Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is THE BUSINESS OF BEING A WRITER (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.

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Since 2001, Jane has delivered keynote talks across the globe, including the Writer’s Digest annual conference, Stockholm Writers Festival, San Miguel Writers Conference, The Muse & The Marketplace, Frankfurt Book Fair, and Digital Book World. She’s also served on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, and is currently a board member at The Facing Project. And for a while she even flirted with academia, holding positions as a professor of writing, media, and publishing at the University of Cincinnati and University of Virginia.

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In her spare time, Jane writes creative nonfiction, which has been included in the anthologies Every Father’s Daughter and Drinking Diaries. If you look hard enough, you can also find her embarrassing college poetry.

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For more information on Jane, please visit her website: janefriedman.com

 

Keynote Topic: Thinking Beyond the Book (part 1 & 2)

Before the arrival of the Internet, writers had few options for building a career that didn’t involve working with a traditional publisher or writing and selling more articles and books. But nowadays, there are so many potential paths to visibility, earnings, and publication that most writers are confused about what direction to take—and now also live with the burden and opportunity of interacting with or reaching readers directly. What if the print book now represents an advanced stage of an author's career, rather than the first step? New models are emerging for storytellers and authors, across all genres and categories, and they are fueled by direct author-reader interaction. Jane discusses the changes underway, and how writers can adapt no matter what the future holds.

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