Business Advice for Writers ~ Reader Beware !

Last November, I shared the post The “Right” Way To Write ~ Writing Advice for The Brave . . .

In that post, I said: “These days, writing advice is cheap—even free on the Web—cheap, also, in the sense ‘of little worth because achieved in a discreditable way requiring little effort’.”

I also shared a quote in that post:

“For every complex problem there is a simple solution, and it’s wrong.”
Henry Louis Menkin

While that post and its links focused on advice about the actual writing that writers do, I’m going to warn you to be on your guard when reading business advice for writers, too.

And, these days, with writers self-publishing, the business side of writing is more important than ever…

Regular readers of this blog have seen me link out to information from Jane Friedman many times.

Well, two months ago, Jane began a monthly feature of Best Business Advice for Writers.

In the November edition of Best Business Advice for Writers, she said:

“For a couple years, I curated a weekly round-up of links called Best Tweets for Writers. I had fun doing it, but ultimately abandoned it in 2011 when I could no longer sustain the time commitment.

“Nowadays, there’s no shortage of link round-ups for writers, of varying quality. While I hesitate to add another one to the mix, I’m going to enter the fray again, but on a monthly basis, strictly focusing on the business of being a writer. No craft & technique, no inspirational stuff. Just the absolute best advice I’ve found, online, about being smarter about your career—and why I think it’s the best.”

Now, why should someone trust that Jane knows what she’s talking about?

How about this from her Google+ Profile:

“Jane Friedman is the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, a literary journal that has won more National Magazine Awards than any quarterly magazine in the nation.

“Jane is a frequent speaker at publishing industry and writing conferences, and has appeared at more than 200 events since 2001, including LitFlow Berlin, South by Southwest, the Whidbey MFA residency, BookExpo America, and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.

“Her expertise has been featured widely, by sources such as NPR’s Morning Edition, Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS, The Huffington Post, and Mr. Media. She maintains a blog at JaneFriedman.com, which enjoys 35,000+ unique visitors every month, and her presence on Twitter (160,000+ followers) is often cited as a model for those seeking to use social media effectively.

“Jane consults with a range of nonprofits, businesses, and creative professionals, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Work Fund, and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.”

Yet, even with all those credentials, and even though I’ve only had one instance where I didn’t like a bit of her advice, one would, hopefully, naturally, use caution and circumspection in accepting any advice…

With that said, here’s her December edition of Best Business Advice for Writers.

With all due caution, I’m looking forward to her January edition :-)
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