Electric Speed is a biweekly newsletter that shares resources for creative people (since 2009!), brought to you by Jane Friedman. Sign up here.​

A note from Jane

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I recently heard a fascinating interview with Marty Makary, M.D., author of Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health.

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Dr. Makary pointed to various health issues and problems—nut allergies, appendicitis, ovarian cancer, antibiotics, hormone therapy—where traditional medicine has gotten things wrong, but then takes a long time to course correct. Why?

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Blind spots, as the book’s title indicates.

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Let’s take Dr. Makary’s example of uncomplicated appendicitis: It turns out, for some patients, an antibiotics-first strategy is a good and safe choice for treatment rather than surgery. When Dr. Makary discussed with a colleague the first randomized trial that proved antibiotics were effective, that colleague said, “I’ll wait for a second trial to confirm.” In another year or so, a second trial confirmed it. The colleague said, “I’ll wait for a third trial.” You can guess what happened next. The colleague finally declared, “It’s just better to take out the appendix.”

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Every profession has its blind spots. While I believe I have hard-to-match mastery from spending my entire career in publishing, it does make me more likely to lean into defaults. For example, I’ve long counseled writers to prioritize their website, especially given how much it remains critical to my livelihood. But I started my career in a radically different environment, when attracting search traffic was straightforward and easy. More authors can get by today without a meaningful site. Are they wrong? Am I wrong? No one is wrong, but I have to keep updating my priors—especially if I want to avoid becoming a fossil. 😏

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Jane

P.S. Most popular post this month: My NaNoWriMo Was a Train Wreck​

​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.)

Reader recommendation: Deadlines for Writers

From writer Sherry Young in Ireland: “Deadlines for Writers has revolutionised my writing life. Actually, it pretty much started it and has kept it on track. It’s run by a South African woman named Mia Botha. The basic thesis is that you write a scene of somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,500 words per week. You post it every Wednesday morning. Nonnegotiable. At the end of the year you have the rough draft of the story. It works. … Part of the requirement of the program is to read and comment on two or three other peoples stories. In exchange other people read your stories and comment upon each scene. I call these my alpha readers. Kindness is a requirement. Over time a community forms.”

Did health insurance deny your claim? If you need help: Claim File Helper

This excellent tool comes from Pro Publica. It helps you begin the process to find out why your claim was denied.

Two advent calendars now part of my holiday tradition

Last year, I asked readers what advent calendars they recommend. The most popular answer by far was the Jacqui Lawson advent calendar app. I was not expecting a digital advent calendar to be so popular (and I was skeptical), but I paid for it because I trust you all. Of course it’s outstanding, and I’ve already bought the 2024 version ($9.99), set in Paris. Highly recommend.

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The other advent calendar? Yawn’s hot chocolate.

Trying Bluesky? Here’s what I love about it.

​Bluesky (which is similar to Twitter/X and Threads) offers functionality I find absolutely indispensable: You can suppress posts from your feed based on specific words or hashtags. This function is called “mute words and hashtags.” Trying to avoid hot-button issues? Don’t want to get distracted by current events or certain individuals? All you need to do is add the word/name you don’t want to see to your “mute” list. Bliss. (To be fair, you can do the same on Threads, but it’s a little more cumbersome: go to settings and look for “hidden words.”)

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Here’s my Bluesky account (@janefriedman). If you’d like a “starter pack” of who to follow on Bluesky, I have one on publishing news.​

Mastering Suspense and Tension with Tiffany Yates Martin (Dec. 11, 1–2:30 p.m. EST)

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Suspense and tension are among the most important elements of readable stories that hook your readers and keep them turning the page, in every single genre. The terms are often used interchangeably, and they’re intimately related, but suspense is more an element of story and tension an element of scene.

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In a detailed exploration into these concepts, career editor Tiffany Yates Martin will show why a lack of tension and suspense may be what’s keeping you from a publishing contract or bestseller list—or simply costing you reader investment. We’ll examine how to determine whether you have enough suspense and tension in your story, along with tips for how to develop these elements to heighten your story’s impact and effectiveness and keep readers hooked.

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Your turn: holiday cards ❄️

In the last issue, I asked you to share your favorite source for holiday cards. Here’s a selection of what you said.

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• I found a place a couple years ago that I LOVE, Tree Free. Their cards are lovely, not mostly covered in glitter like the ones you’ll find at the drugstore, lol, and they offer cards for all kinds of occasions, not just the ‘normal’ holidays, their prices are reasonable, and (a big plus for me) they try to be friendly to the environment. I’ve gotten some beautiful cards from them and will keep going back. —Elizabeth D
• I am obsessed with sending holiday cards! It’s one of my favorite things each year. I like to use local designers as much as I can. Last year I used Weezie B. Designs, but I love my cards the most when I have my artist friend design them for me (which I’m doing this year again!). —Lindsey Brooksbank
• For any dog lovers, I recommend these two sources for Christmas cards: The whimsical watercolors of UK artist Iain Welch and the WeRateDogs holiday card pack. Proceeds from regularly priced items on WeRateDogs goes to a nonprofit that helps dogs with medical issues find their forever homes. —Kelly Kandra Hughes
• My favorite card source is Blue Mountain. The company has great cards and special cards called smashups. Check out the one with Weird Al Yankovic. Everyone I send it to loves it, even really old people. 🙂 It’s a subscription service, the only one I use. —Cheryl Pellerin
• I like the cards from Peter Pauper Press that come in what they call collectible boxes. I don’t want to throw away the boxes, so I’ve deconstructed, recovered, and filled them with handmade/hand-beaded sachets. —Kate McEnroe
• I send holiday cards to colleagues. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I use Paperless Post. I like the selection offered and the ease of use and also the affordable price. I like that I can make changes to my recipient list each year, adding and deleting. Definitely recommend. —Dina Santorelli
• We have been using Minted for our holiday cards for many years. I love that the designs are beautiful, but more honestly, I love that they address all of the envelopes for me. It makes sending cards every year a lot more feasible (even with a busy schedule). —Gina Handley
• I am loving animal cards this year and my favorites are the Scandi Forest set from John Bloor. He’s a UK printmaker and ships fast. —Melissa Techman

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➡️ Browse all responses, with links to the holiday cards mentioned above.

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Next question: Do you have favorite winter gloves? Tell me about them! Hit reply to this message, or head over to Discord to share.

Free resources featuring Jane

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• Video: The Surprise of LinkedIn​
• Dec. 15: Story Genres [this link now works!], a free talk about narrative expectations and narrative construction

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Upcoming online classes

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• ​Mastering Suspense & Tension with Tiffany Yates Martin, Dec. 11
• ​Hybrid Publish or Self-Publish? with Jane Friedman, Dec. 18
• ​How to Get Published: Land a Book Deal in 2025 with Jane Friedman, Jan. 16
• ​Establish (or Improve) Your Email Newsletter with Jane Friedman, Feb. 6
• ​Roadmap to Yes: Plotting your Path to Publication with Jane Friedman, Feb. 22

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Meet Jane at an event

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• ​NYU Advanced Publishing Institute (NYC), Jan. 6–10, 2025
• ​AWP Conference & Bookfair (Los Angeles), March 26–29, 2025
• ​ECPA Leadership Summit (Nashville), April 29–30, 2025
• ​Craft & Publishing Voyage (cruise ship!), Aug. 27–Sept. 3, 2025

“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 | Threads | Discord​

109 Dorsey St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
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