The Business of Being a Writer: An Evening with Jane Friedman

Name: The Business of Being a Writer: An Evening with Jane Friedman
Start: 2025-04-08T18:00:00-04:00
Location: 414 Walnut Street 11th Floor , Cincinnati, OH, United States, Ohio 45202

Schedule

Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 at 06:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

414 Walnut Street 11th Floor , Cincinnati, OH, United States, Ohio 45202 | Cincinnati, OH

Even though the book publishing industry is often considered slow moving and not as susceptible to technological change as other creative industries, it’s a transformative and challenging time for the business of books. From the rise of self-publishing to the growing influence of tech giants like Amazon, Audible, and Google, the landscape for authors, publishers, and booksellers is shifting in ways that affect what stories get told—and how they reach readers.
At the same time, artificial intelligence tools are being introduced into creative processes, sparking debates about intellectual property, artistic authenticity, and the future of human authorship. Social media platforms, once hailed as democratizing forces for reaching audiences, are now unpredictable, monetized ecosystems that leave both authors and publishers looking for new strategies. Meanwhile, the climate for traditional publishers has grown more complex, as consolidation continues to reshape the industry and books compete with other forms of media for attention in an increasingly distracted world.
How do these trends impact not just the business of books but also the art of writing? What do they mean for readers who value books as cultural artifacts and sources of intellectual enrichment? And where do independent bookstores and literary communities fit into this evolving equation?
This event is for anyone curious about the intersection of technology, culture, and the written word, and what it means for the future of publishing.
6 pm reception/6:30 pm program
Free & open to the public. Registration required.

Copies of The Business of Being a Writer will be available for sale & signing courtesy of Joseph-Beth Cincinnati.

About Jane Friedman
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in publishing, with a focus on innovation and trend reporting in the book publishing industry. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer (The University of Chicago Press), received a starred review from Library Journal and is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs.
In addition to serving as guest faculty at creative writing programs nationwide, she’s delivered keynotes and workshops in partnership with hundreds of writing and publishing events, such as NYU's Advanced Publishing Institute, The Authors Guild, Frankfurt Book Fair, Digital Book World, and the Writer's Digest annual conference. Her expertise on publishing has been featured across media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, Wired, BBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Fox News, The Today Show, and NPR.
Jane has served on grant and award panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Whiting Award, and the Creative Work Fund, and also sits on the advisory board for The Chicago Manual of Style. For a while she flirted with academia, teaching writing and publishing at the University of Cincinnati and University of Virginia. She resides in Cincinnati. Learn more at JaneFriedman.com.