to grief and second chances.

If you’ve been attempting to center nature in your work in progress, I hope these suggestions provide you with some inspiration. Now, you tell me: which of these story elements are you most likely to infuse with nature in your work?

The Second Edition of The Business of Being a Writer Officially Releases Today

It’s here! The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition, is now available from all retailers, in paperback and ebook editions (Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble).

Why a revision was needed

The first edition released in 2018, and it was written mostly in 2016. While a good chunk of the first edition remains relevant and valid for writers, especially the guidance on book publishing, the sections that address digital media and publishing, magazine publishing, and social media are sorely out of date.

My editor asked me to revise the book, so I said yes.

What’s different about the second edition?

The second edition dramatically revises and re-envisions how to best help writers understand the business they’re entering and how to approach their careers with the same creative spirit as their writing. It offers refreshed examples and updated industry information as well as deeper changes that reflect how my thinking has evolved. Nearly all the sections and even most paragraphs have been updated in some way.

The book opens differently. I now start with the biggest mindset issues that writers face (part 1). What seems like a small concern or anxiety at first may be the tip of the much larger iceberg that threatens to upend the entire ship. Writers must learn to recognize these issues for what they are and learn how to cope with them because they rarely disappear, even after a writer is well established.Platform building constitutes a section of its own. While I don’t believe platform building comes before the work of writing, it has become a first-­order business concern, and it’s unfortunately a topic dominated by confusion and bad advice. While a strong platform may help a writer land publishing deals or paid writing gigs, that’s not where its most important value lies. When built with intent and your unique voice, a strong platform supports whatever business model you might create for yourself: it allows you to build the career you want rather than rely on specific people or businesses to grant entry or permission. I deconstruct the components of platform in part 2, with guidance on the technical aspects of websites and email newsletters and an explanation of how they serve as a foundation for growth.More book publishing and book marketing information. The number-­one question I’ve received over my decades in publishing has always been “How do I get my work published?” or, for book authors, “How do I market, promote, and sell my book?” I’ve included more guidance on book marketing and promotion, as well as self-­publishing and hybrid publishing.Less industry information on magazine and online media. Because of the ongoing business upheaval surrounding newspapers, magazines, journals, and digital media, I’ve pulled back on in-depth discussion of these industries in the second edition. There is still considerable coverage in part 4 about how to publish short work in all types of print and digital outlets, with how-­to information on freelancing and learning to pitch—­skills that benefit writers no matter what or where they publish.Newly added part 6 on business basics. I familiarize writers with taxes, business formation, contract language, and common legal issues. I recommend that no one skip this part because they think they don’t need it; if you’re interested in this book, you probably do need it now.Exercises. Last but not least, this edition adds exercises in all chapters that help you put ideas into action, so you can examine for yourself how the business works.

Publishing will undergo more dramatic evolution in the years ahead, but I’ve tried my best to avoid presenting information that will become irrelevant before the book even reaches your hands.

Do you address artificial intelligence in the second edition?

I added a sidebar in Part 6, under legal issues, giving a high-level overview of the current legal situation pertaining to AI. Best practices around AI use in writing and publishing are still evolving, and I didn’t want to say anything that would be out of date in a short timeframe.

Can’t afford the book?Check your local library—the first edition received a starred review from Library Journal, so it is carried by many library systems in both print and ebook form. If your library doesn’t yet have the second edition, ask them to order it; they probably will.Check my YouTube channel for interviews and discussions focused on issues presented in the book.You can always access the book’s supplementary resources at no cost to you.Next week, I’m offering a free class in partnership with Scrivener on what I wish all writers knew about the business of writing. Register.Already have the book?

I’d love it if you’d leave a rating or review at Goodreads or Amazon.

Subscription box service OwlCrate launches publishing arm: is this a glimpse of the future of publishing?

These subscription services have built a meaningful fanbase and may understand and serve specific readerships better than some publishers.

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Update on tariffs for publishing

US publishing has escaped the worst of the tariffs, but that doesn’t mean publishing is unaffected by the tariffs that remain.

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New agent at Azantian

Selected as a 2020 Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree, Shelly Romero has joined as an associate agent at Azantian Literary Agency.

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New Christian imprint at Andrews McMeel

Amen Editions will release eight to 10 nonfiction titles per year, including inspirational, self-care, gift, and activity books.

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Links of Interest: April 16, 2025

The latest in trends, traditional publishing, culture & politics, AI, and libraries.

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Self-Publishing Assistance Is Becoming Threatened

Today’s post is by writer and creativity coach Anne Carley (@amcarley.bsky.social).

Some words of caution for writers who’d like a bit of help with the adventure that is self-publishing. It used to be the case that bringing in a more experienced person to help get your book out into the world was doable. As I’ve recently discovered, that has changed.

