A note from Jane
I once saw a doctor who exuded confidence that he understood my situation entirely and would “fix” me. I welcomed this. After a long period of struggle where nothing seemed to help, I felt buoyed by his tone and attitude.
After some months, I was not fixed—quite the opposite. But there wasn’t curiosity from the confident doctor, only a presumption that whatever was wrong was unrelated to his treatment and therefore not his concern. I was left to course correct on my own.
More recently, I saw a practitioner who expressed doubt he could help me at all with a problem. Rather than sending me away, said, “Well, let’s take a look and we’ll see.” There was small improvement. We continued working together; there was more improvement. He was pleasantly surprised.
Both providers offer decades of experience, but their attitudes and approaches couldn’t be further apart. Confidence can be magnetic and inspiring and I love talking and working with confident people. But I find myself thinking a lot these days about the relationship between confidence and humility. I think this latest practitioner has enormous confidence in his work and abilities, but is quick to acknowledge what he doesn’t know. As time passes, I feel like he’s treating me as an individual with unknown and unknowable variables. He tests assumptions, he observes what happens. Even if things don’t work, I feel the care.
Jane
ISSUE SPONSOR
Create a Beautiful Author Website in Minutes
Elevate your author brand in 2026 with a professional website created by Tertulia for Authors, the user-friendly tool recommended by Jane Friedman herself. Enter your ISBN number and you’ll have a customizable site – in minutes. Find out why thousands of authors have switched over to Tertulia. Use this link to get 30% off your first year.
Sponsorships support Electric Speed. Sold out for 2026.
|
Jane’s Electric Speed List
I am not paid to mention any of these resources; there are no affiliate links.
Chrome extension: YouTube to NotebookLM
At this point in my career, there are nearly 100 videos available over at my YouTube channel, many chock-full of business guidance that remains relevant in 2026. For years, I’ve wished there was a straightforward way to dig out the nuggets of wisdom in this material, and now there is. There’s a new Chrome extension that allows you to connect a YouTube playlist to Google’s NotebookLM so you can ask questions and analyze the material.
Little coffee games
If you love things like Wordle and Spelling Bee, check out CoffeeFirst Games—no cost.
Wish Pocket were still around? Try Folio.
This recommendation comes from reader Andrea Firth: “I was a big fan of Pocket and sad to see it go, but now I’ve found Folio and so far it’s been a good fix.” So far it’s free. Available as a web, iOS or Android app.
The recommendation you’ve already heard …
… but it bears repeating. My husband and I have been watching Ken Burns’ The American Revolution documentary, released last year, through the PBS Passport app. I can’t recommend it enough. When you’re done, I’d follow it up with The Civil War, even if you’ve already seen it. And to continue: The West by Stephen Ives (presented by Ken Burns).
Writer Mind, Marketing Mind with Allison K Williams / Feb. 4, 1–2:30 p.m. EST
Selling your book means marketing, even with a Big Five deal and more so with a small or hybrid press. But the good news? Organically and personally connecting with your audience can focus your writing, help you finish your book, and even be fun! This 90-minute class will teach novelists, memoirists and nonfiction writers the mindset shift from “please buy my book…anyone?” to “let me share what I’m excited about, I know you’ll love it too!” so that marketing and selling become an extension of your mission and an expression of your integrity. When we give ourselves the power to be experts, entertainers, friends and guides, we develop readers who love our words as much as we do and become our partners in sharing our book with the world.
Your turn: read-aloud for Microsoft Word
In the last issue, a reader asked, “Is there a good plugin for Microsoft Word that offers better voices than their Read Aloud feature?” Here’s a selection of what you said.
- I forward documents to my Kindle Fire and use the text-to-speech accessibility feature to listen while I drive, walk the dog, etc. There are different speaking voices to choose from and you can increase the speed up to 3.5x. —Jessica Snyder
- I use Speechify for everything I do, in Word, anything I write for publication. I read my stuff out at least a dozen times before it goes out, and this really helps as an added tool. It costs money but it’s totally worth it. —Rebecca Morrison
- I use NaturalReader when I want something read aloud to me. The free version only has a limited amount of minutes per day for their best voices, but even the free voices are better than the native Word document ones. —Julie Golick
- I use NaturalReader. It reads any document including blogs, articles, emails, PDFs, Word documents, etc. I even use it as a proofreading step for novels. The voices are more natural sounding and there’s far fewer instances of gross mispronunciation, like a hard “G” in gel. It is costly for a paid plan but worth it for my business use. —Cristy Robinson
- I use the accessibility read-aloud feature built into my Mac (System Settings > Accessibility > Speak Selection) to read just about anything. It’s not silken, but it’s better than the Word options. —Kelly Turner
Next question: For all you tea drinkers out there: What is your favorite nighttime tea? Hit reply and let me know.
Do you have a tools or resources 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
- Writer Mind, Marketing Mind with Allison K Williams, Feb. 4
- How Writers Can Earn a Living in the Creator Economy, master class with Jane Friedman, Feb. 7
- What Do Your Characters Want? with Jessica Strawser, Feb. 11
- Get Your Author Brand in Order with Jane Friedman, Feb. 12
- How to Research and Write a Powerful Book Proposal with Jane Friedman, Feb. 21–22
- Identify Your Memoir’s Essential Question with Lisa Cooper Ellison, Feb. 25
- Making Time & Space for Your Writing with Jessica Strawser, March 11
- Story Structure & Momentum with Tiffany Yates Martin, March 18
- Platform Building When You’d Rather Write with Jane Friedman, March 19
- Create Live or Virtual Retreats That Sell with Allison K Williams, March 21
- Do I Need Permission for That? with Christopher Hoffmann, March 25
Meet Jane at an event
- IBPA Boot Camp for Author Publishers (online only), Jan. 30, 2026
- IPNE Conference (online only), Feb. 20–21, 2026
- AWP Conference (Baltimore, MD), March 4–7, 2026 (Booth #624)
- Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop (Dayton, OH), March 26–28, 2026
- Publishing Professionals Network Conference (Berkeley, CA), April 24, 2026
- Stockholm Writers Festival (Sweden), June 13, 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
|
|
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, where I recently reported on AI detection software.
|
109 Dorsey St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Unsubscribe · Update your preferences
