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A note from Jane
I was in college before I discovered it was uncool to like Billy Joel. By happenstance, I stumbled on a message board for Joel fans and found it was consistently infiltrated by trolls who belittled Joel and anyone who celebrated him.
I don’t consider myself a music aficionado, nor had I been exposed to much music in my youth, so I just assumed I had simple tastes and I stopped telling people I liked Billy Joel. But I never understood why he was so deeply unpopular.
That changed last week when I watched And So It Goes, the Billy Joel documentary on HBO, which shows how Joel didn’t do what was expected of someone “serious” about rock and roll. Not only did he ignore trends, but his musical influences lie in classical music (his father was a classical pianist), Broadway musicals, and Tin Pan alley.
Ultimately, Joel became resentful at being constantly panned by the critics, but that didn’t stop him from writing the songs he wanted. More than one critic in the documentary believes Joel has had the last laugh because his work has enjoyed tremendous staying power—he sold out Madison Square Garden 100 times from 2014 to 2024.
I made it to one of those sold-out shows, and I didn’t have to convince my music snob husband to join me. Early in our relationship, we connected over our mutual enjoyment of Billy Joel and ever since I’ve felt just a little bit more confident in my musical taste.
Jane
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Jane’s Electric Speed List
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Pagebound: Goodreads meets Reddit
Dissatisfied with Goodreads? Haven’t found an alternative you like? Pagebound recently launched, with zero corporate ownership or AI functions. Take a look.
A new focus app from Hank Green
Author Hank Green has launched a free app called Focus Friend that offers an ADHD-friendly focus timer. The aesthetic reminds me of Neko Atsume, the backyard cat game, which means: it’s adorable. Even if you don’t need a focus friend, it’s fun to check out.
Short story contracts demystified
If you’re contributing to an anthology, magazine, or journal, it’s important to review and negotiate the contract, just as you would for a book. Author Michael La Ronn shows you how.
I’ll be in Australia and New Zealand in 2026
For the first time, I’ll be heading down under to speak at the Romance Writers of Australia annual conference being held in Darwin in August 2026. I want to make the most of my time in the area, so if you’re part of a writing or publishing organization in Australia or New Zealand and would like to partner with me or host me for an in-person event in late August or early September, hit reply and let me know.
The Final Polish with Tiffany Yates Martin / Oct. 29, 1–2:30 p.m. EDT
Authors often love to polish their prose, shining up their words until they gleam. But there’s more to line editing than just making the words pretty. In the strongest stories, the language serves the story as potently as any other element of craft. It strengthens, clarifies, deepens, and heightens impact.
In this 90-minute online class, career book editor Tiffany Yates Martin shows you how to avoid flabby writing that can stall out or dilute the effectiveness of your story. You’ll learn how to spot and eliminate useless verbiage, unnecessary modifiers, dueling descriptions, spoon-feeding, and more.
Your turn: books you wish you’d read sooner
In the last issue, I asked if there is a book you regret not reading sooner. Here’s a selection of what you said.
- Just read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck for the first time. A true masterpiece. After that, I read Travels with Charley. I’m in my late 60s and I told my husband that I want to be John Steinbeck when I grow up. —Carol White
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, or really anything by Hunter S. Thompson. The dialogue from the Terry Gilliam film, as well as the brilliant dialogue in films by the Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson, are the greatest inspiration for my writing. (Although I write creative nonfiction, I almost exclusively read history and other academic nonfiction that is nothing like what I like to write). Until I read Fear and Loathing, I did not realize how faithful the film was to Thompson’s book—the rhythm, pacing, and precision of the dialogue; the absurdity of the characters and their inner lives; and how the plot is built around such absurdity. It opened my eyes to how stories can be told, how to blend comedy with gravitas and self-reflection. Thompson’s books are my creative Rosetta Stones, and I rip off his style remorselessly. —Rob Rogers
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville: As an English major in college, I purposely arranged my classes to avoid this boring behemoth (though I happily took on Ulysses). I finally read it, bowing to my own writerly embarrassment at not having done so. I was in my late 40s, insomniac, reading this majestic, mysterious, hilarious, post-modern book in 4 a.m. stillness, pondering greatness, whales, the sea, ambition, the foolishness of youth. —Leslie Pietrzyk