A little background: Starting in 2012, I helped new authors get their nonfiction books finished and self-published. But eventually I stopped helping others self-publish, and focused my efforts on coaching writers to complete and polish the best book they could write.

However, recent circumstances beyond my control required me to assist a client self-publishing their new book. Feeling pretty confident that I knew what to do, I offered to help. Weeks and weeks later, the struggle continues with KDP and IngramSpark. (Happily, Draft2Digital has been just fine so far, setting up ebook distribution.) I’m perplexed and dismayed by what I see. The landscape has changed, drastically, for the worse.

My best guess is the problems arise from fears of identity theft, pushback against “books” written by AI, and an apparent policy change on the part of the big print-on-demand (POD) distributors to discourage informal outside assistance to self-publishing authors.

I’ll explain.

My typical process for assisting authors

My usual plan for a client publishing their paperback and ebook consists of three parts.

We set up paperbacks with KDP (for retail on Amazon).We set up paperbacks with IngramSpark (for wholesale to libraries and bookstores).We set up ebook distribution to a host of sellers via Draft2Digital (while listing the ebook separately on KDP/Amazon).

I believe I first adopted this strategy from Jane Friedman, and it held up for years.

Problems with establishing and verifying identity

Getting the system at KDP to believe you are who you are is a challenge—especially when you’re assisting the author. KDP and IngramSpark, using a combination of email address and mobile phone number, regularly authenticate the identity of the person using the author’s online account. Unless the author is always sitting in the room with their helper, this leads to difficulty.

Also, for practical reasons, we wanted to ship KDP’s paperback proofs to the client in care of my shipping address. This apparently set off security alarms. All the information my client and I had painstakingly entered into the system became suspicious. No kidding, the client and I had to meet multiple times in person to safely exchange sensitive personal information so that the online forms could be filled in and the security questions could be answered. This involved significant inconvenience for the client, including travel. At one point, the client had to bring their passport and driver’s license to me, just so we could convince KDP’s automated system that we were legit. Another time, KDP insisted on extra special double top-secret numbers from the client’s credit card, in addition to the usual security code. At that point, my client wondered out loud how many people just stop trying to publish, because of all the frustrating steps.

Consolidating two IngramSpark accounts

At one point, we had contracted out the print-on-demand printing and distribution to a third party. It soon became clear, though, that the third party was not a good fit for the client, and we parted ways. This put me in the hot seat. Time did not permit searching for someone else to do this work—we had a fixed launch date. The paperback needed to be available from Ingram, not just KDP; library and bookstore sales were important to this book’s marketing strategy.

The third party directed the client to set up their own IngramSpark account, but I soon discovered that using this account was a nonstarter. Why? Because it keyed to the client’s email address and mobile phone number. Every login to the account dashboard was met with automatic two-factor authentication, pinging the client’s email and/or mobile phone. I inadvertently interrupted the client’s weekend the first time this happened, and put a stop to it thereafter; after all, the whole point of my stepping in to do this work was to relieve the client of the burden. So I created a new email address for our shared use, and opened a new IngramSpark account under that email. When they asked for a mobile phone number, I put in mine, for the obvious reason: two-factor authentication would come to me, not the client.

An error message came back, telling me that an account already existed with that phone number. Well, yeah. My own IngramSpark account uses my mobile number. Turns out, IngramSpark keys each account to a unique mobile phone number (not email address, as with KDP). I remember muttering to my client, as I discovered this in real time on a call with them, “This is why people get burner phones.” I won’t go into the next weeks of tech purgatory. Suffice it to say that eventually I used a virtual number so that it rings to an app on my existing mobile phone.

One month later, we have not been permitted to order IngramSpark proofs. Why? Because there are two accounts in the client’s name. So what? Turns out another hidden rule at IngramSpark is that they prohibit multiple accounts. Why not just ask them to cancel the first account that the third party erroneously advised the client to set up? I did ask, as soon as I learned about the problem, but IngramSpark customer service has yet to address the matter. Meanwhile our launch date cannot change, and we will probably need to resort to using another distributor with a back door to IngramSpark, just to get the book into their system in time.

Why don’t we use my own existing IngramSpark account instead of faffing around with their hidden rules? Because accounting. I am not serving as the client’s publisher. They are their own publisher. And this means that the income from future sales of books should flow directly to the client. Hence the requirement that they have their own IngramSpark account with the correct banking and tax information. (Imagine the agita involved, after the fact, begging IngramSpark to shift a book published under my imprint to someone else’s IngramSpark account.)

Why would an author need assistance?

