A note from Jane
I have been a longtime consumer of meal-kit boxes, the kind where you’re sent the raw ingredients you need to cook dinner for two or more. It’s an absolute godsend for weeknights and healthier food choices. However, on a few occasions I’ve had to regroup after services have gone out of business or been consolidated in disappointing ways. (RIP Plated.)
All that to say, I’ve seen every trick for packaging, pricing, upgrades, and the myriad ways these companies have to be creative to turn a profit.
A month ago, my meal-kit service alerted me to a change. Instead of flat-rate pricing based on how many dinners you order per week, every meal would carry a different price, “giving you the flexibility to build a box that truly fits you and your family,” they wrote. Although disappointed, I certainly understood—it’s common for these services to have per-meal pricing driven by choice of protein. But when I looked at the upcoming options, what had really happened was every meal was at least several dollars more per person. Nothing remained at the old pricing.
If they had simply said, “We’re raising prices,” I probably would’ve stayed, as I knew I’d been getting a bargain. Instead, I’ve switched to another company that I hope will be more honest and transparent about what they’re doing and why.
Jane
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Jane’s Electric Speed List
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An analysis of 200,000 similes from fiction
This comes from one of my favorite data journalism outlets, The Pudding. It’s fantastic. Read “Comparisons as Predictable as the Sunrise.”
Reader recommendation: Caption Phone
Jeff Hecht, a science and technology writer writes in, “I started using hearing aids last year, and it made me more sensitive to how hard it could be to understand some phone calls. This year I decided to try a Caption Phone, which listens to the call and displays what is being said on a screen. … The sound is better than my old wireline office phone, but the most important feature is the screen that almost instantly displays the words spoken by the caller and by you. You can read on the screen what you can’t hear on the phone, and you can scroll the screen to look back for words you didn’t get. The text transcript isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than what my ears can hear. … Caption phones in the United States are provided by the Federal Communications Act under the Americans with Disabilities Act. You can qualify for a free Caption phone if you can document hearing loss that makes it difficult to use a conventional phone.” Learn more.
Bookpile: identify the closest place to buy a book
Input any book’s ISBN, and Bookpile will try to tell you which bookshops, chains and libraries near you might have a copy. No tricks or affiliate marketing, just a list of places. Unfortunately, it only works right now for a small set of cities (about 800), but it has good international representation. An interesting project that I hope grows with time.
Are you “in the weights”?
In the Weights lets you type in a name and see whether today’s major AI models “know” who the person is—recognizing them from memory alone, without looking anything up online. AI models are built from billions of internal numbers (the “weights”), and some of what they absorb during training gets baked permanently into those numbers. So, a person the model can describe from memory is, in this site’s words, “in the weights.” It might be worth a look, whatever you think of AI. Keep in mind it’s a rough instrument, better treated as a curiosity and not a scorecard. (Yes, I am in the weights, as a publishing industry expert, top 3 percent.)
Next online class: Building a Strong Author-Publisher Relationship
- Taught by: Anne Trubek at Belt Publishing
- Ideal for: Any author working with a traditional publisher for the first time or who wants a better understanding of traditional publishing
- Jane says: The last thing you want is an adversarial relationship with your publisher. Learn how to set yourself up for success from someone who works on the inside of a successful, mid-size publisher.
- When: Saturday, July 11, 12:00–1:30 p.m. EDT, or wait for the recording delivered the following week
Your turn: task lighting
In the last issue, I asked if you could recommend the best lamp or task lighting you’ve found for an evening writing or reading space. Here’s a sampling of what you said.
- I enjoy reading out on our screened porch at night and use a Petzl Actik Core headlamp. Three levels of brightness and a rechargeable battery. —Jim Jackson
- I use the TaoTronics TT-DL13 LED Table Lamp with USB Charging Port & Touch Control. I use one finger to touch-control the amount of light via an arced panel. The LED arm can be swiveled up and down and in any direction to shed more light where I want it. I feed my nearby aromatherapy diffuser hooked up to the lamp’s charging port, while I use the AC cord for the lamp itself. —Cynthia Gallaher
- The Lumos Knitting Light isn’t just for knitting. Hang it around your neck and easily adjust the ends to focus on the page. Great for dark rooms or for when you just don’t want to turn on the light but want to read print. —Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
- I have a standard lamp that I use, one with a simple on-off switch that I got a junk sale. However, I use a Boundery eBulb. This is a heavier bulb that’s got LED in it. It only works with on-off switches, but the advantage is that if the power goes out, it will continue to light your world for another 3–4 hours. Turning the lamp on regularly will recharge your Boundery eBulb and since that’s a lamp I continually turn on and off, I’m confident the bulb will work for me when the power’s out. And it has, more than once. —Aline Soules
- OttLite Creative Curves LED Desk Lamp. It has a small footprint so it doesn’t take up too much space on your desk. The other two beauties about it is that it is touch on and off and it has four different levels of lighting and brightness. As well, the neck of it is made of silicone and is very flexible so that you can twist and turn it any way you want so as focus on the exact spot you want to focus on. It comes in either black or white. And it is pretty inexpensive at about $60, and those are mere Canadian dollars! —Wayne Jones
- Glocusent is my favorite book light! It travels well, has three different settings and kinds of light and is recharged by USB. I don’t understand the awkward name which calls to mind a glucose monitor, but I forgive them. —Cynthia Morris
Next question: Reader Alis Sefick asks, “What is your favorite (preferably free) app or resource that converts handwritten pages to digital text?”
Do you have a tools or resources question you would like me to ask all readers? Offer up your suggestion, and I might feature it.
Free resources featuring Jane
Upcoming online classes
- Today’s Key Book Publishing Paths with Jane Friedman, July 9
- Building a Strong Author-Publisher Relationship with Anne Trubek, July 11
- Pitch, Publish and Get Paid with Allison K Williams, July 15
- Mastering Narrative Flow with Tiffany Yates Martin, July 22
- Writing From Your Why with Leslye Penelope, July 29
- Writer’s Survival Guide to Contracts, Legal Issues & Other Business Basics with Jane Friedman, Aug. 6
- What Platform Means for Literary Artists & Skeptics with Jane Friedman, Aug. 12
- Improve Your Author Website with Jane Friedman, Sept. 24
Meet Jane at an event
- Midwest Writers Workshop (Muncie, IN), July 16–18, 2026
- SCBWI Virtual Summer Conference, July 30–Aug. 2, 2026
- Willamette Writers Conference (Portland, OR), July 31–Aug. 2, 2026
- Romance Writers of Australia (Darwin, Australia), Aug. 21–23, 2026
- Queensland Writers Centre (Brisbane, Australia), Aug. 24–25, 2026
- AALA People of Publishing (NYC), Sept. 30, 2026 (reporting)
- Author Nation (Las Vegas), November 10–13, 2026
- AWP Bookfair & Conference (Chicago), March 17–20, 2027
“At electric speed, all forms are pushed to the limits of their potential.”
—Marshall McLuhan
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