The Business of Being a Writer: What's Changed for Me and You

When Jane set out to revise her book, THE BUSINESS OF BEING A WRITER, she ended up spending as much time working on it as the first edition. Why? A great deal has changed about writing short and freelancing due to the decline of the newspaper and magazine industries, and the digital media landscape looks far different today than it did ten years ago when Jane wrote the first edition. But perhaps most important, Jane's own framework for helping writers understand the business has changed. In this session, she'll discuss both industry changes writers should know about as well as mindset issues that remain critical.

Jane Friedman has spent more than 25 years working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World. Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. The second edition of her book The Business of Being a Writer was published in April.