Given all these headaches, doesn’t it just make sense for every indie author to tough it out and learn to work within the systems provided by IngramSpark, KDP, et al.? Not necessarily. I can think of numerous scenarios from my own working life. For example:

Authors with congenital or acquired neurological issues who need assistance with complex data input requiring the use of computer screens and keyboards.Older authors, not digital natives, who can manage word processing, email, and internet searching, but not setting up detailed print specifications.Authors who have limited time and attention for sets of technical skills they have no other need to master.Vision-impaired authors.

That’s not an exhaustive list. And it doesn’t begin to include the dangers of the potential “gotchas” that lurk within KDP and IngramSpark—like clicking the box for “Expanded Distribution” on KDP’s pricing screen. That can bring a whole world of trouble if you ever want to sell or distribute your book with anyone else. (FYI, unclicking the box does not necessarily solve the problem.)

Also, the KDP and IngramSpark authentication systems keep changing. After several months’ absence, even for an experienced do-it-yourselfer like me, I barely recognized parts of the process with KDP and IngramSpark. They like to keep us on our toes.

Alternatives for self-publishers

Private enterprise has risen to the occasion, of course. Many companies offer to ease the burden of self-publishing. I have limited experience with them, but I can tell you that, thanks to transparent pricing on their website, one such company, BookBaby, would charge my client over $900 upfront for distributing the paperback. After deducting the cost of printing and shipping the required and included 25 copies, that still comes to about $700 the client would need to pay, prior to launching the book, just to offload working within the KDP and IngramSpark systems. Seems like a lot. It’s no doubt worth it for some authors. But what about something a little more down to earth?

Reddit has some good information, and YouTube offers video tutorials. But the information is all over the map—some good, some formerly good but out of date, and some plain wrong. Trusted information sources like Jane Friedman and ALLi exist, and can be very helpful to those with the time and inclination (and budget, in ALLi’s case) to learn about the ins and outs and stay up to date as the landscape continues to shift.

Time for authorized representatives

I have to believe there are ways to establish the credentials of a helper for writers who want to self-publish. Too many authors are shut out of the system otherwise, or, perhaps worse, make inadvertent errors that can be painful, technical, and time consuming to fix (if/after they are recognized).

Years ago, I remember getting authorized to represent my elderly mother with a government agency, so I could use the system on her behalf. Surely we can have an equivalent process that permits trusted representatives of an author to interact with the POD systems at KDP and IngramSpark. Right?

In the past, I could get on the phone with customer support at KDP or IngramSpark, the client joining in our conversation and addressing any security and privacy concerns so that I could operate as the client’s agent. It was all above board and transparent. Those of you who’ve tried, since the pandemic began in 2020, to talk with a human at IngramSpark will be laughing bitterly as you read this.

But for the moment, if you’re an indie author on a budget, you’re on your own when it comes to interacting with KDP and IngramSpark. I wish it were otherwise, and I hope the situation will change for the better.

The Secret to Avoiding a Sagging Memoir Middle

Photo by Laura Mann on Unsplash

Today’s guest post is by writer and coach Lisa Cooper Ellison. Join us for her online class, Managing the Present in Memoir, on April 16.

While walking home on the last day of first grade, I stared at the manila envelope containing my report card and thought, My god, that was the longest year of my life!

I loved school, but the days leading up to summer break inched by so slowly I felt the minutes—and even the seconds—pass by. As I trudged home, it seemed like I’d never make it to third grade, let alone middle school. And high school? Forget about it.

Now, at 51, I blink and weeks pass, leaving me to wonder where my time has gone.

Time is something I meditate on as a writer and writing coach. In storytelling, writers construct the illusion of time for the reader’s benefit. When managed well, it immerses readers in our narratives so deeply they lose track of time and live according to the world we’ve created—if only for a few minutes or hours.

Navigating time in your memoir can be tricky because there’s so much you could include. Yet you must balance your story’s forward momentum so major events neither fly by nor creep along so slowly that readers’ inner first graders wonder if they’ll ever make it to the last page.

Two common areas where memoirs bog down include the beginning and the middle.

For your memoir beginning, start as close to the main action—or perhaps a better phrase is main attraction—as possible. Accomplishing this feat requires you to determine what the main attraction actually is.

For example, the main attraction in Kelly McMasters’ The Leaving Season is her relationship with her husband, R. In Tia Levings’ memoir A Well-Trained Wife, it’s her imprisonment inside an abusive fundamentalist marriage. For Margaret Lee’s Starry Field, the main attraction is her trips to Korea, where she interviewed her grandmother in hopes of learning the truth about her grandfather who’d been labeled a war criminal.

Identifying your memoir’s main attraction can help you avoid a sluggish start. But that won’t save you from the second, and most common, trap stories can fall into: the sagging middle.

