I interview a lot of writers for JaneFriedman.com, and I’ve also been listening to many interviews with writers, primarily on The VJ Books Podcast and The Thriller Zone. My favorite part of any interview is one in which the writer shares something illustrative of a determination to retain or honor an independent artistic spirit, to write what they want … Read more
Over at JaneFriedman.com, author Philip Persinger answers ten questions for 5 On. “I don’t think there is a silver bullet for marketing. There’s just good old-fashioned stick-to-it-iveness. If there were a magic formula, the guy who wrote it up would be rich. Oh wait! He did. He wrote How to Market Your Book. Unfortunately, he’s … Read more
Researching an interview subject will invariably take me to websites, articles, or reports I wasn’t previously aware of and am happy to discover. If I think they’re interesting, chances are someone else will, too, so I thought I’d start sharing some of what I come across as I dig around for questions to ask for … Read more
__________________ * __________________ “No ideas?” “Oh,” he thumbed his mug handle, “I have ideas.” “Well, then. There you go. Write them.” “Can’t.” “Why not?” “Because. What’s the point?” “What do you mean?” “I mean,” he said, “what’s the point? I start writing a paragraph, or I imagine a scene, and I just stop. I think, … Read more
If you’re not yet following 5On, you can keep track of newly published interviews by subscribing to my feed (bright red button over there –>) or Jane Friedman’s blog feed. Or both, because then you’ll receive more than interview updates, and “more” is almost always better. Recent interviews: Victoria Zackheim Nothing is more humbling than … Read more
Leora Skolkin-Smith, author of Edges and Hystera and contributing editor to readysteadybook.com, answers five questions about writing and five questions about publishing at JaneFriedman.com. . What is failure? That it sells only a few copies and doesn’t get review coverage? . . . Kristen TsetsiKristen Tsetsi is the author of the post-Roe v. Wade novel … Read more
Not too long ago, I started 5 On because I wanted to find a way to connect people who have a certain amount of experience with people who might learn or benefit from that experience, and I wanted to do it in an informal, entertaining way. I sent an interview invitation and an explanation of … Read more
What does a successful writer have to worry about? How does someone with nearly constant creativity-on-the-brain manage a romantic relationship? Are male and female writers really that different? Kris Saknussemm answers these questions and more in this installment of 5 On. Kris Saknussemm is the author of eleven books, including the Philip K. Dick Award … Read more
I’ve been an MFA student, a writing instructor, and an author. I discovered as a student and as an instructor that the limitations of the teaching were that they focused heavily on the writing part of writing. There was little about getting published, and even less about the industry-specific failures and successes authors experience in … Read more
In this 5On interview, author Russell Rowland on publishing horror stories, what keeps him writing through “why bother?” moments, marketing, and more. _____ Russell Rowland is the author of In Open Spaces, The Watershed Years, and High and Inside, and and editor with Lynn Stegner of the anthology, West of 98: Living and Writing the … Read more
