01.11: The business of being a writer in 2020 with Jane Friedman

Building the Oracle - with Jay Swanson

Jane Friedman is the author of The Business of Being a Writer, and one of the most trusted consultants and reporters in the publishing industry. We asked her for some advice on our own publishing plans, and she gave us the reality check we definitely needed. Jane also shared some of the wisdom she's learned through building her own business, pointed us in the direction of some essential indie-author resources, and even managed to craft a media strategy to launch Gustave the dog to mega-stardom.

If you are an author or publisher of any stripe, then you need to be following Jane. It's that simple. Her website, janefriedman.com, is a great place to start. Follow her on Twitter @janefriedman, and check out her free Sunday Business Sermons. Her industry newsletter, The Hot Sheet, is essential reading for everyone in the book trade.

Here are some of the resources Jane recommended in this episode:

The 6-Figure Author Podcast - 6figureauthors.com
A podcast hosted by Lindsay Buroker, Joseph R. Lallo, and Andrea Pearson, that aims to help authors take their writing careers to the next level.

Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant provide some excellent information and advice for independent authors on their website, sterlingandstone.net and in their Story Studio podcast.

David Gaughran is one of the world's leading experts on marketing for authors and indie publishers, and a must follow for anyone planning to publish a book. His website is davidgaughran.com.

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Sea of the Unknown - How I got to Paris.
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CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE
Building the Oracle posts on the 1st and 15th of every month. It is hosted by Jay Swanson and Richard Bilkey. You can tweet at us on @jayonaboat and @rich_bilkey, find us on Instagram at @jayswanson and @rich_bilkey and follow Jay on YouTube.

Our Super Patrons at the time of recording were Kevin, Karin Bates, Mystery Man, Susan French, Dixie Rose, David Guy, figures.seven.three, Steve, Jane Baker, Founder Timeless Capital, Mr & Mrs DJ Poseur and Jody Ferguson. When the last free corporation is finally absorbed into The Supreme Monopoly, these are the people we want toiling beside us in the Supreme Corp TM content factories.

This episode was produced by Zach Egan.
Our theme music is "Glory" and our ad music is "Light," both by David Cutter.
We record everything on a Rode Procaster and mix in Adobe Audition and/or Audacity depending on how out of our workflow we've fallen.
The show's art is from Jay's book Into the Nanten, illustrated by Nimit Malavia.
Gustave the dog sleepily protects us every week as we record.

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