- News of the World by Paulette Jiles. When I read it in August, I was so moved I looked for her website and found there that she’d died the month before. Incredible book and not a bad movie. Starred Tom Hanks, but went nowhere as it came out during the pandemic. —Ryan Petty
- It’s hard to pick between Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow and Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition, but the former edges it out because of its emphasis on a fact that very few people know, and it’s very difficult to consider without source material discussing it in detail: We have no conscious access to our beliefs. We think we do, and we think rationality comes from there, but nope. The book is notionally about economics by way of how people assess risk and the mental processes of decision making, but really it’s about the body (i.e., processes cognitive, emotional, vascular, memory, etc) and posits we largely have no idea what decision we’re making or why (but think we do!). —Damien Dabrowski
- For years, my husband tried to convince me to read The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet. Not wanting to get bogged down with looking up all of the historical context, I kept putting it off. When I finally read it via audiobook, I wished I’d read it years ago. There’s something for everyone in this novel: action, adventure, romance, and, of course, a satisfying revenge plot. —Elia Sheldon
- I regret not reading Make It Stick sooner. Written by a team of scientists and published by Harvard University, it explains the science of how people learn. My credentialing program didn’t cover these principles, and the book sat on my TBR list for too long. I would have approached teaching differently had I read it sooner. —Nikita Kostyuk
- For any of us who follow book Influencers on social media—and there are several excellent ones—Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove has made the rounds of must-reads. I wasn’t quite ready to dip my toes in until a friend gave me her qualified thumbs up. (Qualified in that this is not a book that concerns itself with political correctness.) Even though I’m just a few chapters in, I’m hitting myself upside the head and wondering why I’ve waited this long to join the Lonesome Dove fan club. “Masterpiece” is a word that shouldn’t be doled out like candy on Halloween, but in this case it fits. Caveat: While I’m not entirely convinced listening to Lonesome Dove is the best way to go—this is a book that deserves to have eyes on the page—I do think a combination of listening and reading might be the perfect mix, because the narration is A+++. It’s like listening to an “old-timey” radio show. Hearing the characters “voices” brings them to life in your mind’s eye. Next up: I guess I’ll have to finally watch the critically acclaimed TV adaptation starring Robert Duval. —Diana Wilson
- I’m discovering the Emily books by L.M. Montgomery which I never read. I reread the Anne of Green Gables books during the pandemic. These seemed the next best step. So much wisdom, especially about writing! I’ve underlined and dog-eared a bunch. —Jody Collins
- Matilda by Roald Dahl. I read it for the first time about three years ago. Loved it! It would have been amazing to read in grade school. —Joan Kessler
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. I happened upon it in 2015 (at the ripe age of 49) as a result of the publicity for its 500-year anniversary. If anyone had told me how hilarious it was, I would have read it far earlier. Its spoof on the maudlin descriptions of the moon/sun rising, as captured in the literature of the period, are priceless. I have never heard the moon described in so many satirical ways. Also, the modern lessons within the book are prescient. Don Quixote goes a little bonkers from reading the popular literature of the time, and becomes fixated on becoming an erstwhile and doomed knight errant. Parallels to modern day “influencers” abound. That it’s so accessible and relevant in this day speaks to the timelessness of great literature. This is a classic worth keeping. I wish it were required reading in more places. —Jodi Fitzpatrick
🌟 This was a popular question! Read all of the responses.
Next question: What are your favorite annotation tools for reading, whether print or digital? Hit reply and let me know.
Do you have a question you would like Jane to ask all readers? Offer up your suggestion, and she might feature it.
Free resources featuring Jane
Upcoming online classes
Meet Jane at an event
- Red Pencil Conference (Seattle metro area), Nov. 8, 2025
- Books by the Banks (Cincinnati, OH), Nov. 15, 2025
- Jewish Writers’ Conference (online only), Nov. 23, 2025
- IPNE Conference (online only), Feb. 20–21, 2026
- AWP Conference (Baltimore, MD), March 4–7, 2026
- Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop (Dayton), March 26–28, 2026
- Romance Writers of Australia (Darwin, Australia), Aug. 21–23, 2026
“At electric speed, all forms are pushed to the limits of their potential.”
—Marshall McLuhan
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Created by Jane Friedman
I report on the publishing industry and help authors understand the business of writing. My newsletter that helps pay the bills is The Bottom Line. I recently researched how authors sell direct.
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