Jane Friedman's Blog: Jane Friedman, page 236

A Time of Immense Change—For You, For Me, For Everyone

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Today was my first full day of orientation as a professor teaching e-media
at the University of Cincinnati-CCM. (The CCM Village is pictured above—at a very
early hour!)



Overwhelming doesn't quite begin to describe the experience.



But I know with each day, it will get easier. And as I gain experience and grow more
confident, I'll try new things and experiment.



This is exactly what I told a group of writers over the weekend, at
the Writer's Digest Editors' Intensive, as I showed them e...

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 9/10/10)

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I watch Twitter, so you don't have to. Visit each Sunday for the week's best Tweets.
If I missed a great Tweet, leave it in the Comments. Want to know about the best stuff
I read each week? Click
here to subscribe to my shared items.




Quick plug for upcoming Writer's
Digest online classes:




Presented by me! Build
Your Author Platform Through Blogging on September 16







Best of Best

How to deal with contradictory query advice


@NathanBransford

Hurricane Season

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Today's guest post is by the kind and generous Darrelyn Saloom, who is working
on a memoir with boxer champion Deirdre Gogarty. Follow
Darrelyn on Twitter, or read
her previous guest posts.




Pictured above: Street Signs in Lafayette, Louisiana, after Hurricane Rita
in 2005. All photos by Darrelyn's oldest son, Christopher L. Frugé. For more photos visit
his website, or follow
him on Twitter.




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An angry spine of thunderstorms blows onshore in a jagged, bowed line on the radar
sc...

How to Score a Traditional Deal After Self-Publishing

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Today's Q&A is with authors Anne Milford and Jennifer Gauvain, who originally
self-published their book, How Not to Marry the
Wrong Guy, in May 2009. They marketed and promoted like madwomen and then sold
the book—at auction!—to Random House in October 2009. The
new revised edition came out in May 2010 from Broadway. Read on to see how this
success story played out!






Before you self-published, I assume you tried traditional
routes or had an agent, and it didn't work out? How long...

Newest Opportunities to Hear Me Speak

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Lots of cool things happening to update you about (pictured above: a candid shot of
me speaking at Midwest Writers in July
2010!).



Last week I was a guest speaker on a live teleseminar
on memoir, with the NAMW. If you missed it, you can still sign up to get an e-mail
announcement when the audio recording is available. Go
here.




Tomorrow I'm video-chatting with super-smart media consultant Dan
Blank! You'll be able to watch our chat for free, at We
Grow Media, once he posts...

Building an Enthusiastic Fan Base as a Self-Published Author

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Today's Q&A is with novelist and 20-year Silicon Valley wage slave John
Sundman. I first met John when his novel, Acts
of the Apostles, won 1st place in the genre fiction category of the Writer's
Digest Self-Published Book Awards. We've stayed in touch ever since, and he
recently interviewed me over at WetMachine. Below we discuss the arc of his career
as a novelist, which started in 1999.






Give us a few interesting bits to start off with, John. You're
a pretty eclectic guy.

It...

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 9/3/10)

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I watch Twitter, so you don't have to. Visit each Sunday for the week's best Tweets.
If I missed a great Tweet, leave it in the Comments. Want to know about the best stuff
I read each week? Click
here to subscribe to my shared items.




Quick plug for upcoming Writer's
Digest online classes:




Presented by me! Build
Your Author Platform Through Blogging on September 16







Best of Best

Why is your hook so important? @ColleenLindsay
explains

The Evolving Role of Literary Agents

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Today I'm
a guest interviewee over at Jungle Red Writers, on the evolving role of agents.
The incredible Hallie Ephron interviews me. Here's a snippet:

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




Jane: 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...

The Digital Age Has Only Helped Storytellers

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Today's Q&A is with author Eric Rickstad,
a novelist and screenwriter living in Vermont. His unnerving novels, stories, and
scripts strip back the bucolic veneer of rural America and root around in its tragic
and blackly comic underbelly. Big thanks to Darrelyn
Saloom for bringing my attention to Eric and his work.




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Your first novel Reap was
published by Viking/Penguin, and was a New York Times Notable Book. Tell us about
the journey in getting that traditionally published.

Self-Published Authors Should Band Together

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Today's Q&A is with longtime author and publisher Eric
Hammel, who started his own publishing company in the 1980s alongside his traditional
author career. Given his 30+ years of experience as an author, marketer, and self-publisher,
I find his in-depth perspective on the industry invaluable for anyone considering
DIY options, or contemplating the future of authorship and publishing.




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You've been self-publishing in parallel with a traditional writing
and publishing career for 25...