We speak at, attend, and report on industry events.
- We’re at all the major book industry shows throughout the year: BookExpo America, Digital Book World, London Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair, and much more.
- We also speak at major writing conferences, and hear the advice and perspectives offered by agents, editors, and professional authors.
- We ourselves are often called on to speak to groups of authors and industry professionals about changes in the industry—and because we know so many insiders, we can call on them for background.
We read all the news so you don’t have to.
- We subscribe to several dozen writing and publishing industry newsletters, and sift through the most important news items on your behalf.
- We have subscriptions to paid news sources that would cost you hundreds of dollars to receive, and cherry-pick what’s relevant for you to know.
- We keep up with the most important and discussed blogs in the author community, and understand the biases and agendas of them all.
We have devoted careers in writing and journalism.
- Porter Anderson is a former journalist with CNN and is now the editor in chief of Publishing Perspectives, the international news source for the publishing industry.
- Jane Friedman is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest and was one of the founding community members of Digital Book World. She now serves as a columnist for Publishers Weekly and is a full-time publishing industry consultant.
- Both Porter and Jane regularly interact with publishing industry insiders at a range of offline and online events.
More About Porter and Jane
Writer and professor Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) has more than 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in digital media strategy for authors and publishers. From 2001–2010 she worked at Writer’s Digest, where she ultimately became publisher and editorial director; more recently, she served as the digital editor for the Virginia Quarterly Review. Jane specializes in educating authors about the publishing industry, and is known for thought-provoking talks on the future of authorship. She is a professor with The Great Courses and a columnist for Publishers Weekly; her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press).
Journalist, speaker, and consultant Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) is Editor-in-Chief of the international site Publishing Perspectives and the former Associate Editor for The Bookseller’s The FutureBook in London. A former news anchor and producer, his Music for Writers is read at New York’s Thought Catalog. He has programmed conference events for IDPF, Writer’s Digest, Frankfurt Book Fair, The Bookseller’s Author Day, and Novelists Inc. He has worked with CNN International, CNN.com, The Village Voice, Rome’s UN World Food Programme, and Copenhagen’s INDEX. He is a fellow with the National Critics Institute.
“I’m really enjoying The Hot Sheet from Porter Anderson and Jane Friedman. It’s written specifically to an author audience, which is wholly original among publishing industry newsletter services. By placing issues that impact authors into timely context, it offers what amounts to next-step advice—exactly what writers need these days.”
The Hot Sheet gave us the right tip at the right time.
I conduct historical research for authors and one of my clients has a lot of great story ideas, but her German publisher Random House can only publish one of her novels per year. Reading about the latest US publishing opportunities in The Hot Sheet, I sensed an opening and wrote a book pitch in English for my client. We got her literary agent on board, sent the pitch, and she got a deal right away: Her next novel will be published in the USA—a dream come true for any German author.
She shared a few of her other ideas and her new US publisher gave her 2 additional publishing contracts for 2017. They didn’t even want to see a sample text! And I’ll be conducting research for all 3 novels.
Thanks to Jane, Porter and The Hot Sheet, I knew exactly what to pitch, when, and to whom; the right tip at the right time.
—Dr. Barbara Ellermeier, historical advisor for authors, publishers and literary agents
Is there a community, Facebook page, or comment area?
No, and we’re very purposeful in leaving out the reader-interactive aspect—at least at this stage, that’s no oversight.
Our objective is to save your time and deliver information, not open up another water cooler. There are many other places to discuss the news.
Will your frequency ever change?
We release a new issue every other Wednesday.
We will never dip below this frequency. In exceptional cases, we may send additional special issues, for stories that merit the extra coverage.
Why is it called The Hot Sheet?
In Jane’s earliest publishing days, her employer circulated a weekly “hot sheet” to keep people informed. (These were the days before email!)
The Hot Sheet focuses on developments that have the potential to make a difference to you as an author, with an explanation of why we think you should know.
“Full of publishing nitty-gritty and sharp analysis, The Hot Sheet fills a glaring gap for authors. I read every issue.”
—Donald Maass, Donald Maass Literary Agency
“Authors: You’ll love the publishing industry news in Porter Anderson’s and Jane Friedman’s Hot Sheet (even if no hype or drama).”
“I was directed to a news feature about Aer.io and Ingram Content Group by The Hot Sheet. Holy distribution, Batman—this opens up a vast opportunity to authors! I’m making my IngramSpark editions as we speak.”
“I love The Hot Sheet! It’s up there with Publishers Lunch as my go-to for industry information. It’s witty, approachable, and informative. Highly recommended.”
“I have to be one of the hardest sells on the planet. It’s not that I’m cheap—I’m a former INC. 500 entrepreneur and MBA professor, and the way I’m able to make a living writing fiction full time is with an extreme bootstrapping mentality. My monthly expenses are virtually zero, which is why it took me a few months of thinking from every angle before I made a decision to pay for your newsletter so I would keep receiving it. For me to add even one penny to my monthly expenses, the product or service I’m paying for has to offer extreme, over-the-top value and not be available from any other source. (That’s exactly what I offer my fiction readers and why I’m able to make a living doing it.) Staying on top of the publishing industry, and particularly indie publishing, is something I must do, and to be able to do it for five dollars a month is truly a bargain.”