How to maintain your memoir’s momentum

A story’s middle sags when the forward momentum stalls. This can happen when we encounter a series of seemingly unrelated events that fall into an “and then this happened, and then this happened” pattern, leaving us scratching our heads about how it all fits together.

But even when events are interlinked, if writers cram too much into the main attraction, readers can feel like they’ve bought tickets not to a Cirque de Soleil performance that captivates and delights the senses, but to a Ron Popeil infomercial extravaganza. Just when you think things are wrapping up, he yells out, “But wait—there’s more!”

The antidote: learning to pace your memoir well. Pacing is how fast or slow something is delivered in your story, an element somewhat governed by word count. The more words you use, the more real estate something takes up. More real estate equals more importance for your reader.

What you include in that real estate also matters. Short action sequences, dialogue, and writing with ample white space are easier on the eye, leading to a faster read, whereas long, reflective, expository paragraphs take more time to digest. When we encounter page after page of long, detailed paragraphs or expansive scenes with little payoff, readers trudge rather than trot through your story. Ruthlessly cutting repetitive scenes and interesting-but-unrelated material is an important strategy to consider.

The art of compression

This is your powerful secret weapon. Many writers resist condensing their content, especially in memoir. They fear the true essence of their work will be lost if details are cut, which could hinder the reader’s appreciation of the enormity of an event or lead to misunderstandings.

But as RK Taylor shares in An Exercise in Compression, “Compression is the art of creating a full experience in a limited space.” Like distilling liquor, the process can lead to scenes that are sharper, bolder, and purer.

So how do we create these fine drinks of narrative? 

First, identify the importance of each event in your memoir. Start with the moments that take up the most real estate. Decide whether they’re turning points or bridges between key events.

In a turning point, the narrator makes a pivotal decision that impacts their biggest problem or helps them reach their goal. Bridge material generally contains little to no conflict but is essential for understanding your story’s plot. This could include scenes introducing a new character, the arrival of a character, or a plot point, like a scene where someone gives you something that plays a role later in the book.

When considering your book’s content, be wary of the very human urge to identify too many moments as turning points. When everything is fully developed into expansive scenes, it’s hard to identify what’s really important. I often liken it to being on an airport tarmac at peak flying time. So many engines are revving that you can’t hear the person trying to warn you about a plane in your path.

If, when referring to certain events, you say things like, “You need to know this to understand” or “For the story to make sense” you’re likely discussing bridge material that can be shortened. You can speed things up by summarizing what happened or skipping unnecessary steps.

Here’s an example of deftly handled bridge material from The Leaving Season that takes place in the wake of Kelly’s new husband R.’s heart attack. It reveals the arc of his recovery over a series of months: 

As soon as R.’s leg was healed and the stress test revealed that his stent had worked, we packed our trunk with pails of white paint and headed back. In the fresh air and sun, R.’s color improved, the gray pallor giving way to a healthy pink. Friends came to visit, making long weekends out of their trips, helping to tear out the living room and reveal a latticework of strong, beautiful beams and old cut nails. R. worked slowly at first, testing his limits and letting others take over when he needed to rest. He still had chest pains every so often, but the doctor assured him that they were probably just muscle spasms, and every day he was able to work fifteen minutes longer than the day before.

Once you’ve separated the bridges from the turning points, identify the crux of each moment and how it serves your story. This will help you decide which details are crucial and whether you need a fully developed scene (a long scene) or if something shorter will suffice.

Don’t let the stakes of a scene fool you. In Amy Lin’s memoir Here After, her husband Kurtis’s sudden death unfolds over four short paragraphs. While terrible, that moment is a bridge between her life with him and her life without him, which begins with a multi-page description of the hours when she sits with his body and then says goodbye.

Once you’ve identified your event’s key details, capitalize on them and eliminate the rest. The final step to compressing material is writing with precision. First, address low-hanging fruit by nixing passive voice, adverbs, and filler words like just and that. Next, replace phrases with more precise words, such as remove instead of get rid of. Eliminate more by experimenting with sentence structure. If you find cutting words a challenge, turn it into a game by limiting your word count. You’ll be surprised by the opportunities you’ll find when you apply this constraint to your material.

Does this kind of revision take time?

Yes.

Is it worth the effort?

Absolutely.

Compressing minor scenes and summarizing bridge material can maximize the power of your story by creating a rhythm for your narrative that, like a heartbeat, carries readers through every twist and turn. If paced exceptionally well, they’ll not only lose track of time; their inner first graders will be grateful for having lived through it alongside you. 

If you enjoyed this article, join us for Lisa’s online class Managing the Present in Memoir on April 16.

Amazon to display reading sample for ebooks on pre-order

This feature will work exactly like the “Read Sample” feature that already exists on Amazon today.

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