A note from Jane

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One of the best ways to improve any social media experience is to ask more questions.

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I’m not talking about questions meant to spark emotional responses, boost following, or juice the algorithm.

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I mean posing one-on-one questions to others posting updates, or posing questions to people who respond to your own updates or material.

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Even I have a hard time remembering to do this—I have a terrible urge to set things straight or be the voice of authority. But it’s never a bad idea to ask someone a clarifying (not accusatory) question, or gather more information, especially if there’s some semblance of disagreement or upset. And most people, including myself, express ourselves imperfectly, too quickly, even thoughtlessly, in online environments. What if we step back and reflect?

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On social media in particular, listening is a rare and magical thing, especially when combined with thoughtful questions. Watch what happens.

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Jane

P.S. Most popular blog post this month: Substack Is Both Great & Terrible for Authors​

​Bob Eckstein​

ISSUE SPONSOR

Jane’s Electric Speed List

Here are some of the latest things I’ve discovered. (I am not paid to mention any of these resources; there are no affiliate links.)

An app for storing media consumption lists

Years ago, I started using the app AnyGood to keep track of TV shows, movies, and other media I wanted to enjoy. Unfortunately, they’ve now made the app almost unusable unless you pay. I’m not willing to do that for what’s essentially a fancy list-making tool. I started using Notion until I could find a replacement, which might be Sofa. It has a free and paid version.

How to buy food that usually gets tossed

I read with great interest this New York Times article (gift link) about services that help you find and buy food that restaurants or grocery stores might otherwise pitch in the trash. The two apps mentioned: FlashFood and Too Good to Go. Unfortunately, there’s not much of a market in Cincinnati (yet), but if you live in any urban area, it’s worth taking a look.

Opt-in polls can produce misleading results

This is an unusual item for me to include, but since I often follow and cite research studies in the writing and publishing industry, I find this too fascinating—and important—not to mention. Recently, Pew Research Center ran an opt-in poll where 12 percent of US adults, ages 18–29, responded that they are licensed to operate a class SSGN submarine. In reality, the share of Americans with this kind of license rounds to zero.

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​Learn more about the ramifications of this and why it matters—especially as we head into election season.

AI search engine for academic research

We all (hopefully) know the limitations of ChatGPT and similar models for offering accurate information. If you want to conduct academic research using natural language queries, take a look at Consensus. It’s a search engine that uses language models to surface and synthesize insights from academic research papers.

NEXT ONLINE CLASS

March 20: Getting Past the Gatekeepers with Allison K Williams & Jane Friedman

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In this 2-hour webinar for novelists, we’ll look at what your query ought to include to catch an agent, editor or publisher’s eye. We’ll also show you the key elements of great first pages, and we’ll live-edit participant submissions to show how to establish your voice, intention, purpose, and story from the very first sentence.

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Your turn: bird feeders 🙀 🦅

In the last issue, I asked you to share your favorite type of bird feeder. Here is a selection of what you said—there were many mentions of Bird Buddy!

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• I have to go with the splurge-worthy Bird Buddy, with built-in camera and WiFi (treat yourself to the one with the solar roof so you never have to charge it!). I get “postcards” from the feeder complete with pictures and videos of my feathered visitors and the app identifies them. You can share access to your feed with three friends for free. —Julie Duffy
• I love my Bird Buddy. I got it when it was 50 percent off and it’s the most amazing thing. I get gorgeous close-up photos and videos of the birds we feed regularly. We name them, we wait for them, we adore them. Best purchase ever. —Aimee Seiff Christian
• I love our More Birds Abundance Bird Feeder. There are multiple feeding ports, it holds a lot of seeds, but the best thing is that inside, there are baffles that channel the food to all the ports, so even when your feeder is half (or more) empty, all the ports have seeds so there’s room for more birds. You can adjust the perches to accommodate larger or smaller birds, too. —Terry Odell
• After struggling with squirrels emptying our feeders for years, I bought a Brome Squirrel Buster feeder. Absolutely stopped those raids and saved us a ton of money on seed. Have the fabulous sueter feeder as well, and the Brome folks stand behind their products 100%. —Charlotte Wilkins
• I kind of hate to recommend this and mess up something as pleasant and relaxing as feeding/watching birds with technology, but I have an odd love affair with cardinals, so my wife bought me a Vico Bird feeder last year. Vico is a home security company and got the great idea to set a camera inside a bird feeder. So I watch the birds in my feeder from the comfort of my warm kitchen when the sun is just coming up. It’s fun, really and the whole family expects pics from Dad about who is visiting today. —Dennis Mitton

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Next question: Tell me about your favorite Etsy artist or craftsperson. Hit reply to this message, or head over to Discord to share.

Free resources featuring Jane

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• March 17: Reduce Your Writerly Anxiety with Jane Friedman
• NPR: Authors Push Back on the Growing Number of AI Scam Books​
• ​Conversation with Karin Gutman (video): wide ranging, mainly about the business of publishing

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Upcoming online classes

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• ​Getting Past the Gatekeepers with Allison K Williams, March 20
• ​From Anxious to Savvy: How Every Author Can Build a Lifetime Book Marketing Foundation with Jane Friedman, March 23
• ​Craft Your Memoir’s Beat Sheet with Lisa Cooper Ellison, April 3
• ​Mastering Backstory for Novelists (three-part series) with Tiffany Yates Martin, begins April 10
• ​Literary Citizenship with Jane Friedman, April 11
• ​Effective Book Marketing for Any Author with Jane Friedman, May 9

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Meet Jane at an event

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• ​Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop (Dayton, Ohio), April 4–6, 2024
• ​Write to Publish (Chicago), June 11–14, 2024
• ​Midwest Writers Workshop (Muncie, Ind.), July 11–13, 2024
• ​Willamette Writers Hybrid Conference (virtual), July 31–August 4, 2024

“At electric speed, all forms are pushed to the limits of their potential.”
—Marshall McLuhan

Created by Jane Friedman I report on the publishing industry and help authors understand the business of writing. Connect on LinkedIn | Instagram | Discord​ P.S. I have a paid newsletter, too.

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