Jane Friedman Quotes & Sayings

Marketing is not what lures a writer to this pursuit. Marketing is the adversary that arrives smuggled inside the Trojan Horse of one's creative impulse. — Jane Friedman

Agents are motivated to take on clients based on the size of the advance they think they can get. If your project doesn't command a sizable advance (at least five figures), then you may not be worth an agent's time, and you'll have to sell the project on your own. Do you have to "know someone" to get published? No, — Jane Friedman

Some people read to be entertained, as an escape. Others read to be intellectually challenged. Again, both commercial and literary fiction can accomplish these things. Neither has a sole claim over these goals. But as a generalization, commercial fiction tends to focus on entertaining, while literary fiction is more likely to present a challenge. Literary novelists rarely seek to satisfy the reader but to discomfort them. — Jane Friedman